No sooner had I posted the news than the tributes started to come in and it really seems as if she was a much loved head teacher.
These were just some of the comments I received from parents:
"Very sad news about Viv Horobin. She was head when our daughter was at Woodside and was very highly thought of."
"I am so sorry to hear of the passing of Viv Horobin, she was a wonderful head teacher and I am so grateful she taught all three of my children."
"She was a very kind and inspiring person, my kids were lucky to have her as their head teacher."
Two colleagues had this to say:
"She was a well liked head and great to work with."
"I always found her very caring, friendly, kind, interested in anything that affected her school and the children and staff and always wanting the best for them all. Those children always came first in her priorities. She truly was a pleasure to work with."
Viv retired from teaching in July, 1999, after 15 years as head of Woodside First and Nursery School.
The Chapelfield Pagoda
Also in the gardens was an ornamental pagoda which was constructed in 1876 by Thomas Jeckell. It has an interesting world history. It was designed for the Centennial Exhibition in Philadelphia and made at the iron foundry of Barnard Bishop and Barnard in Norwich.
It was toured around exhibitions in Paris, London and Buenos Aires, before it was bought by the Norwich Corporation for £500 in 1880. Eventually, the pagoda was damaged, possibly by a bomb during the Second World War, and it was dismantled in 1949.