Stourfield Junior School

A Memory of Southbourne.

Stourfield Junior School was an attractive red brick building with a large playground and a football field in the 1950's. I went to school here between 1954 and 1956 and remember my time fondly.

Long before the days of a "National Curriculum" we were taught by inspiring men who had seen much life during their service in the Second World War. They taught in a style that they knew would work to motivate us. I recall a Mr Brown who gave us craft lessons in which we were using sharp bladed knives to score and bend cardboard - imagine that in these current 21st century days which are blighted by health and safety concerns! I recall a Mr Rideout who drove a three wheeler Bond car - not only did his car have a "wheel missing" but he also had a spectacular limp which we nine year old boys fondly imagined must mean he also had a leg missing!

The Headmaster's office was run by the gorgeous "Miss Perceval" - a twenty or thirty something blonde who seemed like a film star to me!

I walked to school about a mile and a half each way from my home in Petersfield Road down Warnford Road and Holdenhurst Avenue taking care when I crossed the busy Christchurch Road where fast yellow painted trolleybuses ran silently along the main road.

Happy days that ended in 1956 when I was entered for the scholarship exam for Bournemouth School for Boys. Although I passed - a year early - I finished up going to school in Pinner as my father's job took him away from lovely Bournemouth!

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