The Old Ride School

Coordinates: 51°21′32″N 2°15′25″W / 51.359°N 2.257°W The Old Ride School (previously called The Old Ride Preparatory School) was an independent school, at Little Horwood, Buckinghamshire, later at Bradford on Avon, Wiltshire.

History

The school was founded in 1885 by its first headmaster, the Reverend Toby Flynn, at Little Horwood, Buckinghamshire, lying between Buckingham and what is now Milton Keynes.

In 1959, the school's buildings at Horwood House, Little Horwood, were sold to British Railways, and the school merged with Kingwell Court Preparatory School, a separate boys' school, joining it at Kingwell Court on the northern outskirts of Bradford on Avon. This is a substantial seventeenth century country house which is now called Frankleigh House. However, the merged school retained the name of The Old Ride. Initially, the Old Ride schoolboys wore their red school caps while the Kingwell Court boys kept their purple caps.

The Rev. Toby Flynn was succeeded as head master by his son, Mark Flynn, and remarkably the school had only three head masters between 1885 and 1962.^[1] [It may be that this should be until 1990. Mark Flynn became headmaster in about 1960 and the school was bought by someone else in about 1980.]

Girls were first admitted to the school in 1982. Pupils worked on a 'plus and minus' system for good and bad behaviour, both academically and personally. Those receiving one hundred "pluses" would go on the Plus Outing with the headmaster and his wife. Children were required to carry a comb and handkerchief with them at all times.

The school closed in 1990 when attendance figures dropped dramatically, following adverse inspection reports.

In 2002, a former science teacher, Peter Hamilton-Leggett, was charged with having molested several students in the 1970s and 1980s.^[2]

Later uses

A Rudolf Steiner school, The Orchard School, occupied part of the Old Ride's premises until it was forced to relocate to Holt due to financial difficulties. The buildings were left in disrepair until a group of families bought them in 1995 and have since been divided into ten individually owned apartments.

References

1. Donald P. Leinster-Mackay, The rise of the English prep school (1984) p. 108 online
2. Blackstock, Colin (18 June 2003). "Police used Friends Reunited to help jail teacher for child abuse". The Guardian. p. 5. Retrieved 5 June 2009.