Convent girls

The closest Pat Wardell came to rebellion was on a school trip to Austria at the age of 14 when she tasted her first alcohol, schnapps, and even then it was just a few sips. Hardly a major act of rebellion.

Along with Angela Stevenson, Pat was a pupil from 1954 to 60 and both seem to have an enviable time.

"I'm sure there's a certain thing that goes with convent girls but I think it's one of those things everybody else talks about. Personally, I loved being there," says Angela. "School for me was wonderful because it was such a nice place to be. It was strict but I always say the nuns treated us as if their family had come home."

Pat adds: "I do know a couple of girls who rebelled but not everyone does. Having said that, I did once go to see a play about convent girls and a lot of the things in it were very familiar."

The Immaculate Conception Grammar School stood at the West End of Darlington in a large townhouse that already had a long and distinguished history by the time it opened as a school in 1904.

The house, known as Southend, was built in 1804 by Edward Backhouse, founder of Barclays Bank. He later sold it to Joseph Pease. The railway entrepreneur and first Quaker member of Parliament enlarged the house and gardens, building the second floor and buying land where he created a boating lake, fountain and summerhouse. Pease died in 1872 but his daughters, Emma and Jane, lived there until their deaths. When Emma died in 1895, the house was taken over by Southend Estate Company, which filled the lake and built Beechwood Avenue on the site.

The house was then bought by the sisters of Charity of Saint Vincent de Paul, who converted it into a school. Sister Vincent, the first Mother Superior, oversaw the addition of a massive extension that included dormitories and a new chapel.

By the time Angela and Pat enrolled, it was one of Darlington's premier girls schools with high educational standards. "The aim was to educate us and bring us up as good Catholic girls and there was a very strict code," recalls Angela.

Long hair had to be tied back, the girls weren't allowed to eat in the street. Both Pat and Angela remember having their gym shorts measured to check they were the regulation length. But the cane was never used - it wouldn't have been appropriate for young ladies. If a girl broke the rules, she was given an order mark. Her name was read out in assembly and she had to stand up in front of the whole school. "You learned to stand up and sit down very quickly," Angela recalls.

She also remembers a time when the school was due to hold a dance with boys from St Mary's Grammar School at Hummersknot. The nuns agreed to the plan at first but cancelled it soon afterwards. "There was a real buzz in the weeks before. Everyone was very excited and I'm not sure they thought they could handle it," she laughs.

Pat tells a similar story about a film shown to the school as a treat on a feast day. They had been promised a religious film: The Miracle of Fatima. They sat down, the screen flickered into life and Van Johnson appeared, stripped to the waist. It was Miracle in the Rain, not what the nuns had been expecting - and it was turned off immediately.

"In some ways we were quite isolated," says Angela, "but it wasn't the same as it was for boarders. We had lives outside school and we did mix with the boys. I suppose if you were really introverted, it would have been hard to shake it off. I was a lot shyer then but it certainly didn't have a bad effect on me."

Religion was central to school life. Pat and Angela remember the major procession that took place every year on the feast of Corpus Christi.

"We used to have to walk through the grounds with flowers and carrying crosses. Every so often, we had to kneel down for the benediction and it always seemed to be on the gravel path. You ended up with gravel stuck in your knees," says Pat.

And even though the rules were strict, there was a friendly atmosphere. The nuns had a dog called Bruno that wandered through the school, often appearing at assembly. Add to that stunning surroundings - a garden rather than a playing field - and you have the makings of some very memorable schooldays.

The Immaculate Conception closed in 1975 when it amalgamated with St Mary's. The building became a temperance hotel and guest house until it was bought and renovated by Bannatyne Hotels in 1997 as the New Grange.

There has always been a past pupils' association but with this year marking the school's centenary, the girls and some of the nuns will be returning to Southend to reminisce.

The reunion, which will take place on May 8, has proved so popular that the hotel is being closed and all places are now booked. There will be exhibitions of old photographs and memorabilia and Rose Prior, who at 103, is the oldest surviving pupil, will cut the cake.

"We started talking about this at last year's reunion and I had a feeling right from the start that it was going to be huge - far bigger than any other event we've had," says Pat.

"It will just be wonderful to go back and see the place and share stories about what was such an important time."