THE old school bell clanged and instinctively and instantly the chatter of a gaggle of ‘old girls’ came to a halt.

Former pupils from Glendower School had gathered outside the front gate of Sydenham House for a photo to mark 50 years since the school closed. The bell had been brought along by Mary Alford (née Reddicliffe) who had purchased it at an auction after the school’s closure.

The Grade I listed Elizabethan manor house had become host to the girls’ school during the bleak years of World War Two. It continued as a school, complete with panelled walls, four-poster beds and secret passages, until July 1966.

Among pupils attending the school for two years during the sixties was Deborah Tabor. It was her idea to hold a reunion and she started out by contacting the local press, including the Tavistock Times.

The response was immediate, former pupils Hilary Gozzi (née Semmons) and Diana Brian (née Ching) being among the first. Momentum gathered and a total of 33 ‘old girls’ attended the reunion which was marked by a lunch held at nearby Lewtrenchard Manor.

Two pupils from the forties were Zoe Bradshaw and Stephanie Blanchard (née Giles). Zoe, who was to become community constable at Okehampton for 24 years, went to Sydenham at the age of five in 1943.

Stephanie, who went in 1945 at the age of 14, explained she was one of only a handful of daygirls who attended the boarding school.

She said: ‘We felt privileged to be educated in such a beautiful house. We would catch the train to Coryton Station, get off there, collect our bicycles and cycle to school. In the winter we went by taxi.’

Among other pupils attending were ‘Piglet’  otherwise known as Lorna Wiles, now Cann, and ‘Donkey’, alias Elizabeth Donkin, now Bullock, whose father Air Commodore Peter Donkin inherited Sydenham in 1962.

Among the last pupils to attend the school were Valerie Wonnacott (née Ham) and Jill Dennis (née Blight).

Valerie spoke of her reaction on the last day: ‘We rode away on our bicycles. We were very happy to be leaving. We were due to leave anyway.’

Jill said: ‘It was sad, looking back. I don’t think any of us realised what a privilege it was to be there.’

Susan Goodsir (née Robinson), a former head girl, left Sydenham in 1955 after eight happy years. She is friends with the owners Graeme and Hilary Hart and has visited the former home of Sir Thomas Wyse (1546-1630) on several occasions. Notably, she climbed the scaffolding to look at repairs being carried out at the house after the devastating fire of November 2011 when a large part of the roof, top storey and second floor, including the panelled Long Gallery were destroyed.

A pupil from the fifties Vicky Austen (née  Dewhurst) has stayed at Sydenham since the huge restoration programme. She said: ‘It was very comfortable. The Harts have restored it beautifully.’

At the reunion lunch Deborah read out a long list of former pupils who were unable to attend but sent their best wishes. She also read two emails from pupils Jane Hayward (née Pedder) and Penny Kench (née Brewer).

Jane said: ‘It would have been such fun and meeting some from my years at Sydenham, some of whom I haven’t seen since the fifties.’

Penny, who was at the school from 1960 to 1965, encapsulated much of the atmosphere of the school with her memories which included endless walks/runs in all weathers; church and the sweet shop afterwards; candlelit carol concerts; decorating the grand staircase with greenery for Christmas; Van Dyke paintings and four-poster beds; bats in the bedrooms and windows open all the time and chilblains; classical music/book reading and sewing in the Long Gallery; throwing purple berets from the bridge into the river on their final day at Glendower.

A video of the sports day in 1960 which was brought by Susan Mountford (née Hawkey) revived other memories.

Deborah later commented: ‘It was so amazing that everyone there knew Sticky, Sutty and Mamzel.’ (Mrs Stickland, the head mistress, Miss Sutton, geography and botany teacher, and Mlle Guilbert, the French mistress).

Bouquets on behalf of the old girls were presented to Deborah by Diana Whiteford (née Broad) and Stephanie Blanchard.

Also attending was former Tavistock Times and Okehampton Times reporter Sandra Coventry (known at school as Bunny Baker-falkner) who was a pupil from 1953 to 1960.

She has compiled a book entitled Sydenham Remembered.