Growing Up In Northolt.

A Memory of Northolt.

I was born in Perivale in 1945 and moved to the prefabs Lexham Close, just off of Islip Manor Road not long after. We lived there for roughly 11 years and my sister and I want to Islip Manor Junior School.We loved the prefabs but had to move because we only had 2 bedrooms and lived at Doncaster Drive on the racecourse estate. I always hated school which didn't change when I went to Vincent School.I always had a lot of friends but fell behind with my lessons.At one time I was good at maths but that changed with algebra which I never understood. I had a slight stutter which I attribute to a teacher in Islip Manor who took what little confidence I had.Luckily at Vincent my friends were all interested in sport which helped me.I eventually, probably in the 2nd year around1957 became interested in athletics.Fortunately Mr Mills our P.E. took an interest in me and spent a lot of his lunch times coaching me.As a result I was selected th run gor Ealing and held several school records in the 100 yards and 220 yards sprint.In spite of that I decided to leave at 15 and Mr Mills the headmaster wrote a letter to my employer singing my praises.He tried to urge me to stay on but looking back it was the best decision I had ever made as the company I worked for,British Gas eventually promoted me to Senior Manage and sponsored me to gain a post graduate qualification in Management Studies.I took early retirement at 50 and went on to lecture at Hatfield University.

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