I noticed in a recent Daily Echo that there is a threat to close Stubbington Study Centre in Lee-on-the-Solent.

I have fond memories as a ten-year-old boy of Lee-on-the-Solent.

I went to what we called summer school in 1959, which was located in Stubbington near the seaside town.

I think the idea was to give ordinary boys a taste of what a public school was like.

There were three sleeping dormitories, which became the basis for sports competitions.

You played for your dorm.

Like many other boys, I had never made a bed, which were regularly inspected to see that they were made correctly.

I remember giving a lad, who had the knack of making the beds, my sweet ration, as did other boys, who, like me, had their mums always make their bed.

Even now, I can just about manage a duvet.

It felt strange the first few days, but once you started the lessons, which were mainly open-air walks and lengthy spells down on the beach, you soon started to enjoy the experience.

I particularly enjoyed learning the names of the plants that cope with the salty environment.

I still can remember the names of some of the plants: grasswort, saltwort and needlerush.

These names have stayed with me for over 60 years.

Our dorm was marked down after we had an acorn-throwing session late one night, which brought the teachers running, wearing their pyjamas, which we found hilarious.

I think we lost tuck shop privileges the next day for our crime.

In those days, the Fleet Air Arm's HMS Daedalus was very active, and I remember the aircraft, whose flight path seemed to be directly over the beach, come screaming over, making it impossible for the teacher to be heard, very exciting for ten-year-old boys.

We had a school outing to see HMS Victory and, in those days, the many naval ships in Portsmouth dockyard.

No school buses then; we walked from Stubbington to the Gosport ferry and had a wonderful guided tour of the old ship, and then we walked back to the school.

It was a good few miles, but it was just great being out and about with the fabulous scenery of the Solent and Isle of Wight across the water.

I managed to get into the football team, and we played Lee-on-the-Solent juniors.

After the match, you invited the opposing team to tea, and the two teams sat side by side, which I still feel helped create an atmosphere of camaraderie and sportsmanship.

Now, if I am ever in the Lee-on-the-Solent area, my mind wanders back to those summer school days, and I still see us lads running down to the beach, collecting shells, and seeing who could find the most shark's teeth.

My children also went to Stubbington Study Centre in their turn, but it has been modernised, and of course, it was not like the semi-Spartan experience my friends and I had, but I wouldn't change our experience or its memories.

The first thing which one of my friends, who emigrated to the USA over 50 years ago and I recently reconnected with, sent me over the internet was a picture of our group at Stubbington summer school, with the words, 'Do you remember this?

Some memories last forever, and Stubbington summer school, for me and I suspect many other children who went there in the '50s and '60s, will always remain with us.

It would be sad if they closed it down because even with modern digital technology and social media, there is nothing children enjoy more than a break from the normal school routines, and Stubbington Study Centre is just that, a break from normal school routines, and children haven't changed that much that a spell learning different things by the seaside would not be exciting.

Paddy Maxwell, Menzies Close, Lordshill