Love them or loathe them we all have a stand out memory of school meals whether it is your favourite or least favourite dish, the dinner ladies in the hall or the seating arrangements that separated you from your friends as they were on packed lunch. My foremost memory is from first school (aged maybe 7-8) and getting into trouble for trying to eat my pudding first…for those that know me that will hardly be a surprise!!
For those attending a residential school, the experience of school meals would undoubtedly be different; you couldn’t push your food around the plate as you didn’t like it, hoping that your mam had made your favourite for tea! Run by Northumberland Local Education Authority, Brown Rigg Camp School was a secondary school based near Bellingham. During World War Two the buildings were used to house and educate evacuees from Newcastle upon Tyne. Brown Rigg opened its doors in 1945 as a Residential School, closing in 1985. The school provided “a one-year course from September each year for any boy or girl in the 13-15 age group in the Authority’s schools” [NRO 02847/F/101]. “The aim of the School [was] to provide the benefits of a Boarding School Education, particularly to boys and girls in their last year at School, in which they rapidly develop a sense of responsibility and self-reliance which are valuable assets for the future” [NRO 02847/F/102].
The school prospectus gives us an insight in to what the children could expect; breakfast at 8.30am, dinner at 1.00pm, tea at 4.30pm and supper at 7.30pm. The food provided was described as ‘consistently good’; the typical menu shows different meals everyday although bread and butter with tea was available each breakfast and teatime (tea being replaced with cocoa at suppertime). Breakfasts included cornflakes, porridge, bacon, sausages, kippers. Dinners were two-courses typically a meat, potato and vegetable main course such as Irish stew with potatoes, although fish pie was served on Fridays. Puddings included tapioca, trifle or apple tart. Tea was more like a snack, a boiled egg or a herring to go with the bread and butter. Supper was a little more substantial, bubble and squeak, soup or a pudding.
Maybe you attended Brown Rigg and can recall the meals provided – were they ‘consistently good’ as promised? For those who didn’t attend Brown Rigg what is your stand out memory of school dinners? Did you have a favourite or one that you still loathe to this day? A quick office poll concluded that pink custard was remembered by a few of us. We would love you to share your food related memories in the comments section.