Photos of Wigan
Photos of Wigan
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Album Contents
Wigan Album
Wigan Girls' High School
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Mary Koopmans and Joyce Hampson, 1938.
Photo: Carol Coates (nee Brown)
Photo: Carol Coates (nee Brown)
Views: 4,207
Item #: 463
Item #: 463
Wigan Girl's High School trip to Holland in April 1938, run by World Friendship Tours.
Mary Koopmans of Heemstede, Holland and Wigan Girls' High School pupil Joyce Hampson in April, 1938.
Below is a little story to attach to the photo concerning one of the pupils on that trip, my mother, Joyce Brown who is 81 now and lives in Wigan.
WIGAN GIRLS' HIGH SCHOOL TRIP TO HOLLAND IN APRIL 1938
Joyce Hampson was one of a group of Wigan Girls' High School pupils who went on a trip to Holland to stay with Dutch families in April 1938. The visit was organised by World Friendship Tours. Joyce's Dutch penfriend was Mary Koopmans, who appears in the first photo with her. Mary's family, with whom my mother stayed, lived with her family in Heemstede, Holland. The two girls corresponded throughout their teenage years into adulthood. Mary was studying medicine. During the war my mother, working then for the British Red Cross, enabled correspondence to pass via the British Red Cross message service between Mary's father, Roelof, a sea captain involved in the war and later decorated for his efforts, and his family. When Roelof's ship was torpedoed off Scotland, he contacted Joyce's father hoping to come to Wigan but his leave was cut short. At that time my mother's family lived in St Clements Road. Months passed before Mary's family heard from her father and times were extremely hard. One of the most poignant letters describes how Mary's brothers were hidden beneath floorboards in the house, sometimes in water, during raids by Germans. The other describes the most joyful reunion at the end of the war, when Mary's father returned during the night on a cart laden with presents, to great celebrations with his family and the neighbours. He was upset to find that some clothes bought in America were too big for his sons, who had lost weight during wartime. Mary and her mother were delighted to find different foods, fabric and even sewing threads and needles filling the living room. Joyce and Mary corresponded until the early 1950s after Mary's marriage to a C P Leersnijder. Mary then moved to Haarlem and possibly emigrated to Australia or Canada. My mother tried to find her again via a local newspaper but without success.
Mary Koopmans of Heemstede, Holland and Wigan Girls' High School pupil Joyce Hampson in April, 1938.
Below is a little story to attach to the photo concerning one of the pupils on that trip, my mother, Joyce Brown who is 81 now and lives in Wigan.
WIGAN GIRLS' HIGH SCHOOL TRIP TO HOLLAND IN APRIL 1938
Joyce Hampson was one of a group of Wigan Girls' High School pupils who went on a trip to Holland to stay with Dutch families in April 1938. The visit was organised by World Friendship Tours. Joyce's Dutch penfriend was Mary Koopmans, who appears in the first photo with her. Mary's family, with whom my mother stayed, lived with her family in Heemstede, Holland. The two girls corresponded throughout their teenage years into adulthood. Mary was studying medicine. During the war my mother, working then for the British Red Cross, enabled correspondence to pass via the British Red Cross message service between Mary's father, Roelof, a sea captain involved in the war and later decorated for his efforts, and his family. When Roelof's ship was torpedoed off Scotland, he contacted Joyce's father hoping to come to Wigan but his leave was cut short. At that time my mother's family lived in St Clements Road. Months passed before Mary's family heard from her father and times were extremely hard. One of the most poignant letters describes how Mary's brothers were hidden beneath floorboards in the house, sometimes in water, during raids by Germans. The other describes the most joyful reunion at the end of the war, when Mary's father returned during the night on a cart laden with presents, to great celebrations with his family and the neighbours. He was upset to find that some clothes bought in America were too big for his sons, who had lost weight during wartime. Mary and her mother were delighted to find different foods, fabric and even sewing threads and needles filling the living room. Joyce and Mary corresponded until the early 1950s after Mary's marriage to a C P Leersnijder. Mary then moved to Haarlem and possibly emigrated to Australia or Canada. My mother tried to find her again via a local newspaper but without success.
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