FOR generations of young women, Cecily Manktelow, who has died aged 82, was a formative influence on their lives.
The former teacher, who lived in Northwood Hall, Hornsey Lane, Highgate, was deputy head at Parliament Hill School in Highgate Road until her retirement in 1986.
In all, she spent an astonishing 43 years at the school, having joined it in 1943 when it was still a grammar school. Aged only 20, she was barely older than some of her pupils.
She began as a temporary mathematics teacher, having taken her degree in two years because of wartime conditions.
In 1953 she became second mistress, at that time a post for which the holder was decided by staff nomination, and in 1957 deputy head.
As second mistress, Miss Manktelow was heavily involved in the planning and preparation for the school’s successful transition from grammar school to comprehensive in 1957.
In her retirement speech she spoke of her journey into teaching, which began at the age of seven.
She said her mother had been exceptionally bright, but had been forced to leave school early to look after her elderly grandmother until she died.
She said: “My mother had been desperate to continue her education and to become a teacher but was not given the chance.
“I wanted to be a teacher from the age of about seven, when I first thought about doing anything. I have never wavered from that.”
According to long-time friend and fellow teacher, Shelagh Edge, who retired not long after Ms Manktelow, Cecily’s journey to the school during the war years was often hazardous.
Speaking at a service in honour of her friend at St Michael’s Church in Highgate, Ms Edge said: “Until the end of the war she travelled daily from her home in Croydon to London Bridge, a route known as ‘bomb alley’ because of the frequency of the air raids.
“Passengers had the choice of leaving for an air-raid shelter or staying put. She never left the train and was never late once – always there by 8.10.”
But it wasn’t just Ms Manktelow’s “utter reliability” that won her admiration, according to Ms Edge.
She said: “My first memory of Cecily is of her bright, welcoming smile. She was a person of absolute honesty and integrity, never fudging any arguments or conclusions to make them more palatable.”
Ms Manktelow continued to be active well into her retirement, joining the University of the Third Age and spending many happy hours learning French and indulging a wide variety of interests, including travel, ballet and music.
She was also somewhat fearless. Though she had done no flying before her retirement, she made up for it afterwards with more than 20 trips across the Atlantic, including one on Concorde.
Ms Edge said: “She never lost her excitement in flying or her wonder and awe as we travelled. She is the only person I know who became excited at the check-in.”
Her nephew, Anthony Edwards, said: “She was a person of integrity and intelligence. She had an uncompromising view of what was right, while never being judgemental. And she combined this with a wonderful sense of humour, adventure and zest for life.”
Her funeral service at St Michael’s Church in Highgate on June 20 included hymns and prayers which she had chosen.

Sunita Rappai