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Icknield St School

Hi peg many thanks for your returned feed back , yes i do inded knew Ickneild street sec moderen
i went there myself from junior school along with my two cousins bryan and barry phelps whom lived on ford stret
just across the road facing the bus depot
i left there in 1959, i can,t say i really enjoyed it thou ,yes old man kitchener was head master and urch is second in command
he always use the slipper on you if you was ever later
the first year i was there along with all the other new kids for that year coming from juniors
was teraways they threw inks all over the teachers clothes at the back of his suit
and the other one was a mr godfrey a young guy but disabled with one arm obvisiouly he was new to teaching
i felt sorry for him because most of these kids from hockley was reall thugs
they threw things at him and abuse him him in every form they could do to him
one day he actualy ran across the class room floor and into the corner of the class room and started to kick and stamp on his own rubbish bin screaming at it the class was in stitches then old kitchener heard the commotion and yelled out to us all
the poor teacher left the school there was not much difference with his replacement mr fortune but he was a big
bloke and he barked at them , meaning he was showing them that he was in charge and not you lot
i see you lived in heaton street for them years did you ever know the keo family or the haynes family
whom lived in heaton street they lived across more or less facing the gates as well
by the way i am enjoying your stories and threads peg i read every one of them
best wishes Alan,, Astonian,,,,,,
 
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Hi peg many thanks for your returned feed back , yes i do inded knew Ickneild street sec moderen
i went there myself from junior school along with my two cousins bryan and barry phelps whom lived on ford stret
just across the road facing the bus depot
i left there in 1959, i can,t say i really enjoyed it thou ,yes old man kitchener was head master and urch is second in command
he always use the slipper on you if you was ever later then there was joe wiseman the creep
all the lads hated him to come by you ashe was abit of a pervert if it had been reported he would have been locked up but nobody ever did report him
the first year i was there along with all the other new kids for that year coming from juniors
was teraways they threw inks all over the teachers clothes at the back of his suit
and the other one was a mr godfrey a young guy but disabled with one arm obvisiouly he was new to teaching
i felt sorry for him because most of these kids from hockley was reall thugs
they threw things at him and abuse him him in every form they could do to him
one day he actualy ran across the class room floor and into the corner of the class room and started to kick and stamp on his own rubbish bin screaming at it the class was in stitches then old kitchener heard the commotion and yelled out to us all
the poor teacher left the school there was not much difference with his replacement mr fortune but he was a big
bloke and he barked at them , meaning he was showing them that he was in charge and not you lot
i see you lived in heaton street for them years did you ever know the keo family or the haynes family
whom lived in heaton street they lived across more or less facing the gates as well
by the way i am enjoying your stories and threads peg i read every one of them
best wishes Alan,, Astonian,,,,,,

Hi Astonian, quite a bit going on during your time at the school by the sound of it! Regarding the Keo and Haynes families, I don't remember the names but if they had children similar to my age at that time there is a very good chance I played with them.
I'm glad you like the accounts of my exploits, just when I think the barrel has run dry something happens to re-kindle another memory.
I've read the school had a very good adult choir that competed in National Events, but that would have been long before your time.
Happy Easter.

Regards,
Peg.
 
I went Icknield st school, from 1964 to 1968, teachers then were Mr Urch ( Reggie Urch as he was known) Mr Mazimba, Mr Northedge ( a very strict and a cruel man) Jock Sheerer, Mr Fred Kitchen the headmaster, a great teacher and fisherman, he took me, Roy Hands, Graham Shaw and others fishing on his club waters....it was a chaotic school, with lots of ethnic problems, I remember one, an asian kid who joined our class who was later proven to be over 20 years old, beard and all, you have to laugh, but whilst it was ok as a school and we had lots of laughs, it has to be said it didn't do me much good educationally, but hey ho, sa la ve, I have nothing but fond memories of Icknield st and all my old mates , even with its total anarchy and lack of discipline, but it had an abundance of corporal punishment via, the cane, the pump and board ruler and the numerous slaps, knuckled heads and twisted ears...but we were a tough bunch to control it has to be said
 
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HI Lawrence
I recall a couple of them teachers i went there in the fifty when i left
yes urchie and kitchen i am surprized he took lads fishing on his waters he was always mean looking and nasty with it
but i guess that period you was there he must have meloed with age
old daddy northredge as we called him was a wicked teacher , out on the summer holidays term
we went to his allotments and we scrumped his apple trees ;
And little old joey wise should have been locked up all the kids knew what he was like
walking up and down the isles and trying to touch kids up ,nfact it should have been reported
I can,t say i enjoyed the school even thou i had to cousind in that school at the same time as me
When my three mates andmyself left and got work three of them went to work to hoods limited
and i done a five year apprenticeship for painting and decorating money was rubbish
five ooounds aweek and i had to buy books for day school and night school for the courses
best wishes Astonian,,,
 
Mr Northedge lived in Bearwood and I bumped into him in Woolworths some 3 years after I left school, by then I was a strapping soldier and he was clearly nervous, he was a brutal man, but I showed him due respect and wished him well, it was a tough brutal school, my dad, my Uncles all went to Icknield st boys, and Mr Urch taught my dad, he was a tough teacher in a rough school, but very fair......but hey such is life I ain't done too bad
 
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HI Lawrence
I recall a couple of them teachers i went there in the fifty when i left
yes urchie and kitchen i am surprized he took lads fishing on his waters he was always mean looking and nasty with it
but i guess that period you was there he must have meloed with age
old daddy northredge as we called him was a wicked teacher , out on the summer holidays term
we went to his allotments and we scrumped his apple trees ;
And little old joey wise should have been locked up all the kids knew what he was like
walking up and down the isles and trying to touch kids up ,nfact it should have been reported
I can,t say i enjoyed the school even thou i had to cousind in that school at the same time as me
When my three mates andmyself left and got work three of them went to work to hoods limited
and i done a five year apprenticeship for painting and decorating money was rubbish
five ooounds aweek and i had to buy books for day school and night school for the courses
best wishes Astonian,,,
Hi Astonian, I'm a new member and I went to Icknield St for 1957-61.
Mr Kitchen became Headmaster while I was there, although he was very strict and caned me for no going straight back to school after a swimming trip, he did help me to go to a school camp.
I really wanted to go on a camping trip he had arranged in Wales, but my parents could not afford it. I played up at home and did no speak to my Mother for a week, she told him and he agreed to pay if I agreed to pay him back weekly form the money I earned working Saturdays helping a Milkman. The camp was great and I paid him back.
The one thing that I could not understand was is son who came on the camp with us, he was very naughty and unruly, how could such a strict teacher have a naughty son!
Vinny
 
Hi Vinny
Nice to hear from you, as you know i was an ex Ickneild street sec mod boys
regarding pigion eyed mr kitchen he was never popular type of person during my time there
and i also got the stick from him quite afew times for being late at school mor often than other kids
I used to hate that dammed school from start to finish , the only reason i ended going there
was because i had two cousins there before me starting there bryan and barry phelps
Mom said you have to go there because your cousins are there i pleaded i wanted to go to barford street but no she would never have
the only thing mr kitchen done any think for me was to get me bus tokens to travel to and from school from up in ladywood
was that the trip urchie went on and old wiseman went on
there is a school photo of the boys and a picture of kithen and his just two men getting of the coach

best wishes Astonian,,,,
 
icknield_st_school_closure.jpg
I did not personally attend this school but it will stir few memories for those who did.
 
hi folks been wanting to get inside this school for a long time and today was a good day as the gates were open..managed to get some photos taken from the ground then someone came out and asked what my interest was...explained that we need to take photos while these buildings are still there and also that our dad went to this school...although activities and prayers were going on much to my surprise i was invited in to take a couple of photos of what used to be the downstairs classrooms...did not like to be too cheeky but in the new year i will go back and ask permission to go upstairs for a look around...will post photos very soon

lyn
 
Nice one Lynn , i am sure there is a lot of us ex ickneild street boys will be looking foreward to seein these lates photos you have taken
we have all used those down stairs class rooms for different subjects during our schooling there
i have recently came in contact with one of my cousin whom is bryan phelps i have already mentionion this to him he is well chuffed to hear and hope to see them and i hope to see other members names on here when you bring them on , best wishes Lynn Alan , Astonian,,,
 
Thanks again Lynn i look foreward to them i shall up in the morning with the Larks ,, meaning the the birds,
I say that but i am up every morning with out fail , i am trying to place the class rooms now , on entry to the ground floor i think it was the first one which we used at the metal work class and as you walk around the hall i think it was about the middle one or last but two was the music clas with old daddy northredge at the old joe anna banging on the notes , still i await with antisapasion Alan
 
ARCH OF TEARS...ICKNIELD ST SCHOOL OLD END 023.JPG ARCH OF TEARS...ICKNIELD ST SCHOOL OLD END 025.JPG ARCH OF TEARS...ICKNIELD ST SCHOOL OLD END 027.JPG ARCH OF TEARS...ICKNIELD ST SCHOOL OLD END 028.JPG as promised a couple of inside photos of the school...one of the old classrooms is being used for activities and another one is used as a kitchen...i was limited as to where i could enter as some doors were locked but hopefully when i go back in the new year i maybe allowed to have a look upstairs....for now i am well pleased to have been inside the school our dad attended..it is something i have wanted to do for a long time now.

lyn

ARCH OF TEARS...ICKNIELD ST SCHOOL OLD END 028.JPG
 
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ARCH OF TEARS...ICKNIELD ST SCHOOL OLD END 004.JPG ARCH OF TEARS...ICKNIELD ST SCHOOL OLD END 006.JPG ARCH OF TEARS...ICKNIELD ST SCHOOL OLD END 008.JPG ARCH OF TEARS...ICKNIELD ST SCHOOL OLD END 009.JPG ARCH OF TEARS...ICKNIELD ST SCHOOL OLD END 010.JPG ARCH OF TEARS...ICKNIELD ST SCHOOL OLD END 012.JPG nice to get some photos from ground level..pic 1 is back of the caretakers house

ARCH OF TEARS...ICKNIELD ST SCHOOL OLD END 004.JPG ARCH OF TEARS...ICKNIELD ST SCHOOL OLD END 006.JPG ARCH OF TEARS...ICKNIELD ST SCHOOL OLD END 008.JPG ARCH OF TEARS...ICKNIELD ST SCHOOL OLD END 009.JPG ARCH OF TEARS...ICKNIELD ST SCHOOL OLD END 010.JPG ARCH OF TEARS...ICKNIELD ST SCHOOL OLD END 012.JPG
 
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Absolutely great Lyn ! Thanks for taking the pictures and for posting them. Think the caretakers house would have originally been the headmasters/schoolmaster's house. The ornate.tower looks like it's part of a ventilation system. Amazed that Lyn's interior shots of one of the schoolrooms is still recognisable compared to an old photo in post #15. Viv.
 
hi viv...reading back yes i think the house was more likely the headmasters as opposed to the caretakers...as i said earlier i hope to get back after the new year and hopefully i can take a look at the upstairs classrooms but for now i am happy..they are still using the old radiators for heating so nothing wrong with those...

lyn
 
I think it's a nice achievement Lyn. It's not often you can have a wander around a school these days due to security. And this is such a good example of a Victorian school. Viv.
 
Think it's worth having the British History online description here. Opened in 1883. Viv.

ICKNIELD BOYS' COUNTY MODERN SCHOOL, Hockley Brook.(27) Icknield St. Bd. Sch. opened 1883 (22) by Birm. Sch. Bd. Accom. 880 M, I.(1) Fees 1d.–3d.(22) Standard VII classes for girls opened 1885 here and at Loxton St. Bd. Sch., because Bridge St. Standard VII Sch. (B only) had been a success; class presumably closed on opening of George Dixon Higher Grade Bd. Sch. 1898. Enlarged 1886, 1894. Reorganized 1930 for 400 SB, 192 I. I dept. closed 1940. SB became a secondary modern sch. 1945 and took over I dept. buildings 1951.(21) Name changed 1954.(28) N.o.b. 1961: 260.(27)
 
thanks for the extra info viv...i certainly was not expecting to be invited into the school...a real treat...

lyn
 
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