Page 1 of 1

Enid in Ipswich.

Posted: 11 Jan 2008, 19:45
by Rilloby
I read somewhere that when Enid trained to be a teacher at Ipswich High School she lived in Christchurch Street Ipswich.

Most of the houses in Christchurch Strreet seem to have survived intact, although many have been converted to flats. Does anyone know what number house Enid lived in? Is there a plaque on the wall? If not there ought to be.

Rilloby.

Re: Enid in Ipswich.

Posted: 12 Jan 2008, 13:45
by Tony Summerfield
I am not sure whether Enid can be said to have 'lived' in Christchurch Street, she was in lodgings there with a kindergarten teacher at Ipswich High School, Ida Hunt. Enid knew the Hunt family as she had stayed with them at Seckford Hall.

I can't provide a number for you I'm afraid, but I am absolutely certain that the house wouldn't have a blue plaque on it as it did not belong to Enid, who was only a lodger.

I am assuming that you haven't already read this, Rilloby, so I am adding to it. I have just spoken to Enid's Biographer, Barbara Stoney, and she trawled through her original notes and came up with the address 73 Christchurch Street.

Re: Enid in Ipswich.

Posted: 14 Jan 2008, 18:49
by Rilloby
Thanks Tony and Barbara for going to the trouble of checking this out.

I'll have a look at 73 Christchurch Street next time I'm passing.

Rilloby

Re: Enid in Ipswich.

Posted: 19 Nov 2009, 00:29
by Rilloby
No. 73 Christchurch Street, Ipswich gets a mention and a picture here:-

http://www.ipswich.gov.uk/downloads/chr ... _st_1_.pdf" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

Of course it's possible that some renumbering of houses has taken place since Enid was in Ipswich.

Ipswich High School for Girls was a couple of hundred yards away in Constable Road, but has since moved to a new site.

Re: Enid in Ipswich.

Posted: 19 Nov 2009, 11:22
by Anita Bensoussane
Thanks, Rilloby. It's good to see the picture of number 73. It looks as if it's a pub/restaurant now. I wonder if the owners are aware that Enid Blyton once lodged there?

Anita

Re: Enid in Ipswich.

Posted: 19 Nov 2009, 11:34
by Eddie Muir
I think you may be looking at the wrong picture for number 73, Anita. You need to scroll down to page 8 to see a photo of the house.

Re: Enid in Ipswich.

Posted: 19 Nov 2009, 11:43
by Anita Bensoussane
You're right, Eddie, I was looking at the wrong house before! I've now found number 73, on the corner at the end of a row of terraces.

Anita

Re: Enid in Ipswich.

Posted: 12 Sep 2017, 20:17
by Katharine
I wonder what Enid would make of this news?

http://www.ipswichstar.co.uk/news/heart ... -1-5192084" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

Re: Enid in Ipswich.

Posted: 12 Sep 2017, 21:17
by Anita Bensoussane
I can only imagine that Enid would have welcomed the news. A character in The Naughtiest Girl in the School remarks that going to Whyteleafe (a co-educational school) is like joining a big family of sisters and brothers, and Enid's own little "experimental school" at Southernhay also took boys and girls. The same goes for Miss Brown's school in Enid Blyton's Book of the Year. Although she sent her own daughters to girls' schools, I feel that Enid Blyton had a great interest in co-education.

Re: Enid in Ipswich.

Posted: 12 Sep 2017, 21:27
by Courtenay
Thanks for sharing the article, Katherine, and interesting thoughts from Anita. I'm just thinking, though, how Enid also wrote two very popular series set in all-girls' schools — St Clare's and Malory Towers, of course — so I guess she either saw value in single-sex education as well or perhaps felt under pressure to write more school stories in that genre!

I can understand the negative reactions of some parents to the news about Ipswich High School going co-ed. I went to an all-girls' school for my last three years of high school and it was by far the best school I ever attended. Mind you, that was probably because it was a really good school all round, not just because there were no boys! :lol: :wink: It certainly doesn't mean single-sex education will be best for all children or that co-eds don't have significant arguments in their favour too. It really depends on the school and indeed on the individual child, I think.

Re: Enid in Ipswich.

Posted: 12 Sep 2017, 21:53
by Eddie Muir
Thanks for the link, Katharine. I'm inclined to agree with Anita. I think Enid would have welcomed the news.

Re: Enid in Ipswich.

Posted: 13 Sep 2017, 07:48
by Anita Bensoussane
Courtenay wrote:Thanks for sharing the article, Katherine, and interesting thoughts from Anita. I'm just thinking, though, how Enid also wrote two very popular series set in all-girls' schools — St Clare's and Malory Towers, of course — so I guess she either saw value in single-sex education as well or perhaps felt under pressure to write more school stories in that genre!
According to Barbara Stoney, it was Alan White of Methuen who suggested (after the success of The Naughtiest Girl in the School) that Enid Blyton write "girls' school stories with a more conventional background." It's clear from the energy and sparkle of the St. Clare's and Malory Towers series that Enid Blyton thoroughly enjoyed writing them but I expect she took a keen interest in developments in education (it's believed that A.S Neill's experimental Summerhill School was one of the inspirations for Whyteleafe) and would have been interested in the notion of mixed-sex schools providing a more natural environment for learning and interacting.