CH Hertford pic

Vonny · Post by **Vonny** » Fri Oct 20, 2006 9:42 pm

As I've not been back to Hertford since the late 80's I found this quite interesting to see the changes that have been made since we left. I almost feel a bit sad looking at what they've done to the site

http://www.hertford.net/air/Christs_Hospital.jpg

Vonny · Post by **Vonny** » Fri Oct 20, 2006 9:50 pm

This nostalgia is not good for me on a Friday night.

http://www.hertford.net/pictures/bluerabt.htm

Scone Lover · Post by **Scone Lover** » Sat Oct 21, 2006 2:20 am

Nostalgia on a friday night is not a good idea.

Where did you girls do your sports then?

Vonny · Post by **Vonny** » Sat Oct 21, 2006 8:58 am

Scone Lover wrote:Where did you girls do your sports then?

If you look at the first picture at the very bottom where the car park and roof of Tesco is that is where the playing field was. A sports pavillion was roughly in the bottom left of the picture.There were also a couple of tennis courts in that area too. The school also had a bigger playing field (plus lots of tennis courts) at Ashbourne which was a mile or 2 (uphill) from the school. We used to trudge up there regularly. We also had netball courts where the zig zggy building is at the top middle of the picture. The swimming pool, gym and squash courts were at the end of the Avenue ish. The opposite end to the roundabout.

Katharine · Post by **Katharine** » Sat Nov 25, 2006 4:08 pm

I have just found this picture, having followed a previous link to aerial photo. This shows Bluecoats this year. Can you imagine all thoise cars parked on the Square?

http://www.hertford.net/pictures/air/vi ... uecoats765

cj · Post by cj » Sat Nov 25, 2006 11:52 pm

Isn't that amazing. I can barely recognise the place. What are the boarding houses, dining and school halls used for now? All those plans must have been bandied around when we were still there for the last couple of years. Isn't it funny, I had no concept of the fact that we were only going to be there for a short time, and can remember gazing out of the dorm window in 1s that faced 'outside' and wishing desperately that I was out there too. Then suddenly we were at Horsham, and Hertford was very quickly a distant memory. I wonder if the people that use all the facilities on site ever think about what it was like for the girls there? All those foot marks from generations of pupils marching in crocodile to chapel, suffering in the swimming pool with Miss Gravett, crying with homesickness in the dorms. Does anyone think that all those feelings and emotions have left an imprint in the place?

Katharine · Post by **Katharine** » Sun Nov 26, 2006 11:54 am

Do you think that you were lucky in that you could SEE the outside world from 1s? We could only see 5s & 7s from out dorm and didn't want to be in either of those places!!

John Knight · Post by **John Knight** » Sun Nov 26, 2006 3:12 pm

Katharine wrote:I have just found this picture, having followed a previous link to aerial photo. This shows Bluecoats this year. Can you imagine all thoise cars parked on the Square?

http://www.hertford.net/pictures/air/vi ... uecoats765

Nice photograph...
There is an interesting looking book on eBay at the moment:
http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI.dll? ... &rd=1&rd=1
John.

cj · Post by cj » Sun Nov 26, 2006 9:16 pm

Katharine wrote:Do you think that you were lucky in that you could SEE the outside world from 1s? We could only see 5s & 7s from out dorm and didn't want to be in either of those places!!

I'm not sure that it was a good thing to be able to see the outside world as it just exacerbated my feelings of homesickness and the world I was being shut away from. I so missed my family and being at home and it was something that I never really adjusted to, even up to my Grecian's year. I can remember weekends at Hertford just dragging by and feeling that awful sickness and loneliness in my stomach, partly because I remember there being so little to do there, unlike Horsham, but I just don't think I was cut out for boarding at that young age. Had I gone in on my Deps, that may have been very different but there may be other issues of fitting in at that stage - new Deps would be able to relate their experiences.

icomefromalanddownunder · Mon Nov 27, 2006 3:47 am

cj wrote:Isn't that amazing. I can barely recognise the place. What are the boarding houses, dining and school halls used for now? All those plans must have been bandied around when we were still there for the last couple of years. Isn't it funny, I had no concept of the fact that we were only going to be there for a short time, and can remember gazing out of the dorm window in 1s that faced 'outside' and wishing desperately that I was out there too. Then suddenly we were at Horsham, and Hertford was very quickly a distant memory. I wonder if the people that use all the facilities on site ever think about what it was like for the girls there? All those foot marks from generations of pupils marching in crocodile to chapel, suffering in the swimming pool with Miss Gravett, crying with homesickness in the dorms. Does anyone think that all those feelings and emotions have left an imprint in the place?

I believe that they would have done, and would be interested to speak with people who work there now; to ask them if they sense anything.

I left in 1970, at the end of UV, and visited one Sunday afternoon just before Christmas 1972, with Mary Mc. Mary where are you? And Susan and Bun. Hopefully Munch or Katharine will get a chance to speak to Cathy this evening at the QEH and recruit her to the forum.

Hmmm, where was I? Ah, right. Despite two happy years at St Martin's and one er, entertaining and enlightening term at Leeds, I felt a weight and sadness overcome me the moment we walked through the gates. It was as though I had never left, and I was transported back to being a powerless member of the community, with no sense of self-worth or ability.

When I was sorting through photos a couple of years ago, after contacting Pam Jones and Diana Garnham through Friends Reunited, my biggest surprise was to see that we were smiling and laughing in some of the photos. I do not remember ever feeling any joy - despite the fact that I can remember doing things that I enjoyed: walks on the Leas, holding hands and seeing how many of us the shock from an electric fence could travel through (a scientist even then

, although I'm sure it wasn't my idea to conduct the experiment), walking through really deep snow one afternoon with Deborah and Jasmine. Oh, er, getting a little nostalgic here, and only part memories coming through.

Liz, Alex: do you remember a sort of estate that we used to walk to, where we found a doggy graveyard - maybe fox hounds? Any idea where or what it was? I remember red brick walls, the headstones for the dogs and abandoned residential buildings.

Coming back on track. The only visit I made to Hertford after leaving: I regained some of my power when speaking to DR's replacement. She invited us to attend chapel, but while looking me up and down (I was resplendent in ankle length black cape and a pair of loons - low slung flared trousers that exposed a considerable amount of bottom crack, although I always wore a top that covered my hips, so things could have been far less attractive/suitable for a visit to chapel) said that she would quite understand if we had to leave. Ha! If only she had been less obvious in her desire for me not to attend, I would have foregone the opportunity.

englishangel · Post by **englishangel** » Mon Nov 27, 2006 8:20 am

I saw Mary Mc at Horsham at OB day in 1997, our 25th anniversary and we were the only two there from Hertford and she looked very well and happy.

She was there with her husband and two boys (about 7 & 9 at the time I believe) and she was working at the GCHQ (the Government codebreaking place in Gloucestershire) where I believe she had been since university. She is probably still there, I don't remember her married name, if she told me.

I recognised her and she recognised me.

Katharine · Post by **Katharine** » Mon Nov 27, 2006 8:57 am

I don't know what the people working on the site think. I was at the Tescos a couple of years ago see viewtopic.php?t=985 for the reaction I got.

I don't think I was as unhappy as some of you, I have always had a fairly accepting constitution and that was where I was so I had to make the best of it. Academically I was fine, but other than that I did not excel at games I was tone-deaf and my needlework was average so I was not an achiever in the CH culture of the time. I did have an inspirational Maths teacher, herself an OG, in the VI form and frequently thought of her while I was teaching, to her delight I followed her to the same Oxford college.

Katharine · Post by **Katharine** » Mon Nov 27, 2006 1:29 pm

During the morning, while at work, currently on lunch break, I have been thinking about that post of mine. Why do I cite myself as a failure in CH terms? Why do I define myself negatively rather than positively? I looked up to Kerren as a high achiever in CH terms - she was very sporty and won colours etc. She has said that she was in 'awe' of me - something I had to query as I didn't see myself as having anything. Yet I did, I left school as a Queen's Guide, DofE Gold Award holder with a place at a prestigious university. Did we all envy others' achievments and not see our own? I don't know.

I often feel that I haven't achieved as much as DR would have hoped of me, yet other people look up to me in my present position. I can speak in public without too many qualms - several times I have spoken in front of thousands of women, nationally and internationally at Inner Wheel Conferences. Did that confidence come from CH I really do not know the answers.

englishangel · Post by **englishangel** » Mon Nov 27, 2006 2:25 pm

I was looking for a surveyor in Hertfordshire on Yell.com this morning and the branch I was after is in Hemel Hempstead but they have a branch in Bluecoats Way in Hertford.

2nd Floor Office, Sherwood House, Bluecoats Avenue, Hertford, Hertfordshire SG14 1PB

Vonny · Post by **Vonny** » Tue Nov 28, 2006 2:18 pm

cj wrote:Isn't that amazing. I can barely recognise the place.

I don't really recognise the area at the front of the school gates. No idea if it has changed much there at all. I vaguely recall there being a factory near the school

I don't even really recognise the area at the back of the school - I know we used to walk to the Meads and over a bridge but I can't see the route we used to take in the picture.