Unofficial Christ's Hospital Forum

It's pasted in mine which is 1972.

My Bible has The Charge pasted into the left of the inside cover and The Gift of the Governors of Christ's Hospital pasted opposite, with my name and the date July 5 1971 in DR's blue ink handwriting!

Facebook boring, Frances? Not if one doesn't write boring things...

Here I am in a small Devon village, where, I'm sorry to say, I haven't met any people with whom I could fit in - alas! So I really like Facebook for daily bulletins from family and of course, the very lively HOGOFs, who are a joy.

Although I wander off-topic myself (as I'm doing right now) I do tend to like it when we discuss things according to thread on the Forum... fr'instance I probably wouldn't be reading threads entitled

Chief Bradley
Jokes Please
Does anybody know when the results will be posted after the
Oom Pah Band in the One Show, or
It's Rugby Time Again

because I'm sure I wouldn't understand the content. So I might have missed out!

I've always believed that the Charge was a bunch of politically devious and self-serving crap. You can only work to extend the so-called advantage to a few. What about all those who don't get the advantage? This is the usual cunning right-wing propaganda which suggests that you can have all chiefs and no Indians. And is it an advantage or does it just produce snotty, elitist, Telegraph reading little oiks? Discuss.

It's in mine (1955) and my Grandfather's (1880) as well as Jonathan's (2007)

rockfreak wrote:I've always believed that the Charge was a bunch of politically devious and self-serving crap. You can only work to extend the so-called advantage to a few. What about all those who don't get the advantage? This is the usual cunning right-wing propaganda which suggests that you can have all chiefs and no Indians. And is it an advantage or does it just produce snotty, elitist, Telegraph reading little oiks? Discuss.

That thing on your shoulder wouldn't be a chip perhaps?

postwarblue wrote:

rockfreak wrote:I've always believed that the Charge was a bunch of politically devious and self-serving crap. You can only work to extend the so-called advantage to a few. What about all those who don't get the advantage? This is the usual cunning right-wing propaganda which suggests that you can have all chiefs and no Indians. And is it an advantage or does it just produce snotty, elitist, Telegraph reading little oiks? Discuss.

That thing on your shoulder wouldn't be a chip perhaps?

Quite possibly Robert, given his views on the public/private school education system.

J.R. wrote:

postwarblue wrote:

rockfreak wrote:I've always believed that the Charge was a bunch of politically devious and self-serving crap. You can only work to extend the so-called advantage to a few. What about all those who don't get the advantage? This is the usual cunning right-wing propaganda which suggests that you can have all chiefs and no Indians. And is it an advantage or does it just produce snotty, elitist, Telegraph reading little oiks? Discuss.

That thing on your shoulder wouldn't be a chip perhaps?

Quite possibly Robert, given his views on the public/private school education system.

You see what I mean, Rockfreak? There's no possibility of real debate, because their instincts are to try to trash your motives .. err, sorry, take the argument ad hominem. Sad, but all they want is to reminisce.

Good to see you back and posting Annie. How are you?

You see what I mean, Rockfreak? There's no possibility of real debate, because their instincts are to try to trash your motives .. err, sorry, take the argument ad hominem. Sad, but all they want is to reminisce.

hmm... not true! Some of us, however ancient, want to do more than reminisce. Mere memories are one thing, but we have an adventure lined up that will embrace Blues of all ages from current deps to ancient OBs like me. It is more fun for Blues to embrace exciting challenges than to reminisce or, dare I say it, to bitch about others doing it. Why not join me and 30 other OBs on the adventure of a lifetime?


viewtopic.php?f=18&t=4712&p=134496#p134496

rockfreak wrote:I've always believed that the Charge was a bunch of politically devious and self-serving crap. You can only work to extend the so-called advantage to a few. What about all those who don't get the advantage? This is the usual cunning right-wing propaganda which suggests that you can have all chiefs and no Indians. And is it an advantage or does it just produce snotty, elitist, Telegraph reading little oiks? Discuss.

Something is better than nothing surely? There is a parallel with localised political protest. Great oaks from little acorns and all that.

We can argue the toss about ratios of full fee paying pupils and other inequities in the modern age but historically CH has been a vehicle for social mobility which, in my view anyway, is a good thing.

It is true that CH cannot help everyone but that is not the fault of CH. Rather than get rid of schools such as CH maybe more schools of its type could be created to help ..."those who don't get the advantage.".... For all its faults, some justified and well documented here and elsewhere, it does do what it can and the Charge does inspire Old Blues to contribute..."according to (their) means."....

AKAP wrote:It's pasted in mine which is 1972.

I must have missed this post from AKAP first time around in 2010.

I too left in 1972 and the Charge is NOT pasted in my Bible.

Could there be a variance depending on House? Although Mid A and Mid B are pretty close!

The Charge is not printed in my Bible. I only ever had it orally at the Leaving Service.

As for rockfreak, he seems to be an exact contemporary of mine, but his name rings no bells. What he is saying is: What everyone can't have, no one may have. That principle has in my opinion done enormous damage both to education and to social mobility in the past four decades. I prefer the Tesco position: Every little helps.

Oh, as for reminiscing: That is another name for what academics now fashionably call 'oral history'. It is an extremely valuable resource for historians, and one of my main motives for contributing to this forum.

michael scuffil wrote:
Oh, as for reminiscing: That is another name for what academics now fashionably call 'oral history'. It is an extremely valuable resource for historians, and one of my main motives for contributing to this forum.

Thank you, gentlemen. That's game, set and match.

michael scuffil wrote:The Charge is not printed in my Bible. I only ever had it orally at the Leaving Service.

As for rockfreak, he seems to be an exact contemporary of mine, but his name rings no bells. What he is saying is: What everyone can't have, no one may have. That principle has in my opinion done enormous damage both to education and to social mobility in the past four decades. I prefer the Tesco position: Every little helps.

Oh, as for reminiscing: That is another name for what academics now fashionably call 'oral history'. It is an extremely valuable resource for historians, and one of my main motives for contributing to this forum.

What a strange idea about the last four decades! I'd fondly imagined that, for 35 years of it at least, Thatcherite neo-liberalism had seen the inequality index go off the radar and the unemployment figure triple from the decades before 1980 (ONS figures).

I left in 1977 (I think!) and have the charge stuck inside both the Bible and the little prayer book which accompanied it. Both are still in their little gold boxes with inscriptions written in the fair hand of Max Mylvaganam.