Ellen Malis had decided the money that her mother had given her for the vicar was better spent at the sweet shop.

An idea shared by most of her classmates.

"There were always queues at the sweet shop when we had religious education in the afternoon," said Ellen, who grew up on the outskirts of Rotterdam.

The vicar would visit their school regularly. Each child would be given money by their parents for his collection box.

But on their way back to school the youngsters always stopped off to buy sweets.

"We would spend most of the money and then give him the change," she said.

"But sometimes we would just put a button in his tin."

Ellen's mum, Nel, wouldn't have been impressed.

Every Sunday she'd drag her reluctant family to Sunday school.

Even her accountant husband Cor wasn't keen, but they had little choice.

Mum wanted them all confirmed.

After a year of visiting the vicar's home, Ellen was offered the chance.

Her firm rebuff meant another 12 months of religious meetings, before she was finally dismissed as a 'lost cause' by the vicar.

"I didn't believe in it because it was like joining a political party and I didn't want to do it," said Ellen.

But when religious education wasn't on the school timetable, Ellen enjoyed her school days.

The pupils wore what they wanted for school, which began at 9am.

The teachers concentrated on academic subjects. Only one hour - once a week - was devoted to PE.

But birthdays were always important occasions in Holland.

At school the birthday girl would be the child with ribbons in her hair.

The teachers didn't do too badly either. Each child would bear gifts - chocolates for Miss and a cigar for Sir.

"I always wondered about the teachers who didn't smoke and if they had hundreds of cigars at home," said Ellen.

She studied four languages, plus maths, history, geography and science.

Shortly before her exams, she was given a month off to study, but went sailing instead with a friend.

With a week to go, she crammed for exams, passed them and went to sixth form college.

After her A-levels she secured a secretarial post at a local company, but lost her position when the company went bust.

At 19 she was working for an advertising agency, but then switched to an insurance company that was in direct competition to her father's business.

"He wasn't too happy, but he knew there was no point in trying to stop me," said Ellen.

After a holiday to Ibiza in 1970, Ellen met her first husband - a man from Mobberley.

Ellen packed everything she owned into her little Mini and left for England with only a month's wages to join her husband.

She got a job a week after settling in Mobberley - much to her surprise.

"The man who interviewed me was from Bury and I couldn't understand a word he said," admitted Ellen.

"I just nodded and shook my head at the right times and got the job"

She excelled at the Manchester advertising agency and was promoted after a month.

But when her husband left for Norfolk, Ellen and their two children, Steven and Jennifer, went with him.

The marriage faltered and Ellen moved back to Cheshire.

Undeterred, Ellen got a job at Knutsford Leisure Centre where she worked as a receptionist and coached squash.

For 17 years she worked at the Attic, but her ambition since childhood had always been to buy a shop.

It was her second husband, Colin, who gave Ellen the courage to take the plunge.

She bought a hair salon - even though she didn't know how to cut hair.

Today she runs Second Image in Town Lane, Mobberley, successfully.

"I still don't know how to cut hair," she said. "I just wash a bit of hair, sweep up the curls and buy in the stock."

Ellen and Colin had tied the knot in Knutsford's Unitarian Chapel in 1991. He now owns factories in Manchester and America.

The extra income means Ellen can enjoy meeting her clients and she treats her job as a hobby.

"When my children grew up I didn't want to stay at home," she said. "I wanted to do something with my life."

The couple live in Carrwood and are hoping to spend a little more time together once she's learned how to play golf.

"We make a good combination," she said.

Converted for the new archive on 13 March 2001. Some images and formatting may have been lost in the conversion.