Gradually the new boarding house, Sennocke, was rising in the grounds of the long-established GIH, but it wasn’ t quite ready in time for our return to school in September 1985. Instead, number 38 continued to host a dozen or so girls, and a former prep school, Winchester House on Hitchen Hatch Lane, was pressed into service with the Hebberts in charge. Alex returned, blonder and more tanned than ever, from her family home in Athens and various other cosmopolitan girls arrived from Europe and beyond. Cool was redefined by Emily and Wendy; Winchester House pulsed to the sounds of Bowie and Depeche Mode.
The third form brought a dozen new day girls too, including Sally, Charlotte and Gemma. Finally, we could make up full sports teams. It was tough at times to see the boys head off on global sports tours, but there were moments of early male allyship when Omar, Phil and others came to cheer us on at home netball matches. After a long career at the BBC, I now work at the charity Women in Sport and recognise the sports offer at Sevenoaks today to be a beacon of equality.
By the end of the Michaelmas term 1985 Sennocke House was complete, and my school life changed dramatically when my parents moved to Kent and my brother Matt joined the school. I became a day girl, but those heady first 12 months of boarding life at Sevenoaks were hard to beat. The mid-80s, music, mates and Monster Munch. What a time to be alive.
Julia George nee Botfield( OS 1990)
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