Saturday was a warm sunny October day so when we arrived at 12.20 there was a small group outside the mansion entrance waiting to get in and collect name badges. These were being handed out by Brian Read, John Laker and his wife Sarah. There was already quite a crowd there as the proceedings were due to start at noon. People were moving slowly into adjoining rooms such as the conservatory and waiting for things to happen. It was a very informal atmosphere with people trying to guess who they were talking to before reading the identifying label. These were colour coded: black for old pupils; red for partners/guests.

John Laker started the organised part of the day by welcoming everybody and outlining the programme. This was already slipping fast and the two tours of the buildings scheduled for 2 & 3 o'clock would obviously have to be delayed. He mentioned the list of people who had not been able to come and asked us for a minute's silence to remember those of our year who had died. He then introduced the present headmaster, Mr Hodkinson, to bring us up to date on the present state of the school.

Before he could start Gillian Poland (née Morley) thanked John and Nella for all the work they had done to get us together at this time.

The present head then introduced himself saying that he had been born in 1955, the year after we had all left, and explained he had only been at the school for one year. As such he was only the fifth head since the school was founded in 1907. The school was one of the first to apply for Grant Maintained Status and had been very successful in its recent development. They now have a six form entry and a thriving sixth form. They have over 600 applications for places in the next year; we did not go into how the choice is made.

As a point of interest, I heard in discussion that the year of 1947 was the first at the school where there were no fee-paying pupils. I can certainly remember the freshly, and brightly, painted board by the entrance near the church which set out - in gold letters - the fees of £50; I can not remember if that was for a term or a year.

This part of the proceedings was recorded on video (whatever happened to the school ciné film?) by John Morley; it may be possible to make copies of this if people are interested.

By this time we were well past our time for 1 o'clock school dinner so people began moving towards the old hall which is still basically unchanged. The old stage has been removed and is the site of the present kitchens. A cold buffet was set out and bore no resemblance to either the old style school dinners or sandwich boxes; I am not only referring to the provision of a glass of wine.

On the way to the hall we passed Room 3, where Ken Pearce had organised an exhibition of photographs and other items of interest which was being looked after by Rita Hawkins. One of the items which attracted most attention was a pair of yellow socks which had caused Dutchy Holland so much pain to see.

After lunch the programme was rearranged to comprise a photograph session outside the main entrance followed by a single tour of the buildings led by Ken Pearce. Several people were taking photographs so it is probable that very few images will have everyone on them.

Ken Pearce then started his tour of the building from the main entrance hall. He gave a quick summary of the foundation of Uxbridge County School in the Greenway and its transfer to the present site. The present building is the third on the site and dates from the 1858. The conservatory was an early example of the Crystal Palace architecture on a domestic scale and is probably the main reason for the present Grade II listed status of the building.

The house was owned by a builder who specialised in interior decorations which explains the plaster ceilings and decorations. Much of the decoration is not what it appears to be; Ken described some of it as cardboard. However it has stood up fairly well. Unfortunately the plaster ceilings in the old music room and in Room 2 were lost when the floors above were strengthened to stop the old geography room collapsing. The mirrors over the fireplaces are still there, but do not slide across now.

We were invited to look into the Headmaster's room to see the decorations there and were then taken into the old library. This still has shelves on the walls but the old book stacks have been removed so that the whole of the room can be seen. The ornamentation over the doorway suggests this was originally used as a dining room and music room. On the wall by the door is a photograph of Miss Kendal and on the wall above the fireplace is a Victorian mirror bought as a memorial to her.

We then processed, with many cries of 'keep up' and 'no running', to the old gymnasium. This has been converted into two rooms with a corridor along the side which leads through the old changing rooms into the new part of the school. We first looked at the new hall, which when built could hold the whole school for assemblies. Now assemblies have to be held on alternate days with part schools.

Through the hall we came to an entrance hall which had the wooden panels commemorating the pupils who had died in the World Wars. The next memorial service was be held here on the 11th November at 9 o'clock. Near here is the old crafts and science wing which is now at the centre of the site. The present staff room (unisex!) is here.

Upstairs we went into the new art room, mainly because it gave a good view of the rest of the new buildings: gymnasium; science rooms; domestic science (or whatever it is called now - Ken did not really know) and metal work etc. The huts are still there, if rebuilt a bit! We also saw on display some of the impressive output from the present art department, some of which was examination projects.

From here we went back into the old school, Rooms 23, 24, 25. These were locked up as they contained an impressive amount of computer equipment. Bishopshalt has its own site on the World Wide Web and also an e-mail address.

Returning to the mansion along the top corridor most people took advantage of the opportunity to explore the top floor. It just consists of a few class rooms now. A point of note is that class rooms are now equipped with tables and chairs; the old desks are no more. Each pupil is provided with a 'left luggage' locker for storage.

Back in the main corridor is the old art room, which is also now filled with computers. The corridor itself contains paintings by Ron Coleman - mainly landscapes. At the end of this corridor the old geography room has had the wall behind Kennie's desk removed to make a large room across the width of the building. This is used as a sixth form common room.

The tour of the building finished on the mansion staircase. The walls here contain the old house shields - the original four plus two new ones. Pupils are allocated to houses according to the form at entry - which is now known as year 7, not the first form. Thus the school consists of years 7, 8, 9, 10, 11 and form 6. This is also referred to as years 12 & 13.

In addition to the house shields the walls here have shields of previous owners of the house or previous houses.

Following this tour people drifted back to the hall where a welcome tea was provided. Sarah Laker was again hard at work with tea pots etc. John then gave a short speech to wind up the proceedings and handed over to Nella to tell us about the newsletter.

After this the informality increased with people moving around and talking generally. The gardens were looking very neat, although at this time of year there is not much colour. Several of the large trees had come down in the gales of the late eighties, including the mulberry. The old chestnuts are also slowly succumbing to old age but as they come down they are being replaced - as was the mulberry.

The last hour passed very quickly but the last group met in the car park at 6 o'clock and agreed this needed to be repeated - certainly before 10 years. 2002 would be 50 years from O levels. This is a subject for discussion at smaller group meetings.

Return to top