DavidRawlins wrote:The numbers were on the house lists, so they probably survive. I certainly was not given a choice - Col A 8, inherited from Tidy.
From your years I guess that you joined direct into Col A.
In the Prep everything was based on house number - you wanted food or anything else and no. 51 was right at the end of the queue
.
When I went up I was given a choice between two numbers - one lowish and one very high so I chose the lower one - number 9.
Of course house numbers were almost meaningless in the upper and until your post I was unaware that number 8 was rolled over at the same time. I guess that someone else from the Prep came up with me but I don't know who came from the Prep and who joined direct.
As for house lists, what long term use were they? Yes, they were in seniority order* and you called the roll from them but that was all. * I think that, apart from monitors, each year's entrants were in alphabetical order