Stratford nursery founder goes digging up the past as time capsule uncovered

The installation of a new playground at Cygnets Nursery in Stratford has yielded up a blast from the past.

The trailblazing educational preschool nursery was founded by Linda Findon 40 years ago - and has been at the Broad Street school site for 28 years, as well as having a branch in Alveston.

Back at the turn of the millennium children and staff had great fun burying a time capsule - which was captured by the Herald in January 2001. It featured founder Linda and then Stratford mayor Juliet Short.

Now, a quarter of a century later, the Herald was back to photograph the newly unearthed capsule - pictured again with Juliet and also the new Stratford mayor and former Cygnets parent, Dani Hunter, Linda’s grandson Harry and others.

The contents of the capsule included the 2001’s children's hopes for the future, poems, drawings, photos and the nursery’s prospectus which are now on display at the nursery.

Recalling how they came to bury the capsule back in 2001, Linda told the Herald: “It's just amazing how the time goes by. We wanted to celebrate the millennium and we went all out. We looked at all the various ages and what had happened. Had a great deal of fun creating a time portal and pretending to be from different periods of history; the celebrations lasted throughout the year.

“It was magical for the children to go through this time portal and what would we find on the other side?”

Linda, who is in her 70s and still active at the nursery as chair of the trust, continued: “The best way to end the project was a time capsule. So we put in a lot of what we've been up to in the year 2000, including who all our children were.”

The plan was to dig up the capsule 20 years later when all the children had grown up, but Covid forced a delay.

“It’s been quite good, actually, because it's made it the quarter of a century,” observed Linda.

“We also took the opportunity to do a lot of work done at the schoolhouse, including converting the garage into a kitchen, taking the kitchen out of the main house, which enabled us to open up more space inside.

“And of course, the main event is the garden, and the new playground - it gave us the perfect opportunity to dig up the capsule.”

Outdoor space is very important to the ethos of Cygnets, Linda explained: “We started as a kindergarten - children's garden - and we've always held on to that. Long before the forest schools became fashionable, we spent large amounts of our time outside.”

Crediting the nursery’s manager, Vicki Dickson, with being the driving force behind the new garden, Linda continued: “We have a children's garden to be proud of again, with lots of new equipment, including a climbing frame. The children think it’s fabulous.”

Now a grandmother of five, Linda - a former teacher - started the nursery when she and her friends couldn’t find anywhere suitable for their children.

“It started as a toddler group back in, would you believe, 1982. That morphed into a nursery for my own children. Back then there were only playgroups, as a qualified teacher I wanted to find somewhere educational for my preschoolers, but there was only a very formal private arrangement, and I didn’t want that for my children. Some friends of mine said why don't you do it yourself?

“I had thought that when my children went to mainstream school that would be the end of the nursery - but it was like a rolling stone, we had gathered so many keen families.

“We didn’t have Ofsted in those days, we were registered by social services - they were keen on us and even paid for planning permission for us to continue when we outgrew my home.

“We looked for suitable premises and noticed in the playground of Broad Street School, where there was a portable classroom. We took a punt and met with the then new head Barbara Atcheson, who was really keen.

“Back then the school didn’t have the outstanding reputation it has now. And Barbara had foresight to realise that if she had a nursery, she could start improving the intake from the ground up. And it worked, our partnership made all the difference.

“Barbara was a force to be reckoned with - she wanted the best for her children.

“And we’ve carried on improving things ever since.”

Summing up what makes Cygnets such a special place, Linda said: “It’s in our name, Cygnets - we are a nursery school that’s very keen on education so they are confident to take the next step. So many childcare places just have education bit kind of tapped on. Whereas it is at our core, and have an equal balance of education and care, and we do it in a small, family friendly way. We offer long days with wraparound care and operate throughout the year.

“It's a lovely caring environment for your most precious babies enabling them to move on and grow and thrive.”

She added: “It gives the team a real sense of satisfaction to know that we have nurtured the next generation and given them that really good, firm foundation.

“It’s been great with the unearthing of the capsule to hear from the now grown-ups spotting themselves in photos and fondly recalling their time with us.”