PETERHOUSE NOSTALGIA

... MEMORIES ...

Dorrit Bekker

In 1968, a certain Winnie Wilkins, one of the three cook matrons at Peterhouse, fell in the fridge and was unable to carry on working. Contact was made with a Mrs. Dorrit Bekker who had been a cook matron at a school in Kenya and at that time was with her husband, Peter, in Chipinge. Would she like to come and work at Peterhouse! "Definitely not," was the response.

As luck would have it though, the Bekkers were at that time in the process of buying a property, Clatteringshaws, which is quite near Peterhouse. The Bursar at the time, John Beaumont, went to see Dorrit and persuaded her to join the kitchen staff on a temporary basis, just for three weeks Dorrit recalls. Twenty four years later, she retired from the post.

For most of that time, she ran the kitchen on her own - "No one would work with me" -- and it is estimated that Dorrit produced over 7 million meals during her tenure. Her fame as a caterer spread far and wide and teams were happy to visit Peterhouse just for the opportunity of sampling her delicious teas. Who could forget those magnificent cream buns.

The other evening Dorrit came to the pantomime at Peterhouse and it was a delight to see the tears flow as she laughed at the antics on stage and as she responded to the warmth of the greeting afforded her by all the boys.

Thousands of boys, staff; parents and visitors owe Dorrit a debt of gratitude and we all wish her and Peter a happy retirement just down the road from Peterhouse..