Delia Daws (nee Towers), of Kendal, recalls how she and her friends tried to emulate their screen idol in the 1930s

WHEN I was at primary school in the late 1930s, my friends and I were very disappointed that we all had straight hair.

We would have loved it to have been curly like Shirley Temple.

To get round this, we would put ‘rags’ in our hair at night – strips of material wrapped round sections of hair and tied in a knot.

When taken out next morning our hair would be curly and for a short while we could resemble our idol.

It didn’t matter that we had difficulty in sleeping, or that we woke up with a stiff neck, at least we had curls!

I went to Kendal High School and during the summer we were expected to wear a panama hat to keep us cool. Mine made my head wet with sweat – but it brought out all the curls!

In my late 60s, I worked as a home carer and was sent one night to a lady in Windermere. She had just returned from hospital and needed care overnight.

I discovered she was an old girl of Kendal High School, older than myself.

We went back in time about our school days, and then I suggested we sang our old school song. Together we sang Jerusalem - school girls once again.

She had a good night’s sleep and the next day her family arrived so I wasn’t needed again.