Remembering Pam
This are some thoughts and memories written by her friends.
 
Pam spent four decades of her life teaching the teenagers of Catford. She was a wonderful teacher – patient, imaginative, practical and determined to get the best for the pupils. Generations of girls, and later boys, benefited from her teaching. And each year Pam’s colleagues were in awe of the grades the pupils achieved in geography. She got results from the most unpromising and challenging pupils  and inspired an interest in environmental issues which was way ahead of its time.
One of the highlights of the Catford calendar was the geography field trip. Pam would persuade colleagues to accompany her and 60 inappropriately dressed, hormonal, feisty teenagers to a rural retreat. What could possibly go wrong? Whatever you imagine, it happened. The achievement was that in all those years, Pam returned with all pupils more or less intact.
Outside of the classroom, Pam was a fantastically supportive and cheerful colleague, patiently developing new teachers, acting as a sounding block during the dark moments, adding her own inimitable brand of humour to staffroom conversations and making those quiet, witty remarks that would make her colleagues laugh at the wrong moments.
Today, staying for so long at the same school is unusual but it was not unusual at Catford. Under the unusual leadership of June Fisher, an unusual school was created, where staff became family and people chose to stay. Strong friendships were forged which became lifelong.
Pam enjoyed the friendship of a group of Catford teachers who later called themselves the Dragons. For many years the Dragons met up for holidays, in France, where one Dragon had a beautiful house, or in rented houses in scenic areas of England and Wales. Pam was a key person in these holidays. She stepped out briskly on long coastal walks, lent glamour to the dinner table with her gorgeous clothes and kept her friends laughing. She would litter her bedroom floor with countless bags, some of which contained the latest beauty treatments for us to try. Most importantly, on these trips, she carried out the vital duty of making the sandwiches every morning for packed lunches.
You will all know that Pam, like her Dad, loved to travel. With a small group of Dragons, she travelled to many, many places in Europe and beyond – starting with Prague, but later as far as Madeira and even New York and the Isle of Whyte! During these visits, Pam developed her interest in history and in art and culture. In all these places she visited art galleries, museums, opera and concerts. From each she would take away a moment, a fact or a memory. She also learnt the importance of arming yourself with a Dorling Kindersley guide in your travels.
After she retired, Pam went on a trip with one of the Dragons, that she had wished to make for a long time, to South America. This involved careful planning and preparation and seeing some amazing sights. She was unable to contain her excitement on seeing the Iguazu Falls and the glaciers. It was a trip she often liked to remember.
These various holidays have created a rich bank of lovely memories for her friends. But friendship was never confined to shared holidays. After retirement, Pam took up a range of interests with beginner’s zeal. She learnt knitting and dressmaking, taking lessons from friends and sharing her enthusiasm and achievements. A telephone chat with Pam was always a cheerful and reassuring event. Meeting her lifted the spirits. If Pam came to visit she never came empty handed, it could be a book, a scrap of interesting fabric or a loaf of Turkish bread she had purchased, somewhere along the route of the No 54 bus. But, best of all, it was Pam you opened the door to and you knew you would be enjoying the next few hours. She enjoyed talking politics and was incredibly knowledgeable about world affairs. She enjoyed a good book and sharing her literary finds with other people. She was a great listener, she was easy, relaxing company and the author of many a wicked remark. A few months back, Pam said that friendship was like a warm blanket. It was a fitting description.
 
She was, for all those decades, the warmest of  blankets, a wonderful friend. Always reliable, always there, always supportive, always kind, always generous, always cheerful, always funny, always fun. There is now an aching, Pam-shaped hole in many people’s lives, but we cherish all the moments we had with her and know we were blessed to share her friendship.
 
January 2022