The Banstead Image Library
Banstead Residential School Holiday to Sandown IOW
Our latest publication:
This book tells the heart-warming story of a holiday to the Isle of Wight enjoyed by a group of underprivileged children from a residential school in Banstead, Surrey, in 1936. As well as containing an account by one of the young participants, the book also reproduces the handwritten and fully illustrated 48-page guidebook lovingly prepared by Miss Isabel Mountjoy, one of the teachers who organised the trip. Her creation absorbed the lucky youngsters throughout their holiday, and all these decades later, it’s a story that will delight the reader today.
NOTE: The school was known by different names at different times including Banstead Cottage Homes and Beechholme.
Copies available from the Banstead History sales site.
Below is the contents page of the guidebook:
Headmaster’s Letter ...........................................................................
Sea Fever (poem by John Masefield) ....................................................
The Party ..........................................................................................
Kit ...................................................................................................
Programme .......................................................................................
Daily Routine ....................................................................................
Tides and Buoys ................................................................................
Journey to Sandown (map) .................................................................
Items of Interest on Route ..................................................................
Isle of Wight (map) ............................................................................
Plan of Sandown ................................................................................
Ramble to Alverstone and Newchurch ..................................................,
The Puffin (includes drawings) .............................................................
Southampton Docks (site plan) ...........................................................
Merchant Ship Types (drawings) ..........................................................
Ships’ Flags (drawings) ......................................................................
The Curlew (includes drawings) ...........................................................
Walk to Yaverland and Brading (includes map) ......................................
Roman Villa at Brading (site plan) .......................................................
Sandown to Bembridge (includes map) ................................................
The Herring Gull (includes drawings) ...................................................
Excursion to Portsmouth ....................................................................
The Navy (drawings of naval vessels) ..................................................
Borthwood Copse, Apse Heath, America Woods and Shanklin .................
Journey to Carisbrooke Castle, Freshwater Bay and The Needles ............
Old Shanklin ...................................................................................
Osborne House (includes map) ..........................................................
Walk to Bonchurch ..........................................................................
Excursion to St Catherine’s Lighthouse ...............................................
The Poets – Dickens, Tennyson, Keats and Swinburne ..........................
Wild Flowers (drawings) ...................................................................
Notes on Collections ........................................................................
Weather Chart ................................................................................
Seaweeds (includes drawings) ..........................................................
Record of Collections and Record Keeping ..........................................
Alum Bay (includes section through cliffs) ..........................................
Architecture (drawings) ...................................................................
Lighthouses (annotated drawings) .....................................................
Pocket Money Record .......................................................................
The Countryside Code ......................................................................
Picture added on 06 October 2023 at 13:40
This picture is in the following groups
Beechholme
Beechholme
External Links
Banstead History
Banstead History
What a charming book this is, full of genuine love and care for deprived children of that era. I enjoyed reading it so much and with tears in my eyes when it came to the end, the way Philip described the scruffy children of Portsmouth against themselves being spotless yet, the scruffy ones surrounded with love from their parents etc. We often do not appreciate what we've got, heart breaking!
Well done to the author for doing such a good job of it. I hope that those who get the opportunity to read it learn to appreciate whatever gifts life has crowned them with. I will examine myself FIRST, I have a lot to be thankful for.
AE
(Note from LNW: This review came from an email sent to the author.)
Well done to the author for doing such a good job of it. I hope that those who get the opportunity to read it learn to appreciate whatever gifts life has crowned them with. I will examine myself FIRST, I have a lot to be thankful for.
AE
(Note from LNW: This review came from an email sent to the author.)
Added by Webmaster on 13 October 2023
I was humbled whilst reading ‘Banstead Residential School – Holiday to Sandown, IOW’. I had very little knowledge of those who resided at ‘Beechholme’, as it was known in my time during the 1950’s - 1960’s, save for the few lads who attended my school, contributing their skill to our football teams and other sports.
The decision of the committee to back your efforts in bringing this book to publication is applauded, as I am only too well aware of the work necessary to achieve such a feat.
It is even more satisfying to see that ‘Banstead History’ have been bold enough to continue publishing events and experiences of those closely associated with Banstead during their occupancy of the village.
Peter W.
Note from LNW: This review came from an email sent to the author.
From the many letters received by the author over the last twenty years, the fact that children resided at Beechholme was not always made known to others at local schools. Even close friends within the Beechholme community sometimes avoided talking to each other whilst on school premises in an effort to keep their secret.
The decision of the committee to back your efforts in bringing this book to publication is applauded, as I am only too well aware of the work necessary to achieve such a feat.
It is even more satisfying to see that ‘Banstead History’ have been bold enough to continue publishing events and experiences of those closely associated with Banstead during their occupancy of the village.
Peter W.
Note from LNW: This review came from an email sent to the author.
From the many letters received by the author over the last twenty years, the fact that children resided at Beechholme was not always made known to others at local schools. Even close friends within the Beechholme community sometimes avoided talking to each other whilst on school premises in an effort to keep their secret.
Added by Webmaster on 15 October 2023
Hi Lewis
It's arrived.
It's beautiful.
It's perfect.
Just sad that Miss Mountjoy won't see her amazing Guidebook in print.
BR
Note from LNW: This review came from an email sent to the author.
It's arrived.
It's beautiful.
It's perfect.
Just sad that Miss Mountjoy won't see her amazing Guidebook in print.
BR
Note from LNW: This review came from an email sent to the author.
Added by Webmaster on 16 October 2023
Received via email from the LONDON METROPOLITAN ARCHIVES:
The book is wonderful. What an amazing amount of work you've put into it. It's lovely how you put it together. It's going to be such a valuable resource. We're going to catalogue it and put it in our library, once I have read it.
I feel a trip to the Isle of Wight coming on.
CH
The book is wonderful. What an amazing amount of work you've put into it. It's lovely how you put it together. It's going to be such a valuable resource. We're going to catalogue it and put it in our library, once I have read it.
I feel a trip to the Isle of Wight coming on.
CH
Added by Webmaster on 18 October 2023
Thank you so much for this wonderful little book, it is a delight to read.
I found myself imagining following Miss Mountjoy's guide which is so beautifully
Illustrated. What a talent this lady had with drawings and easy to follow instructions for the children.
Her details of the history of the Isle of Wight added to the joy of reading this book.
GL
Note from LNW: This review came from an email sent to the author.
I found myself imagining following Miss Mountjoy's guide which is so beautifully
Illustrated. What a talent this lady had with drawings and easy to follow instructions for the children.
Her details of the history of the Isle of Wight added to the joy of reading this book.
GL
Note from LNW: This review came from an email sent to the author.
Added by Lewis N Wood on 23 October 2023
Thank you for a delightful read. The research done by yourself, the rescuing of the text of the actual diary and the final words from Philip Condon all contribute to make this a worthy document that the Banstead History Group can be proud of.
WH
Note from LNW: This review came from an email sent to the author.
WH
Note from LNW: This review came from an email sent to the author.
Added by Lewis N Wood on 09 November 2023
Oh wow, what a pleasure to read this lovely book and to read Philip's memories.
Beautifully put together, I was almost in there with them.
LB
Note from LNW: This review came from an email sent to the author.
Beautifully put together, I was almost in there with them.
LB
Note from LNW: This review came from an email sent to the author.
Added by Lewis N Wood on 09 November 2023
Comments from Flickr:
Well done Lewis, what a wonderful thing to do and what a fabulous book. I can imagine in the 1930s a trip like this would feel like you were going to the ends of the Earth. What an amazing holiday it must have been for these children.
RR
I worked in a primary school for many years. It was quite shocking to survey children and find out that a vast majority had not seen the sea (1990-2010) or even visited a swimming baths. This was not helped by our being inland with a minimum two-hour car journey to reach the sea. Perhaps life hasn't changed that much?
ASL
What a wonderful idea in the first place. It must have been quite an adventure for the children.
HH
Well done Lewis, what a wonderful thing to do and what a fabulous book. I can imagine in the 1930s a trip like this would feel like you were going to the ends of the Earth. What an amazing holiday it must have been for these children.
RR
I worked in a primary school for many years. It was quite shocking to survey children and find out that a vast majority had not seen the sea (1990-2010) or even visited a swimming baths. This was not helped by our being inland with a minimum two-hour car journey to reach the sea. Perhaps life hasn't changed that much?
ASL
What a wonderful idea in the first place. It must have been quite an adventure for the children.
HH
Added by Lewis N Wood on 15 November 2023
Nork
The research involved finding the guest house in Sandown. The care taken to reproduce the pages from the thin paper original was so painstakingly done to produce what we see today. Philip Condon’s memory of the trip was a perfect way to end the book. It is indeed a Treasure trove of memories of a time long-gone.