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Local HeroesJanuary 2001
I was very excited to read the article 'Local Heroes' by Karen Butti (The World of Embroidery, September 2000). I was a pupil at Bromley Grammar School from 1948-1955, privileged to be taught by Miss Campbell, and chose needlework for my non academic slot in the week.
I left Bromley to go to medical school in London and, despite a busy professional career and demands of a family, have always been interested in embroidery and been grateful for that introduction in my schooldays. However, I had no idea how lucky I was to be a pupil at Bromley Grammar School in that era. Now I have retired and am really enjoying exploring different types of embroidery, my favourite is still pulled thread work which I first discovered with Miss Campbell. At that time, I did not appreciate the time spent on design and preparation before I could start sewing! Sadly the only piece of work that I still have is a sampler completed when I was in Upper 3B, but I can remember work regularly going off to exhibitions and also the more elaborate work of those pupils taking embroidery as an exam subject.
I wonder how many other readers of The World of Embroidery were pupils at Bromley Grammar School at that time? Perhaps we should form a Bromley Old Girls Branch of the Embroiderers' Guild or at least keep in touch. I would be very interested to see the booklets that were exhibited in the Bromley exhibition. I wonder if there has been any other response to this article.
Isobel Jones (nee Tompkins)
Lindfield, West Sussex