Did you attend the 1971 Stansted Summer School?
Researchers from the University of Hertfordshire are looking to collect the memories and experiences of the women and staff who joined the Stansted Summer School held at Gorsefield House in 1971.
Back in 1971, hot pants, bell-bottomed trousers and platform shoes were the fashion must haves; The Osmonds and Jackson 5 were hitting the charts; Walt Disney opened their theme park in Florida; and nineteen teenage girls from several boroughs across London spent three weeks together at Gorsefield House.
It may seem a life-time ago but, forty years on, the researchers are reviewing the memories and experiences of all those who took part in this innovative summer school – the staff as well as the girls. During the summer school, the girls had the opportunity to experience new things and open their eyes to a new way of life. At Gorsefield House, activities and space encouraged physical exercise and coordination, a positive environment developed emotional well-being and good healthy food was provided. The girls, aged from eleven to thirteen years old, lived in Tower Hamlets, Southwark, Camden, Westminster, Greenwich and Islington.
If you or anyone you know attended this three-week summer school in 1971 and would like to share your memories, the researchers would like to hear from you. Please contact Ruth Towell, Researcher on r.towell@herts.ac.uk or call her on 01707 286390.