MICHAEL and DEIRDRE FOSTER ( CRICK) on the birth of two new grandsons; to Mark and Imogen in January and to Juliette and Richard in February 2003.

BARRY AND KERRY WATKINS (MACDONALD) on the arrival of Connor David on 5th December 2002. Proud grandparents MARTIN and PAT MACDONALD are also closely associated with the Convent. Martin was caretaker during the years 1961 to 1975, he will have been a helpful, well known person in the lives of many of the pupils and staff.

Over the years several have spoken of the assistance and friendship which were given by Martin and his wife Pat. Pat was secretary at Corpus Christi School from 1971, the early years of Holy Cross School's move to the new premises, when it became Corpus Christi School, until 1981. Many pupils who went from Corpus Christi to the Convent will remember Pat. Kerry's brother Sean and his wife are expecting their first baby in October.

OTHER NEWS FROM PAST PUPILS.
DEBORAH AL ASFOOR (DE SOUZA) sent an e-mail when she was in England on the sad occasion of the death of her father. Deborah has been living in Bahrain for the past 24 years with her husband and two daughters. They come to England twice a year to visit her mother JULIETTE ( MOORE ). Deborah has joined the Association .

She wrote; " Great website which brought back many fond memories."

PEGGY ROBINSON hoped to be over here from Zimbabwe soon but due to difficulties she has to delay her arrival.

DOROTHEA KLYNE wrote to Jean in January and said that she had enjoyed her Christmas. Some good friends, who are neighbours, invited her for lunch and supper on Christmas Day. Another friend had taken her to Mass. Dorothea was also taken to the Requiem Mass of Deryck Nicholls.

BETTY MULLIS ( WILSON ) wrote in February and reported good news of all the Wilson family. Betty enjoys seeing her grandchildren, seven at the last count.

CHRISTINE PLACE sent news of some friends. She wrote; " I met up with ANN HINTON (PERIAM) at CATHERINE AVERY JONES' (BOBBETT) 50th birthday dinner in October last year, and coincidently spotted MAIREAD MURPHY ( O'FRIEL ) on the friendsreunited website at around the same time. ANN is still living in the Bournemouth area and Richard and I have since met up with Ann and her husband Godfrey on two occasions.

We were able to combine one of those with a meeting with MAIREAD and her husband John. They live in the Irish Republic but come over to Christchurch to visit her mother several times a year. Through the friendsreunited website MAIREAD said she had heard from LERIDA BAKER. Mairead has had little contact with school friends since leaving school but hopes to be able to come to the reunion on 6th July this year.

Before Christmas I also attended the party that ANGELA JEFFREY( STREET) held to celebrate her 5oth birthday. At the last minute her plans to have a magician friend entertain her guests had to be changed due to his illness, but instead his daughter offered to stand in -as a belly dancer! That proved to be very popular!

While on holiday in Cornwall I spotted a Bonsai garden centre in a village close by and just KNEW it had to be STELLA HORE'S (MURPHY ). I was correct and we spent the best part of a day with Stella and her husband at their house and in the Japanese Garden.

(CARMEN BACHELIER, (PETRE) reported a visit to Stella in a newsletter last year and I can concur what a fantastic place it is.

When I returned home I had an e-mail, via friendsreunited, from JEANNETTE GREEN, who has since put me in touch with ANNE CHAINEY (RATCLIFFE). Anne now has a grandson, Max. I am hoping to get together with them in the next few months and possibly to replicate a 6th Form reunion from 1970. I have a photo of us taken at my parents' house, so I thought I might do another one 33 years on!"

Thank you Christine, such an occasion should produce a wealth of news for the Christmas edition. Christine and Richard are to be married in October, we wish them every happiness.

A picture of ANITA HARRIS was in a local magazine, when she was celebrating at the 80th birthday party of Max Bygraves. ANITA was also on television for the Bob Monkhouse " This is Your Life" programme.

Another of our famous past pupils, FRAN GODFREY, has published a booklet `Meditations on The Stations of The Cross'; listeners to Radio 2 may have heard this. The biography at the back of the book reads: "Fran was born in London. Her family lived for a few years in Southern Rhodesia (Zimbabwe), then Oxford, before settling in a village on the south coast near Bournemouth. Convent educated Fran trained as a bi-lingual secretary before changing tack completely and joining the local radio station in Dorset, where she worked as a technical operator, commercial producer and presenter for 7 years.

In 1990 Fran joined BBC Radio 2 as a newsreader /announcer - and butt of Terry Wogan's relentless teasing, for which she has been well prepared by having two brothers and a witty punster as a father! A `cradle Catholic' Fran can nevertheless date the growth in, and transformation of, her faith from the time she joined the parish of St. James's in Spanish Place, London, where she met the wise, funny, clever and deeply devout Mgr: Frederick Miles, to whom she feels indebted for her spiritual awakening.

Fran lives with her laptop computer in `a tiny flat' in central London!" The Right Rev. Mgr F. A. Miles, Prot Ap. and The Rev. Canon Roger Royle, Writer and Broadcaster have both written appreciations of Fran's book, which is published by: McCRIMMON PUBLISHING CO. LTD. 10 - 12 High Street, Great Wakering, Esssex SS3 OEQ

KRYSIA ZAGORZYCKI was doing a search on her name and it came up with a link to the Convent in Boscombe. She lives in the USA. She left in 1962 aged 11 after 3 years at the Convent. Girls she remembers from those years are DOROTHY HANDCOCK from Burma, CHARMAINE SPALDING and JANE BARNES.
If anyone has news of any of these past pupils I have an e-mail address for her. Krysia was in Bournemouth last summer and would have liked to make contact with former friends.

CLARE BYFIELD e-mailed recently. She is the daughter of past pupil ANN ESPEZEL, who attended the Convent of the Cross in 1957 along with her sister Wendy. Wendy is trying to trace a friend called ROSEMARY MAINE. They would be very grateful if anyone has news for them. I have her e-mail address.

In February I received an e - mail from CAROLINE ADAMS who wrote: "Mary, I was thrilled to find this website today, and congratulations to whomever set it up! I was at Boscombe from January 1952 until July 1954, the days of REVEREND MOTHER HOWE and MOTHER McEVOY. MOTHER KEYES was my favourite, a wonderful teacher and a delightful person.

My early education was at The Convent of The Cross Waterlooville, with REVEREND MOTHER BUTLER BOWDEN. I went to Boscombe as a boarder at the age of 13. My first friend there was ANNE SHOTLANDER ( SPICER ); my father knew an aunt of hers and thought we would be good friends. In fact we have remained firm friends ever since.

Before moving to New Zealand and marrying Lionel, she was one of my bridesmaids and godmother to my eldest daughter. I last saw her in 1998 when I visited England and we write to each other regularly. I emigrated to Canada in 1986 and now live in Calgary, Alberta. I have a son and 2 daughters, 2 grand-daughters and 5 grandsons, all here in Alberta. I married in 1957 and divorced in 1975, never remarried and reverted to my maiden name some years ago.

Among my contemporaries as boarders were CLAIRE ANDERSON, ROSEMARY ENNIS, ANITA WOODESON, ITA HANCOCK and BENITA KENT. Benny and I had been at Waterlooville Convent together. I met Benny at a reunion in Boscombe somewhere back in the 1980s but have totally lost touch with all of them now. I would be very interested in news of any of them. We must all be in our 60s now. If there is any way of putting something on the web-page, sort of a "where are they now?" I would be very pleased.