Budleigh Past and Present

Much-loved Budleigh Salterton teacher Joan Bannister in her eighties, with one of her pupils in the Linhay classroom at Fairlynch Joan Bannister must surely hold the record as Budleigh Salterton’s longest-serving teacher. She finally retired at the age of 82, having taught in the town since 1931 when she moved from London with her parents.   She was the elder of two children born to Alfred John Charles Bannister and his wife Alice Maude, n é e Guppy. From her earliest years, she had always wanted to teach young children.   “As a child in my parents' home, I used to arrange my dolls on the staircase and pretend they were my class,” she recalled. She herself was educated at Badminton School , Gloucestershire, pictured above. The school was noted at the time for its progressive ideas under the headship of Beatrice May Baker  (1876-1973). Above: Beatrice May Baker, headmistress of Badminton School, flanked by, left, Miss Webb-Johnson and Miss Rendall, wit...