We have an adopted son, our other children being our birth children and he had a schoolfriend who lived at Gyde House, this was from 1976 to about 1982. He used to go up there frequently and often said he wished we hadn't adopted him and then he would have been able to live in such a lovely place.
We used to tell him that all children's homes weren't in such lovely houses and surroundings.
My husband belonged to Round Table at the time and they and their wives (Ladies Circle) used to hold fetes up at the home to raise money, with stalls selling cakes and other things.
There was never any suggestion of the children in the home being unhappy or abused in the 1970s at least.
There was another local home in Ebley also owned by National Children's Homes where the Round Table used to have a firework display on/near 5 November each year. I don't know much about that home, it was smaller than Gyde House from memory, and situated on a main road.
Lizzie
