THE pictures of the Convent of the Sacred Heart High School brought back happy memories for Looking Back reader Esmee Nicholls.

She can remember playing hockey at the school and also entertaining the lads from Hardye’s school in Dorchester, who came to the convent for dances.

She said: “I remember there were six flights of stone steps and two nuns had to clean them from top to bottom.

“We used to play hockey and would come off the pitches all muddy and mucky and had to use the steps to get into the school, so those poor nuns had to get back out and clean the steps after us.

“We had to wear shorts when we played hockey and they had to be a certain length so that when you kneeled down, their hems would touch the ground.

The nuns would always check they were the correct length, but of course we always rolled over the tops to make them shorter!

“I also remember the Reverend Mother and we had to curtsey when we saw her – and for years afterwards my knees would ache!”

Esmee added: “Once a year the boys from Hardye’s in Dorchester would come for a dance and before it happened we had to practise our steps.

“We learned the waltz and quickstep and had to get it right so we wouldn’t let the school down.”