I remember her too. My recollection (which carries no more weight than anyone else's) was that she was angry and rather confused. If she heard this conversation when she was 10 years old and it occured at the time the school closed then she must be about 84, and she didn't appear that old to me.

If conditions were as bad as have been so imaginatively described a case (as sniffer suggests) could be made for turning the building into a memorial to the children who suffered there.

On the other hand, perhaps that would not be a good idea. Most of those who contributed money to the homes were local people, who kept a watchful eye on them to make sure that their money was well spent. The most generous was FJ Horniman who made an annual donation sufficient to support one child. After his death his family continued the donations.

How could Horniman (who visited the school, and arranged for groups of children to visit his museum), the Tetleys (the other local tea merchants), William Aste (who was also secretary of the Sydenham Children's Hospital) and many others have been so easily deceived about the conditions that some allege existed at the homes? The museum that bears Horniman's name would also find it difficult to deal with the fact that their founder paid money to keep a child against its will in such appalling conditions.