THE opening of Cheney School at Headington meant pupils no longer had to walk long distances between lessons.

Staff and pupils based at the Secondary Technical School in Church Street, St Ebbe’s, which Cheney replaced, faced daily disruption.

At one time, the school operated on 19 different sites across the city.

But all that changed in 1954 when the new school opened and classes were centralised.

Headmaster Arnold Wainwright wrote in the school magazine: “While the Church Street premises had (as the house agent would say) an ‘old world charm’, with amenities in keeping with that description, the comforts of the new school, the equipment and the increased facilities both inside and out, make for a more congenial atmosphere in which to work.

“Now, indeed, have we a home of our own!

“No longer do we crocodile, in fair weather and foul, from one building to another at peril to ourselves (and I fear occasionally to others).

“Soon, we hope, no longer shall we stop winter games in October and start the cricket and tennis season in June!”

This was no doubt a reference to the fact the school used college grounds, which were available only when undergraduates were on vacation.

Pupils agreed with the headmaster’s sentiments.

One wrote: “Coming out of the Church Street School into Cheney School seemed like coming out of a ruin into a palace.”

Another wrote: “At the old school, you could never write on a desk without it wobbling, due to the uneven floor. Here we have lovely rubberised flooring which it is a pleasure to walk on.”

Other comments included: “The air up here is cleaner and fresher. We can’t smell the brewery like we could at Church Street.”

The extracts come from the first edition of the Cheney School Magazine, published in May 1955, a copy of which has been sent to Memory Lane by Phil Spurrett, of Brasenose Road, Didcot.

More extracts from the magazine will appear soon in Memory Lane.