Dinner ladies you remember from school days in mid Cheshire

How about eating a bowl of sponge cake with bright green custard?

Do you have fond memories of the dinner ladies who would serve you every day in the school canteen?

It's national school meals week – a whole week dedicated to the canteen food that keeps children well fed at lunchtime while they’re school.

Gone are the days of turkey twizzlers and chips every day followed by sponge pudding and custard.

They’re now tasty, nutritious and carefully planned each day by hardworking kitchen staff to appeal to young appetites and hungry tummies.

On the menu for children in Northwich, Winsford and Middlewich is chicken korma with rice, naan bread and vegetables, a roast of the day served with roast and mashed potatoes, seasonal vegetables and gravy, and spaghetti bolognaise with garlic bread.

They all sound delicious!

Roast beef with all the trimmings is a popular serving on school dinner menus (Image: Edsential)

These meals are lovingly prepared fresh each morning by a dedicated team of hard-working people in school canteens and kitchens across the area courtesy of Edsential.

National school meals week, which runs between November 6 and November 11, is an opportunity for school caterers to shout about the fantastic work they do every day of the school year.

It celebrates the tireless efforts of school kitchen and canteen staff who continue to serve up great tasting, nutritious food to school children despite increasing pressures amid the cost-of-living crisis.

To mark national school meals week, we asked you to tell us who your favourite dinner lady was when you were at school.

We’ve featured a selection of the lovely ladies and some of your messages:

• Linda Marshall: Cynthia at Northwich Girls Grammar School in the 1970s. She used to call me Cilla and give us second helpings.
• Damian Pemberton: I remember at my primary school they were all colours and I’m starting to think it wasn’t their real names! Mrs Green, Mrs Grey and Mrs Brown!
• Lorraine Hubert: Mrs Rayner at Church Walk.
• Gemma Palin: Carol Eaton at Rudheath Primary Academy.
• Wendy Plant Chambers: Joyce Wright at Barnton Primary School.
• Ruth Greener: Betty Dickens at Moulton Primary School.
• Ann Gerrard: Mrs Ford and Mrs Slobom at Davenham Primary School
• Zoe Riley: Mrs Riding at Rudheath High School
• Holly Bertram: Mrs Powell at Church Walk
• Laura Cliff: Mrs Bracegirdle at Hartford Manor
• Lyndsey Yarwood: Mrs Birtwistle at Darwin Street. Everyone ordered baked potatoes and the way she cut them up was an art form!
• Tracey Stuart-Hodkinson: Mrs Crouchley at Victoria Road.
• Tracey Ann Owen: Mrs Littler at Hartford High School
• Toni Hall: Mrs Bracegirdle at Lower Peover Primary School.
• Jan Foster: Mrs Ripley at Antrobus Primary School
• Emma Foster: Mrs Short at Forest Street
• Kelly Marie Southern: Beryl at Rudheath
• Lynn Maguire: Mrs Smith and Mrs Ball at Winnington Park Primary School
• Jenn Palf: Dot and Ester at Barnton Primary School
• Sandra Heath: Mrs Walsh at Leftwich Primary School in the 1970s
• Debbie Spruce: Mrs Hawkins at Barnton Infant School
• Alison Dutton: Mrs Massey at Wincham School
• Alison Bernado: Mrs Gee at Winnington Park
• Mike Jackson: Mrs Bunby at Church Walk Primary School
• Martin john Faulkner: Mrs Musker at Danebridge Primary School
• Sophie Houston: Mrs Venables at Darwin Street
• Sandra Heath: Margaret Lewis and Ethel May Wilding at Leftwich High School
• Darren Haaland Porter: June Turner at Leftwich High School
• Anna Clarke-Oakes: Jill Clarke at Darwin Street as she always gave me the biggest piece of lemon meringue pie!
• Janine Langler-Legge: Mrs Ravenscroft at Rudheath Primary School
• Debbie Hewitt: Miss Riley at Darwin Street
• Claire Louise Scott: Betty at Verdin and Ainsley
• Cat Riley: Esther at Barnton Primary School
• Michelle Anne: Mrs Marmion at High Legh Primary School
• Julie Lisa Gee: Mrs Turner at Leftwich Primary School
• Judith Fallows: Rene Postles at NGGS
• Paula McCafferty: Mrs Littler at Comberbach Primary School
• Nigel Southern: Mrs Roberts at Lower Peover Primary School
• Ian George Cross: Mrs Smethurst at Ollerton Primary School
• Gemma Storey: Mrs Martin and Mrs Muska at Leftwich Primary School
• Jackie Howard: The two Mrs Ogdens at Whitegate Primary School
• Janbo Gardner: Mrs Ford at High Legh Primary School
• Helen Crawshaw Last: Wendy Crawshaw at Darwin Street and Victoria Primary School
• Paul Lapniewski: Carol Gregory at Rudheath High School
• Lorraine Gibbs: Mrs Birtwistle and Mrs Nutter at Church Walk and the cook Mrs Piemer
• Ben Lawless: Karen Anderson Peach at Sandiway School
• Steph Hulse: Mrs Short at Weaverham Forest Primary School
• Sharon Massey: Mrs Mills at Darwin Street Primary School
• Yvonne Worrall: Miss Riley at Darwin Street Primary School
• Anna Hopley: Mrs Williams at Little Leigh
• Dodge Chesterton: Mrs Birtwistle at Darwin Street Primary School