The main entrance to the college on Sandwich Road, there was a letter-box just inside the gate.
Mrs. Ina Hammond, the widow of Captain Egerton Hammond, put the St. Alban’s Court estate up for sale in late 1937, the estate was divided into more than eighty individual lots to be sold by auction by John D. Wood and Co. of 23, Berkely Square, London, who published a catalogue of the property and land to be sold.
The new St. Alban’s Court house built in the 1870’s plus two “Tudor cottages” that had previously been the old St. Alban’s Court house and some fifty acres of the surrounding land was purchased by the English Gymnastic Society (EGS) for use as both head-quarters and a training centre for women who wished to teach gymnastics. The EGS had been founded by Miss Gladys Wright, who had trained in Denmark and Sweden, and taught a modernized style of gymnastics evolved from the pioneering work in the early 19th century of Per Henrik Ling.
The college which was opened on 23rd July, 1938 by Cosmo Gordon Lang, the then Archbishop of Canterbury, with Miss Wright as Principal and Stena Kreuger, a Swede, as Vice-Principal. The links with Scandinavia were strengthened through the activities of the English and Scandinavian Summer School of Physical Education with Miss Wright visiting Scandinavia before and after the Second World War.
In the June of 1939 the Duke of Kent visited Nonington, Snowdown Colliery and Aylesham. He was shown around Nonington College by the Principal and Vice-Principal and watched some displays by the students.
During the War the establishment was evacuated to Bromsgrove in Worcestershire and the buildings were taken over to aid the war effort. During Miss Wright’s tenure a Swedish Gymnasium, later known as the Swedish Dance Theatre, was built. The theatre is now listed
Miss Wright retired as Principal in 1952, and the college was taken over by the Kent County Council’s (KCC) Education Department with Winnifred Whiting as principal. The college became one of the principle teacher training colleges in the U.K. providing training for students from all over the world to become physical education teachers. Until 1966 the college was a women only establishment and the students were easily recognizable by their blue capes with the college badge embroidered on it. Many of them were “in digs” in Nonington and the surrounding villages and this close relationship with the local population often led to marriage.
The KCC invested a lot of money in the college during Winnifred Whiting’s tenure as Principal and during that of her successor Miss Eleonor Hinks. A new gymnasium was opened in 1959 and a swimming pool was built soon afterwards. Many local children from the schools in the villages surrounding Nonington, including myself and my sisters, learnt to swim here under the guidance of Mr. Rogers.
Old Court House and St. Michael’s in Easole were used as annexes and some small hostel blocks had been built to the east of the main house during the early 1960’s but due to the demand for P.E. teachers in the late 1960’s and early 1970’s the number of students increased and on site and off-site accommodation proved inadequate and additional residential hostels (now converted into privately owned flats). A sports hall; performing arts centre and new kitchen and dining room facilities were also built and another forty plus acres of land adjoining the grounds to the west were purchased to provide additional playing fields.
This demand for PE teachers was short lived, apparently the then falling birth-rate meant that less PE teachers would be needed, and in the late 1970’s teacher training came to an end and the college’s then principal Stanley Beaumont diversified the colleges activities into none teaching qualifications in partnership with Christ Church College. Sadly further cuts in Government spending saw the closure of the college in 1986 (along with the sale at premium prices of many school sports grounds for re-development).
However, to the everlasting shame of KCC, the college estate was left empty for nearly a decade at a time when property and land prices were booming (although for some reason the road lights were still turned on every night) with some occasional use for the training of the police and other services. Various alternative uses for the premises were put forward over the years, some more credible than others (at the time it seemed to the local population that the less credible the scheme, the more credence the KCC gave to it) until it was sold very cheaply to property developers who re-developed the various buildings and sold them for a substantial profit. Some of the old college’s sports facilities were replaced by industrial units, something that the KCC had previously said was not possible. They also frequently stated that the estate was not suitable for housing development, even in part, as the local infrastructure (ie. sewage and water) could not cope with an increase in population, but the 1870’s mansion and other nearby buildings now house two hundred or so people of all ages, with frequent requests to the local authorities for more accommodation to be allowed.
Egerton Hammond is my 2nd Great Uncle
Egerton Hammond is/was my 2nd Great Uncle
Hello Pauline, long time no hear. Hope you’re keeping well. Would love to hear from you again. Rosemary King
Thank you for putting this information on the web. I am Barbara Jones’ daughter who was at Nonington from1946 – 49, and was one of the Elite Team that went to Stockholm for the 1949 Lingiad – which you can now find on YouTube! She is now living in Devon and we are planning to visit Nonington in 2018.
Just reading this. Joyce was my wonderful lecturer at noningtonians . Great memories . Kind regards Lesley Malone MBE
Hello
I’ve just come across your email about Nonington PE College. I went, 1967 – 70, the second intake of men. I remember the Dell, thats where I composed all my essays about movement and stuff like that.
Our year group have two reunions every year. 1: the first Saturday in december meet and eat/drink at Covent Garden, London; 2: 4 day before the easter break at The Leam Hotel in Weymouth, Dorset. usually about 40 old sods turn up – great fun though. Join us next time.
I’m impressed by the very happy memoires you all have of the College. Some of your readers will have known Joy Bridger-Rye, née Joy Howard, who was, I understand, a teacher at Nonington College for some years in, I guess, 1960s-70s, prior to her marriage to Henry Charles Bridger-Rye. You will want to know that she died recently, on 16th December 2017, and her funeral is to be held at St. Mary’s Westerham on 18th January 2018, 3 days after this post, and I am to give the address. Although not directly related, she was connected with my wife’s family by marriage, and we tried to keep up with her. She suffered dementia in her final years but that never dimmed her lovely spirit. I would be glad to hear from any reader who knew her at the College. I know she loved her work there.
I was a lab assistant for Miss Everett( Biology Teacher) at Nonington college. 1956- 58.
I lived in Dover, and caught the train to Nonington Staton. I picked up my bike, and cycled through the country lanes to work- then hitched my bike onto the old horse hitching post. The lab was a little bit away from the main building, the old manor house. In the summer, I would be given free range of the college. I would walk around as though I was lady of the manor!
I am 60 years older now, but have never forgotten my time there. I have been living in California since 1967.
I am one of Stan Beaumont’s daughters (Principal in the 70s and 80s); I have a painting of the college main building and wondering what to do with it! It was painted by Effie West (a student in the early 1970s I think) and presented to mum and dad. Anyone got any thoughts?!
Hi Maggie, Yes of course I remember you and Bonny and Mary. I have been trying to look for you so perhaps we could meet again after all these years. Are you on facebook??? I am so perhaps we could link up through that?
Could this web site administrator please advise Elizabeth Showan that I have posted news of Tim Showan’s passing away on the NCPE Facebook site today and there a several posts there from ex students with fond memories of Tim when he was lecturing at Nonington College.
“Thanks for this link. It is a lovely digital book to flip through. I have put a copy of these posts on the Nonington College of Physical Education Facebook site.
Go to https://www.facebook.com/groups/53763257820/ to see it – You may need to ask for permission to see it as it’s a closed site, but there’s lots of NCPE content on this site and lots of names that people might / should remember. I hope his family know that some of us remember Tim.”
More stuff cut and pasted here from the NCPE Facebook page.
Dave Anderson
Dave Anderson : Did a great job, notably with those “jocks” who knew little or nothing of the artistic life, very kind man.
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John Hansell
John Hansell 16 November 08:42
As has been pointed out, Tim’s car was a Lagonda, Facebook predictive Yankee spelling again screws up the English Language.
John Hansell 16 November 08:50
Tim even managed to get Malkie “Football Crazy” Cook through main level Art – although all Malkie ever painted were football matches. Malkie even submitted an oil painting of a football crowd and an empty pitch for his finals. Tim said “How can that be still life?’ Malkie said “Aye, it’s half time fitba at Ibrox!”
Alison O’Connor 16 November 08:56
Lovely man . I didn’t do art but the music block was down there where Peter Wastall taught me to play the flute . I’m a bit rusty now tho . X
Original post
Thanks for this link. It is a lovely digital book to flip through. I have put a copy of these posts on the Nonington College of Physical Education Facebook site.
Go to https://www.facebook.com/groups/53763257820/ to see it – You may need to ask for permission to see it as it’s a closed site, but there’s lots of NCPE content on this site and lots of names that people might / should remember.
I hope his family know that some of us remember Tim.
Died 2014. Here is a wonderful book on his art and life: http://fliphtml5.com/gtzq/dwni
Photo page 8 is familiar. I was at Nonington 76 to 79.
Very sorry to hear that. I went to Tim’s Art Lectures and got Main Level Art at Nonners. I learned a lot from him – especially working in oils. Tim also introduced me to landscape photography and developing and printing photos in dark rooms. A very nice, if a bit of an absent minded sort of bloke, who had a lot of patience – often with students who didn’t have a clue about Art. I was also be grateful that he got me some extra money doing Saturday morning teaching at Dover School of Art, (when it didn’t clash with College football away fixtures.)
He used to drive vintage car (I think it was a Lagonda) around with a Light Ale bottle label on as road tax. One of the nicer, more human lecturers there, I have very fond memories of him.
Is that Dave “Magnet Hands” Adams, from North Harrow? The fearless goalkeeper of the fantastic world beating 1970 NCPE football team? This is the left sided mid-field dynamo, (Number 8) replying – also known as NBGZ. Of course, I’m ignoring our loss to Waverley FC in the Kent Junior Cup Final, which I blame on the snowstorm that cancelled the original fixture at Snowdown Colliery. Remember that?? Send your email address to me at johnhansell1@me.com and I’ll get you up to date,
perhaps some of his students would like to know that Tim Showan died in 1014
He was appointed in 1963 to run the art department , then only offering only painting .
He developed the disciplines including sculpture ,pottery ,siversmithing and graphics until the closure of the college
I live in Dorset, near Lulworth Cove. I married Pookie Wines. Now a retired head teacher I’m enjoying the grandkids, gardening and still drinking beer.
Hi Mick,
Would very much like to hear what some of our year have been doing & where they are now.
I was a student at Nonington from1958_61.The best 3 years of my life.Great colleagues and wonderful surroundings.We were in Kent 8 years ago and took a memory trip into the village and drove past the college was very upset at the state of “The Dell”.It was my quiet place for thinking.I still think fondly of my time at Nonington.