Editing Ickenham (section)

===Urban development===
[[File:Ickenham - water pump, pub, and houses - geograph.org.uk - 20123.jpg|thumb|left|The Coach and Horses public house and the Pump]]
On 25 September 1905, following lobbying by Ickenham Parish Council, the [[Metropolitan Railway]] opened a small [[Railway halt|halt]] on their line between [[Harrow on the Hill|Harrow]] and [[Uxbridge]]. The railway company had been reluctant to open a station in the area due to a perceived lack of demand, and so a compromise was reached with the construction of the halt. The new stop brought with it travellers from London seeking a day out in rural surroundings. Nearby villagers sold flowers from their gardens and served teas to the visitors.<ref name="Bowlt p.133"/> The parish council later requested shelters for passengers on the platforms, which were built in December 1905, followed by a booking hut in 1910.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.ickenham.co.uk/ickenham-history/1900-s/ |title=1990s |publisher=Ickenham Online |access-date=31 March 2013}}</ref> The original platforms, too short to align with all train carriages, were extended in 1922.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.ickenham.co.uk/ickenham-history/1920-s/ |title=The Suburb That Never Was! |publisher=Ickenham Online |access-date=31 March 2013}}</ref> Ickenham Halt was rebuilt as a station in the 1970s.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.ickenham.co.uk/ickenham-history/1970-s/ |title=1970s |publisher=Ickenham Online |access-date=31 March 2013}}</ref>

The [[marathon]] event of the [[1908 Summer Olympics]] in London passed through Ickenham and Uxbridge on its way to the [[White City Stadium]].<ref>Newbery et al 1996, p.20</ref>

As a result of the railway, more commuters gradually moved to Ickenham and travelled to work in London. On 5 July 1922, {{Convert|1382|acres}} of the Swakeleys estate was auctioned for development, thereby significantly reducing its size. Roads laid out for the new development were Warren Road, Swakeleys Drive, Court Road, Milton Road, Ivy House Road, The Avenue and Thornhill Road (originally named Park Road). Other land bordering the [[River Pinn]] was designated as public open land.<ref>Bowlt 1996, p.135</ref> Shops were built around Swakeleys Road, while houses were constructed along its length. The road was widened to become a [[dual carriageway]] in 1937. Milton Farm, one of the farms on the former Swakeleys estate was demolished in 1939. The farm's pond and listed barn were cleared to make way for housing in what became Milton Road and Milton Court, though marketed as "Ickenham Garden City".<ref>Hughes 1983, p.89</ref>

[[File:Ickenham pond - April 2011.JPG|thumb|right|View of Ickenham village pond]]
A military station, operated by the Royal Air Force and later the [[United States Navy]], was opened on part of Home Farm close to the parish boundary with Ruislip in 1917, later becoming known as [[RAF West Ruislip]]. The site was used originally for the British No. 4 Maintenance Unit, together with the RAF Records division. It became involved in the repair of aircraft equipment and later in the servicing of American vehicles from [[RAF South Ruislip]].<ref>Bowlt 1996, p.137</ref> Between 1955 and 1975 the [[United States Air Force]] was based at the Ruislip station,<ref>Skinner 2005, p.44</ref> before the [[U.S. Naval Activities, United Kingdom]] command leased the site from the [[Ministry of Defence (United Kingdom)|Ministry of Defence]] for the American Naval Exchange.<ref>Bowlt 1996, pp.137—138</ref>

The original village school was built on Ickenham High Road in 1866, although by 1920 it had become overcrowded. Older children were moved to the village hall in 1928 under the name Ickenham Temporary Council School. In 1929 the village school closed and its infant pupils also moved to the village hall. The road was widened in 1934 necessitating demolition of the school building along with the original Fox & Geese public house.<ref>Skinner 2005, p.58</ref>

[[File:St Giles's Church and village pump.jpg|thumb|left|St Giles' church and the Pump, c.&nbsp;1900]]
The village pump remained in use until December 1914, while the handle was removed in 1921 by the local council for safe keeping but was never returned. The pump was restored in 2004 in partnership with a local building company,<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.ickenhamchurchnews.co.uk/0311/index.htm |title=Local Heritage Site Work Gets The Go Ahead |date=November 2003 |publisher=Ickenham Church News |access-date=6 April 2011 |archive-date=22 March 2012 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120322101906/http://www.ickenhamchurchnews.co.uk/0311/index.htm |url-status=dead }}</ref> and a similar handle was fitted during the works.<ref>Skinner 2005, p.120</ref>

Breakspear Primary School was built in 1937, followed by Glebe Primary in 1952 on the other side of the railway line.<ref>Bowlt 1996, p.116</ref> The [[Roman Catholic]] secondary school [[The Douay Martyrs School|Douay Martyrs]] was built in 1962 and later expanded onto the former site of Swakeleys School nearby.<ref>Skinner 2005, p.72</ref> Swakeleys School had opened in 1929 for older children from the village school. In 1952 the boys moved to the newly opened Abbotsfield School and Swakeleys became a girls' secondary modern school. The girls' school moved from Ickenham to share the site of [[Abbotsfield School for Boys]] in [[Hillingdon]] in 1973.<ref>Skinner 2005, p.63</ref> [[Vyners School]] opened as a [[grammar school]] on 12 January 1960 and later became a [[Comprehensive school|comprehensive]]. Delays in building work meant the first intake of pupils were taught at St Mary's Grammar School in [[Northwood Hills]] from 9 September 1959.<ref>Skinner 2005, p.67</ref>

The village hall, designed by Clifton Davy, was built on part of Church Farm in 1926. Opened by [[Princess Victoria of the United Kingdom|Princess Victoria]], as well as becoming the temporary village school the hall also became a restaurant during the Second World War and went on to be used as a bank and a [[polling station]]. A police telephone box was constructed next to the Pump in February 1936, and became operational on 4 May 1936.<ref>Skinner 2005, p.18</ref> Church Farm opposite St Giles' church was demolished after the Second World War and replaced with shops, while new roads were built in the area. By 1951 the population of Ickenham had reached 7,107, and this had risen to 10,370 by 1961 and 11,214 by 1971. The ford over the River Pinn on Swakeleys Drive, nicknamed "The Splash", was replaced in 1957 by a road bridge.<ref name="Hughes p.90"/>

[[File:Ickenham Hall - April 2011.JPG|thumb|right|Ickenham Hall was joined to the Compass Theatre in 1976.]]
[[Middlesex County Council]] bought [[Ickenham Hall]] and its grounds in 1948 in order to convert it into a youth centre. In 1968 a theatre was built behind the hall, later named the [[Compass Theatre]] by the Theatre Director John Sherratt. A new building connecting the two was built in 1976.<ref>Skinner 2005, p.41</ref>

During the Second World War Swakeleys House was requisitioned by the military and a searchlight battery established in the grounds.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.ickenham.co.uk/ickenham-history/a-wartime-childhood-in-ickenham/ |title=A Wartime Childhood in Ickenham |publisher=Ickenham Online |access-date=31 March 2013}}</ref> The house was [[Listed buildings|Grade I listed]] in 1956, and the head gardener's cottage on the junction of Swakeleys Road and The Avenue was Grade II listed in 1959.<ref name="Hillingdon listed">{{cite web|url=http://www.hillingdon.gov.uk/media/pdf/j/s/Listed_Buildings.pdf |title=Listed buildings |publisher=London Borough of Hillingdon |access-date=29 March 2011 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110608193253/http://www.hillingdon.gov.uk/media/pdf/j/s/Listed_Buildings.pdf |archive-date=8 June 2011 }}</ref>

The village library opened in 1962 on the site of the 16th century cottage and tea garden, The Orchard.<ref name="Skinner"/> [[Municipal Borough of Uxbridge|Uxbridge Borough Council]] installed a three-sided clock commemorating the 1953 [[Coronation of Queen Elizabeth II|coronation]] of [[Elizabeth II]] in the library's tower, having been persuaded not to add it to the eight-sided village pump.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.ickenham.co.uk/ickenham-history/1960-s/ |title=1960s |publisher=Ickenham Online |access-date=31 March 2013}}</ref>

In the 1980s, St Giles' church celebrated its 650th anniversary and formed a covenant with the neighbouring United Reformed Church.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.ickenham.co.uk/ickenham-history/1980-s/ |title=1980s |publisher=Ickenham Online |access-date=31 March 2013}}</ref> The United Reformed Church moved to its current building in 1936 after the previous chapel building proved too small for the growing congregation. It was then used by a local company as a wood and scrap metal yard.<ref>Bowlt 1996, p.109</ref> Nearby, many buildings on the RAF station were demolished to make way for a new housing estate named Brackenbury Village.<ref>Bowlt 1996, p.138</ref> The US Navy eventually left in 2006 and the base was permanently closed.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.navy.mil/view_single.asp?id=39539 |archive-url=https://archive.today/20120805065244/http://www.navy.mil/view_single.asp?id=39539 |url-status=dead |archive-date=5 August 2012 |title=Eye on the fleet |date=28 September 2006 |publisher=United States Navy News Service |access-date=5 March 2011 }}</ref> The site was cleared in 2007 and is currently undergoing redevelopment as residential housing under the "Ickenham Park" name.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.cala.co.uk/homes/news/newsitem.aspx?id=748 |title=Cala Acquires West Ruislip RAF Site For Record £180M Housing Development |date=14 December 2007 |publisher=Cala Homes |access-date=14 September 2010 |archive-date=20 September 2010 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100920100201/http://cala.co.uk/homes/news/newsitem.aspx?id=748 |url-status=dead }}</ref>

The local library was closed for a complete refurbishment in 2009 and reopened in March 2010.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.ickenhamchurchnews.co.uk/1003/index.htm |title=A New Page in the Life of the Library |date=March 2010 |publisher=Ickenham Church News |access-date=9 April 2011 |archive-date=22 March 2012 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120322101919/http://www.ickenhamchurchnews.co.uk/1003/index.htm |url-status=dead }}</ref>

A garden commemorating the [[Diamond Jubilee of Elizabeth II]] was opened in September 2012 in Swakeleys Park.<ref>{{cite news |title=£40k boost for Swakeleys Park in Ickenham |last=Gavaghan |first=Carl |url=http://www.uxbridgegazette.co.uk/west-london-news/local-uxbridge-news/2012/09/12/40k-boost-for-swakeleys-park-in-ickenham-113046-31810809/ |newspaper=Uxbridge Gazette |date=12 September 2012 |access-date=7 November 2012}}</ref> The garden, featuring a landscaped area and benches around a stone obelisk, was designed by the local council's Green Spaces Team. The opening had been scheduled for 26 May 2012, although this was postponed after vandals destroyed the stone obelisk overnight shortly after it had been installed.<ref>{{cite news |title=Jubilee Gardens statue destroyed by vandals |last=Gavaghan |first=Carl |url=http://www.uxbridgegazette.co.uk/west-london-news/local-uxbridge-news/2012/05/23/jubilee-gardens-statue-destroyed-by-vandals-113046-31037947/ |newspaper=Uxbridge Gazette |date=23 May 2012 |access-date=26 May 2012}}</ref>