I is for Ickenham

LONDON A-Z I is for Ickenham My next alphabetical destination has its own tube station, hence is perhaps not the unsung suburb the previous eight have been. But Ickenham is still properly off-piste for the vast majority of Londoners, tucked away in Metro-land between Uxbridge and Ruislip with a historic identity all of its own. Wikipedia suggests "no major historical events have taken place in Ickenham" and also lists no famous former residents, but it is still broadly interesting and very much not icky. The heart of the former hamlet of Ickenham is the village pump by the village pond opposite the village church. The pump was sunk in 1866 and raises water 80 feet from the chalk below, the overspill from which feeds the duck-infested pond. The octagonal canopy was added to commemorate Queen Victoria's Golden Jubilee, its slate roof resting on twisted columns and topped by a weathervane. It was nearly demolished in the 1920s for being a traffic hazard but thankfully villagers stepped…