Ann Berryman - Part 2
I went
the Franciscan Convent in Steamer Point, it was
a strange school as there was only one main room
containing four different classes presided over
by four severe nuns. As hard as I tried I could
never become top of the class, my rival was
Lourdes Courtinho, a pretty Indian girl, She was
very clever and I wonder what her future held.1
We wore white dresses with an SFC embroidered in
blue cross-stitch on the bodice.
There
was a small room where I began piano lessons and
any loud clock ticking now reminds me of the
metronome that sat on the piano and Sister’s
shouts when I couldn’t keep time. Piano lessons
meant practising and as we had no piano at home
I would spend one afternoon a week at the home
of Padre and Mrs MacGuffie where I struggled to
practice on their small organ. It was difficult
enough to read and play the music but there were
two large pedals to operate to get the organ
going and a lever by the left knee whose
function escapes me now. The best part of these
visits was going to their flat in the back
streets of Crater where I wasn’t normally
allowed to go and eating Mrs MacG’s tiny
meringues which she called ‘kisses’. In spite of
these attractions I still cannot play the piano
– or organ.
Lynette's home,
known in 1880 as Buckingham Palace.
I had a
school friend in these early days called
Lynette, she lived in what looked like a castle
(see photo above) high on a hill in
Crater looking down onto
Sira, we went to the convent together, met
up during later school holidays and again before
we both left Aden to begin our adult lives. It
was a carefree time time for us children, we
could walk alone to Sira,
past the Bottling Plant and climb to the fort (see
photo below).
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Lynette and
Ann at Sira Fort
Ann &
Lynette riding Jock & Taffy, two Khormaksar Club polo ponies |
I wonder if the skeleton of a dog still
lies in the moat. We rode polo
ponies from the Khormaksar Club,
sometimes along the beach and even in
Sheikh Othman Gardens.
The birthday party picture of 1947 (see
photo) brings together some of my
contemporaries – Noreen Lowes, Jocelyn
Tring, Patience Floode-Cooke and Lynette
Shrubbs, other names are long forgotten,
maybe someone will put names to faces.
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On Sundays Lynette and I would go to a
church service held by Padre MacGuffie
at St.
Mary's-on-the-Hill in Crater – I
don’t remember any church music.
I have
a New Testament given to me on my
birthday in 1948 inscribed by Padre &
Mrs. MacG. (see photo)
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1 Lourdes
became a Doctor in London.
Ann Berryman
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