GWEN Rhys-Jones has many fond memories of her times at the New England Girls’ School, writing letters to her family back home while sitting in the gardens.
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Now the NEGS alumni will see other people enjoy the grounds she loved as a high school boarder this weekend as part of the St Peter’s Open Garden Scheme.
Ms Rhys-Jones is on the committee of the scheme and said it was a great opportunity to show off NEGS to visitors from as far afield as Wollongong.
“Nine of my immediate family members have attended the school including my daughter and granddaughters Lucy, Lily and Georgia,” she said.
Organisers are hoping for 300 visitors over the weekend to visit local gardens and peruse stalls.
Ms Rhys-Jones said while the NEGS grounds have had some changes, the main difference from when she was a boarder in 1955 was the students. “It’s very different, there were no day girls at all but by the time my daughter came there were a few.”
While the NEGS campus has a variety of roses Ms Rhys-Jones has a special soft spot for the creeping akaora rose in front of the main office, brought over when the school was founded.