morganacademyfp

Does anyone have any recollections of the school dinners from 1948 to 1953. The rector Mr. Robertson used to stand at the door to make sure everyone who entered, handed in their ticket, then he ate usually alone in the corner of the room to keep order. There was a way of getting an extra plate if you fancied it by asking the server of the day for a "slip". You would then rest it on your knees until you finished the first plate. The kitchen never counted the plates. My pals at this time were "Beanie" McLean and Jake Thoms. However, one day my "slip" slipped off my knee with a clatter and the ominous figure of the rector approached and asked "Who's extra dinner is that?". I was then banished from the dining room and told never to come back. After about six months and fed up with sandwiches, I dared to enter the dinners again and also under the gaze of Mr. Robertson who was still watching the tickets being handed in. I'm sure he noticed me but I had the feeling that he would turn a blind eye and he did. Despite his stern, humourless expression, I always thought he was a decent man. If Beanie or Jake read this, this is Jim Sullivan.

I do not recollect the Beak being at the dinner room door......was there not two sittings?....I was a "Monitor" ...big deal.....I remember having a bottle of HP sauce that was kept under the counter for me...quite a number of diners had sauce bottles. Often "Seconds" were available.

Ernie

I rarely went to school dinners, but had to for a short time while my mother was in hospital. I remember that grace was said before the meal (at least in the girls' dinner hall). And one day the pudding was "concrete" - a sort of baked biscuity thing served with custard, quite impossible to break with a spoon. At the staff table one of the teachers gave it a chop with the edge of her spoon, and half her pudding went flying up the table!

The school dinners put me off sago, tapioca and steamed pudding, for life. We used to call the steamed pudding "sinker" and I do not recall anyone who actually enjoyed it. We had to buy the tickets from Miss Hunt in the office and no ticket, no dinner. The children of to-day would not have put up with them, but then we were brought up to do as we were told.

I have no sense of smell. This apparently was a Godsend at school dinners! I went to Dinners on only a few occasions and ate, as I always did and do. My sister, on the other hand, refused to eat. Smell, presentation - it's food. I don't like going hungry!

Generally the school dinner puddings were what I looked forward to - with one or two exceptions. Tapioca (frog's spawn) and a cocoanut topped sponge accompanied by a clear strawberry sauce, which unfortunately had the most disgusting medicine taste!
I eventually became a server at the second sitting, and if there was something particularly good you could let the dinner lady know when it was your plate and get a little bit extra.

I recall that one year there was a nationally shortage of potatoes and we were served baps instead of tatties.

Ernie

I remember school dinners well. Favourite was potatoes mince and skirly. Hated sago and prunes or figs. Remember black death which was dark steamed pudding and custard. Semolina and Jam which you mixed to make a red gooey mess was another favourite. If you chatted up the dinner ladies sas Ernie and I used to do you could get seconds. Dont remember the Rector supervising but can remember Roddy McLeod and Dusty Miller doing that

I don't mind being the odd person out. I love any kind of food and I loved the Morgan school dinners. I realize I live in a world of fussy eaters but I'm not ashamed to say that I feel fortunate that I can eat anything. As I grew older my love of food has never diminished. My favourite food now is Vindaloo curry, pasta with meat sauce and chicken wings with very hot sauce. I await the inevitable ridicule and scorn which is sure to come my way but there's no point in hiding the truth.

Nothing wrong with a good Vindaloo or even a Ceylon.

I'll eat anything once. I will NOT, however, eat tapioca and sago. My food delights depend on taste and sensation, as I have no sense of smell. Slimy food just doesn't do it for me.

I started my working life teaching in Glasgow, and was amused to find that Glasgow kids spoke about the "Dinner school". But as far as the teachers were concerned, the best thing was that all Glasgow staffrooms were equipped with a gas cooker. On pay days we would go to the nearest shop for Birdseye frozen Dinners for One, and fill up the oven. Or sometimes one of the Domestic Science teachers would do a big pot of spaghetti and one of bolognese sauce........ Yum!

Jester, Biloxi is a city in Mississippi.. Like Biloxi I have always been able to eat anything put before me. I think the word is Gourmand or Trencherman.
Any way I remember An economics teacher who rejoiced in the nickname of "Bates", but being a techie i cant recall what his real name was.

Hamish.

Well maybe it was Master?