Ickenham High School
Intro from Anna Wynne (Nee Anne Davies)
My sister Janet Davies and I went to Ickenham High School for girls.
Ickenham High School for girls was a private school for girls from 5 or
6 to at least 11. My sister left there at 11 but I'm not sure if she
was in the top class. I'm afraid I don't know how many pupils there
were. The building is sadly now demolished, and houses built on the
land.
I used to go to school by the 223 bus by myself. The fare was a
halfpenny, for which I was given a tan-coloured paper ticket. The 1d
ticket, on the other hand, was white and one day I bought one of those
on my journey home. When I got off the bus outside the Orchard Hotel,
the bus conductor spoke to me severely for wasting my parents'
money...This must have been in around 1951 or so.
Although we lived in Ruislip, my
mother was, frankly, a snob and wanted us to go to private school, which
Ickenham High School was. The headmistress was Miss Howard; the first class
teacher was Mrs Tucker, the second class Mrs Webster. I learnt to read in
Mrs Tucker's class. She was rather short and I remember her stretching on
tiptoes to light the gas mantle. There was a sweeping staircase up to our
classroom, and all pupils had to stand still to one side of the stairs if a
member of staff was walking up. In retrospect, this must have been very
daunting with all those eyes following.
We were also taught to sew - hemming a piece of yellow cloth in dark green,
the clearer to see the size of ones stitches. As far as learning to be
ladylike was concerned, we had to pick all the dandelions on the front lawn,
collecting them in our skirts. We also had to pick up the straws dropped in
the playground from our daily milk bottles. Neither the arts of ladies!
The milk was delivered in a cart pulled by a shire horse. There was a
sports day, as I remember vividly, coming last in the sack-race because I
was too law abiding to copy the girls who put their toes in the corners.
The uniform was navy with a lilac blouse and summer cotton dress.
I left when I was eight to go to Bishop Winnington but my sister stayed on
until she was eleven. I don't think we were the only girls from Ruislip who
went there, but details have failed me now.
I attended Ickenham High School from January 1939 until Spring of 1944.
They took pupils from aged 4 through Matriculation or School Certificate. I
lived in Ruislip and used to cycle to the school. Many pupil lived in
Ruislip. If it was very bad weather then I would take the 223 bus from
Ruislip outside the Rivoli cinema. There was a shortage of teachers during
the war but I do remember Mrs. Tucker, Miss Dean, Mrs. Rutherford (very
strict) and Miss Howard the principal taught math. I hated that.
Shelia
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