So, the underground tunnels...

Nyort · Post by **Nyort** » Sat Oct 22, 2005 3:54 pm

The annoying thing about Prep Block is it is all one joined house, so you have no idea where it could be. My guess though is the corridor by the North Entrance where they store broken stuff now. Apparantly it used to be a medicine ball storage room when the now Day Room was a gym.

DavebytheSea · Post by **DavebytheSea** » Sat Oct 22, 2005 4:33 pm

JR - there may be an misunderstanding here. What we think of as the Prep Block (Prep A and Prep B) is now mostly spoken of as Leigh Hunt. When these youngsters talk of the Prep Block, I believe they mean the old classroom block behind the Prep. I was not aware of any official entrance to the tube in the late 40s from the classroom block - only from the Prep itself which was, as you point out, between the two houses.

J.R. · Post by **J.R.** » Sun Oct 23, 2005 9:12 am

My agolopies Dave. I see what you mean.

How I remember that classromm block ! TRYING to learn Latin from B.S. Greg--- Greg----- Gregory ! (How DID he survive with that stutter ?)

I don't re-call a 'Tube' entrance in there either.

Post by **jtaylor** » Sun Oct 23, 2005 4:35 pm

IN my time the tube was semi-open, and yes it has to be said I did explore it a little - I'm awaiting the first symptoms of asbestosis to appear......

In my last year or so there they put dividing doors in, with movement-sensing alarms on them.

There wasn't an entrance to the tube in the Prep-block, partly because I'm assuming it was built well after the rest of the school.
The tube only runs under the houses, with branches under chapel and the Old Science School, and up to Big School.
There was a tunnel to the infirmary, and also out to the old Swimming Pool (out near the station)

There was rumour of one up to Sharpenhurst, which although much rumoured was never found in my day. I suppose it's potentially logical, as there are pipes from the old reservoir to the water-tower, as that's how it was filled with water?? So for maintenance it's possible.

My understanding is that it's alarmed and everything blocked-off now - I should hope so too with the dreaded dust down there....

J

Nyort · Post by **Nyort** » Sun Oct 23, 2005 6:47 pm

Regarding the Prep Block, where were the lessons? What was the upstairs used for - did they have the numbers such as 'F8' or 'F9'?

dogger · Post by **dogger** » Sun Oct 23, 2005 9:02 pm

Nyort Posted: Sat Oct 22, 2005 2:31 pm Post subject: Regarding the tube

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

I seem to remember on my squits (a couple of years ago now)

according to your details you`re 17 - so how come you were a squit `a couple of years ago????
Something fishy there, methinks !!

Nyort · Post by **Nyort** » Mon Oct 24, 2005 12:11 am

A couple - sorry, should have made it a bit clearer.
I used it as a generic amount of time.

J.R. · Post by **J.R.** » Mon Oct 24, 2005 12:46 pm

Nyort wrote:Regarding the Prep Block, where were the lessons? What was the upstairs used for - did they have the numbers such as 'F8' or 'F9'?

After so many years, my memory has dimmed. HOWEVER......

As I recall, we walked out the rear of the Prep house, across the rear avenue, (where 'tip-and-run- was regulary played), and into the Prep classroom block, (a ground and first floor building, as I remember), with class-rooms on both levels.)

DavebytheSea · Post by **DavebytheSea** » Mon Oct 24, 2005 2:57 pm

I can't really remember the layout either BUT I seem to remember entering as you say from across the asphalt (back avenue?? when did that name appear?), entering the classroom block through double (glass-pannelled?) doors, past one classroom on right (Mr Green?) and some sort of store room on the Left. The corridor then took a sharpish right turn with the prep hall on the left (did this have wallbars and double as a gym? I think so!) and presumably a classroom or two on the right. At the very end of the corridor on the right was the tuckshop where we could buy sweets once or twice a week.

The stairs must have been just before the tuckshop I think 'though I have no clear recollection of them or the first floor at all - except for a large classroom on the end (Mr Pink's?) with a poster of the Kings and Queens of England (I still remember their dates which we had to learn!). That was the room also where we had to dodge rubbers hurled at us by the teacher. Better than the whackings we got downstairs from Mr Green when getting below 17/20 for our mental arithmetic tests at the beginning of every lesson!

Great Plum · Post by **Great Plum** » Mon Oct 24, 2005 4:18 pm

The Prep Block (teaching block) has no access to the tube...

You can still get down the tube - but you need a key - how else are they going to maintain the boilers?

Sergiu Panaite · Post by **Sergiu Panaite** » Tue Oct 25, 2005 12:30 am

I only started at CH on my LE ('97), and by that time the tube was quite solidly divided. I seem to remember we were allowed to store suitcases down there, but that was about it. There were some side-rooms, but there wasn't anything interesting in them. Aside from that, just the relevant plant equipment, pipes, cables etc. The doors looked quite solid, well-secured, and the only way you could've gotten through would've been through the pipe holes in the concrete around them - if you were that thin and agile that is.
Other than that, there was nothing really left open by that time. The water tower however - I didn't hear too many people trying to get into that.

Great Plum · Post by **Great Plum** » Tue Oct 25, 2005 11:22 am

Not even a member of the Meeks family?

Sergiu Panaite · Post by **Sergiu Panaite** » Wed Oct 26, 2005 1:17 am

I know absolutely nothing about that or anything related to it. At all. It would be outrageous, I'm sure you'll agree.

Great Plum · Post by **Great Plum** » Wed Oct 26, 2005 9:49 am

Indeed...`

DavebytheSea · Post by **DavebytheSea** » Tue May 30, 2006 2:46 pm

Simon Kerruish wrote:
Richard Ruck wrote:
tbs wrote:Hi there.
I'm really impressed and amused how fully-aged people have such great humour, and can still have a good laugh about doing those things that only young teenagers could do, but what the teachers would (profesionally and publicly, anyway) consider unacceptable!
"Fully-aged" indeed! I'm 44, and I very much hope that I still have some ageing left to do....
I'm 47 with 3 teenage daughters so I qualify for old aged.

I'm 68 and English Angel, Jude etc think I have had my development arrested somewhere in late adolescence. They have this theory that some chromosome or other makes it impossible for us males ever to reach full maturity. (At least, I think that's what they say.)

.... and apparently the numbers of grown up daughters one has is totally irrelevant.