1956 1968 Memories Of Perivale And Perivale School

A Memory of Perivale.

I started at the nursery class at Perivale infants school in September 1956 aged 4 starting in the nursery class. The assistant was call Miss Whale we also had a French teacher and she made a little shop where we had to ask for things in French as directed by Mamouselle
Another teacher was Miss Guard who I remember told us that Harold Macmillan had become Prime Minister . The boys did wood work I wanted to do it but was told no only boys. How times have changed

Dinner money was 5s a week brought to school in a Tabbaco tin 2 half crowns on a Monday morning The food was ok for mass catering but the custard was revolting but great mayonnaise on salad days
I made friends with Janis House and we became best Friends till she died a few years ago

The junior school head teacher when we started was Mr Neville I remember him caning a boy in front of the whole school, when Mr Neville retired Vincent McQueen took over. He was in to speech and drama and gave us elequotion lessons , I not sure it did any good but I still remember some of the rhymes he taught us like ‘when Suzy goes to choose some shoes’ and Diddums was a bad dog, he also wrote a poem about all the factories in Perivale at the time and the noises they made

I went on to Perivale secondary modern girls school where the headteacher was Miss Beauchamp and the deputy the formidable Miss Knot. Other teachers were Miss Hubbard, Miss Smith , Mrs Hartley , Miss Dibben & Miss Steples
My friends were Janis House , Susan Parker’Susan Ward and Linda Truin

I remember Orts the Bakers where we would buy poppy seed rolls which were delicious and buying penny sweets in Martins News Agents
There was a hardwear shop I think it was called Smiths , They used to dress the window at Christmas and have a competition to spirt items hidden the the display

I also remember a going with my friend Janis to the fishmonger to buy fresh eels which were killed when you bought them and they would twitch all the way home,

I used to get the 79 Buss home from school to Alperton but always walked in the mornings Housecraft day was always difficult for me carrying my school bag and my tin of cookery on the bus especially the day we made fresh fruit salad and the teacher insisting I made the syrup despite telling her I had to go home on the bus. To my mums horror I arrived home with most of the syrup over my raincoat,

I left school in 1968 and had a holiday job in Payne’s and Burns packing pills in to jars we were given a bottle of Rosehip syrup with our wage packet each week we had to clock in in the morning at lunch time and going home time

In September 1968 I started my Nursery Nurse the training with the London Borough of Brent as.a Student Nursery Nurse at Essex Road Day Nursery Willesden attending Kilburn Polytechnic in Colindale twice a week and qualifying in 1970

Happy days. Sometimes

Hazel Buckingham