Wanstead History

Please scroll down to read a selection of our former students’ memories from their time at Wanstead High School. If you would like to share any of your memories on this page please contact Tracey Phillipson.

Email: t.phillipson@wansteadhigh.co.uk

To learn more about a recent project looking into the history of our school please click here.

To view a selection of photographs - please see the gallery pages.

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Hello-I have just found this site and am pleased to see a contribution from a contemporary -Clive Buckland- while he was with City of London police -he knew my brother-in-law FRED HARRIS-the last time I met Clive and his wife Ruth was at my sister's home- he may remember my toddler daughter-Julie ,married to a clergyman for thirty years now -sad to say Fred died in 1977-I had various posts in accounts- but brought to a halt by illness aided my recovery by doing voluntary war record assessing ready for students of Leeds University- to use and also contributed articles to the Captain Cook Society newsletter for more that twenty five years -having ceased as sight is reduced now. Brenda Paulding nee Ward.

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Dear WHS

I have a picture of my father, Frank Alan Westlake Tooby with his sister (who is six years his junior) and parents and he is wearing school uniform. If my father went to Wanstead Grammar school at 11 years of age, he must have attended in September 1926, so only a year or two after the school first opened.

He was a Captain in the army in WW11 and became a Bank Manager for Barclays Bank later in his career. He was manager at Leyton branch and Ilford, Cranbrook Road branch. He retired at 60 in 1975 and went to live with my mother Hilda in Hailsham near Eastbourne for the next 12 years, moving back more locally until his death in March 2004, aged 89. He always spoke fondly of his years at Wanstead.

My brother Clive went to Cranbrook College from 5 to 16 then to WHS for two years 1966-1968 for A levels, getting a degree in Mechanical Engineering at Aston Uni, Birmingham. He went on to work at Fords all his working life and is now retired.

They both enjoyed their years at Wanstead.

Yours,

Bridget Shubrook

(Please see gallery for photograph of Frank Alan Westlake Tooby)

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Dear WHS

I find recent information of the present WHS absolutely fascinating.

In my day (1951 - 1958) the 'GRAMMAR' school ethos insisted that the core subjects were of most importance. If anything, the school was athletics mad having Ron Pickering as the new young PE teacher.

I was in Sixth Science and supposed to be going to university to study Maths but my father suddenly died, and my mother moved to Billericay to be near my married sister. I travelled for hours on a Green Line bus to school because I refused to change to a GIRLS ONLY Grammar school in Chelmsford. So my A levels were not as good as expected.

There was still a left over tradition from the war years - boys had to do 'Cadets' on the Monday afternoon. Girls had to choose between needlework, cooking, music or art, which I chose. I had not studied Art at O Level on my timetable, but Mrs Butler was an inspiration. You could tell she was around by the aroma of her perfume! After a while she suggested I could submit my paintings and drawings for A level Art which I passed at a better grade than the sciences. The consequence - eventually after a year working in London and Brentwood - she recommended I went to Bath Academy of Art and so I became a painter, and an Art Teacher. I married a potter, and we were eventually also GCSE moderators for AQA.

How I would love to be one of your art students now - the facilities and creative activity seem amazing.

My school in Middlesbrough was limited in its facilities but I was able to teach graphics with one of the first computer suites in the school, which the tough boys of Middlesbrough enjoyed better than drawing. Now in retirement, I use the computer a lot for illustration and posters for the North Yorkshire Chorus, of which I have been a singing member since 1987.

Ann (VILES) Hutchings

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Dear WHS!

I was a pupil at Wanstead County High School from 1941 to 1947; my academic achievements during that time were not of the highest. My memories are however much better.

I sat the entrance scholarship at “Woodford County High School”, which was and remains an all girls school at Woodford Green. Much to the surprise of my junior school I was awarded a place at WHS.

The School was evacuating to Chippenham, Wiltshire where I was sent, alone, but with another new boy. When we arrived at Chippenham we were allocated billets with local residents. Mine in particular did not want to accept, but were forced too. I was subsequently moved to an address close to the town centre, where I was given a warm welcome and I maintained contact with them later when I was stationed at Yatesbury in the RAF.

We shared the newly opened Chippenham Grammar School, alternating usage of the facilities, and had one afternoon off per week, but had to attend on Saturday mornings at the Methodist Church Hall at the far end of the town. The headmaster Mr Joseph stayed at Wanstead, the deputy heads Miss Johnson and Mr Parker (nick name “Spud” Parker) acted jointly at Chippenham. The head of maths Mr Healy (?) recently had a maths book published and that was our text book for the subject. Discipline was tight, school caps were mandatory at all times out of school, and there was a curfew at 8.00pm. The following year the school was re-united at Wanstead, but a number of WHS pupils at Chippenham went to other schools mostly in Ilford and Romford. I lost touch with them.

The school houses were Roman (dark blue) Saxon (light blue) Celts (green) Vikings (red). The colour was formed by a band around the back edge of the cap. The house gaining the most points during the course of the year was awarded the title of “Cock House” (see a previous letter.)

My wife & I went to the 75^th anniversary day. Looked in the 1940’s room but had difficulty in recognizing any one.

Many things brought back memories but some areas had changed. The prefects hut and fives courts were missing from the corner of the lower playing ground. The outdoor swimmng pool had been replaced by the sports pavilion. My main recollection of swimming was being forced into an icy pool. I couldn’t swim, and still can’t. I was about the smallest boy in the school, and the P.E master, “Slug” Cooper lined us up in the pool, from the shallow end, tallest at the front shortest at the back. The tall boys had water up to their waist, while I had difficulty in keeping my nose above the surface. He had a long bamboo pole which he used to make a boy put his head beneath the water.

We have lived at Hatfield Peverel for 50 years now, and I recently found a reference to WHS being evacuated locally to Maldon in 1939. I think it was only for few weeks and I haven’t found any other mention of it. I know a couple of other Old Heronians locally, namely David Howse and John Marven, and their wives. I do not know the maiden names of the wives.

At the 75^th anniversary there were a couple of attendees from the 1920’s. They were in their 90’s

Hopefully I will make the centenary in 2024!!!

Best wishes

Maurice Freeman

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Dear Webmaster,

Reading about WHS and looking at the photographs took me back almost 60 years and brought back many memories.

I was there from 1947 to 1952 and despite the building additions the basic lay-out is still recognisable and familiar.

After leaving school I joined the City of London Police, did my National Service in the Army in Malaya and on returning continued in the Police service. I married a South African, lived in West Wickham, Kent and in 1974 emigrated to Cape Town where we still reside.

Also found the changes in the 'Playing fields' interesting. During my days at school much emphasis was placed on sport and many hours were spent on athletic training on the 'Top Field' and in the nets on the 'Lower Field' as well as in the swimming pool and gym. The standard was very high and WHS had great success at inter-school events. Geoff Elliott, pole vault and decathlon and Gerry Carr, discus both became national champions and competed for Britain at Olympic Games events. While Mike Cutter played rugby for Eastern Counties and captained the Wasps RFC.

Kind regards

Clive Buckland

Dear WHS

In an idle moment I browsed your website to see what my old school was like today, and I found it to be most interesting. You request further information about the historical pictures----I was at WHS from 1952 to 1959 so, although the pictures are earlier than my time there (I think they possibly date from the 1930s: the school was opened in 1924), they still look very familiar, so I wondered if you would be interested in some reminiscences from 50 years ago.

The main hall (now your dining room) looks much the same as I remember it: we had morning Assembly here every day. On Fridays there was a short musical item, often a piano piece, played by one of the students and introduced by the music master, Mr Stanley. I contributed a couple of items but I think most of the scholars listened with resignation rather than interest!

The gym was situated behind the panels at the back of the stage, with the library above it. The school was quite progressive at the time, having one of the few trampolines in the country. Not being very able at gym, I always looked forward to the week of the school play when the panels at the back of the stage were drawn back to provide an enlarged stage and dressing rooms which took up most of the gym space.

I don't recognise "Cock House"; in my time there were four houses: Romans, Saxons, Vikings and Celts. Our dining room was in a prefab building at the bottom end (i.e. eastern side) of what you call the "quad"---where your leisure centre is now(?). Here we also had our milk break in the mornings---a facility abolished by our dear Mrs. Thatcher.

In the picture of the inner quad there are two masters; I'm pretty certain that the teacher on the right is Mr. Joseph, the first headmaster of the school---I remember seeing him when he came back during one of the speech days, or on some such occasion. His successor was the much-respected Arthur Ingham, who was the headmaster during my time there. Sadly, Mr. Ingham died a year or two after I left (I hope there was no connection!). His successor was Stanley Gardner, a name which inevitably gave rise to a lot of Perry Mason jokes. This picture shows the inner quad as I remember it with openings between the pillars, but there were no trees then.

Other masters I remember were my first year form head, Mr. Willsmore (who also died during the 1950s); my subsequent form head Mrs. Swannie; the maths teachers, Mr. Hamer and Harry Quick. Our teacher for PT (we called it physical training then) and games was Ron Pickering, later to become famous as an Olympic trainer and TV commentator. At the time it was his wife, the runner Jean Desforges, who was the celebrity. Ron brought a lot of innovations in physical education to the school (although, in my case, the raw material he had to work on was not very good! My greatest achievement was coming 30th in a field of over a hundred in the annual cross country race through Wanstead Park.).

The library also looks familiar, as do the girls' uniforms---I have several school photos (taken on the upper playground) which show them looking much the same. In here were monthly meetings of a debating society called "Herons" (after the school emblem---are there any herons left in Wanstead Park?). Near Christmas time they put on a satirical show with irreverent impressions of some of the teachers.

There was indeed a swimming pool, and it was very cold, even in summer! It was situated on the bottom field near the road---I think it can be seen near the centre top of the aerial photo.

Your recent photographs were interesting: it's surprising how much I still recognise after 50 years. As to the new buildings, your sixth form block appears to be built where there used to be large fives courts; and there were tennis courts where your science block is now situated). Your art block is where our second year classes were held, in prefab-type buildings. The boiler room added on to the south-east corner of the main block (with the three chimneys) was not there in my time. On the south side of your quad there was a wooden building which housed two or three classrooms---this can be seen in the aerial photo.

I hope these notes are of interest---I'm glad to see the school is still thriving.

Best wishes

Ray Wilkinson

Halifax.

Dear WHS,

I attended WHS from 1974 - 1981. We were delayed from starting in the Sept of "74 due to the new humanities/science block and sport centre being built!

Looking at the recent photos of WHS I was taken back that it's now a specialist college in the performing arts...well Nick Berry was our celebrity back then!

I'm also intrigued to know why the school uniform has changed colour from black to burgundy?

I'd come back to school tomorrow if I could, it's true your school days are the best.

Regards,

Christine Boddington

Dear WHS

I was a pupil from 1964 to 1971. My mother was a pupil during WW2 and two of her cousins (they paid fees) before her. My memories:

Joy at passing the 11+ to get in
Pride in the school's all black uniform
The headmaster, his two deputies and many other teachers wearing academic gowns as everyday wear and our geography teacher using his to wipe the blackboard
Teachers throwing chalk and (wooden) blackboard wipers at errant boys in class
Parade lines for boys in 1st to 3rd forms where we stood to attention on the upper playground and then at ease on instruction from prefects before entering the school
Prefects being entitled to carry and use slippers to whack the boys
First formers called ticks and second formers called tocks
Getting detention from Mr Price on my birthday when I was in the 5th form for not wearing a cap outside school on my way home
All 1st form boys wearing short trousers in all weathers
The smell of bunsen burners
The freezing cold outdoor swimming pool
The playing fields being out of bounds except for games lessons
The lawn being reserved for girls
The cycle sheds for sneaking a peek at another boy's copy of Health & Efficiency
Having to give up art to do academic subjects at O level
Listening to the Beatle's "Michelle" on the coach coming back from playing Westcliff High at rugby
Girls rolling up their skirts to create mini skirts and getting told off
Girls wearing fashionable long bloomers for a spell and showing them off
Horrible school dinners with lumpy potato
Joy at getting a place at university to read law

Regards

David Chapman