Mr Stiff's Cambridge outings

[Katharine]

It's funny to see you all discussing the intricacies of your uniform. But where are your hats?

Hertford uniform, particularly Sunday uniform, went through a series of changes in a fairly short time. It must have been fairly expensive for the Foundation! Hats went out fairly soon after I left.

If you trawl through the Hertford threads you will find lots of discussions on it. Many of us were envious of your uniform, but at the time were not quite sure how it could be feminised for the girls. I don't think we wanted the Susannah uniform or any of the others in use for girls since 1552.

[englishangel]

We were still wearing hats in 67 but . With blazers we would have worn chapel caps and I don't think we had to wear them on that outing. Michael, you may be correct about Mike Hiley not being an OB, and Mary I thought we were always in the same form.

Katharine, we were told we followed yout 'bulge' year though I think by the time we left so many had fallen by the wayside that we were no longer a bulge. In fact (apart from in 7's) there was a dearth of Upper Sixth, 4's only had one and 2's only had two.

[icomefromalanddownunder]

and Mary I thought we were always in the same form.

Yes, I thought that too, and am busily wondering how Mary Mc (who outshone us all at Maths) could have ended up in the middle stream.

xx

PS: haven't forgotten the Daintree Tea. Am off to Qld the weekend before Christmas and aim to shop for some then .

[Alexandra Thrift]

Hi Caroline,
Mary Mc was in the A stream for maths (I think Mrs Thomas was the teacher) but Liz Jay and I went to the Alpha stream only for maths ( with Mr Mulholland ).
xx

[fivethreeone]

We had 2 classes A and B but all years were re-split into A, Alpha and B for maths (Mr Mulholland was still there...).

And I remember a nice trip to Cambridge though not a Mr Stiff, we went in the second year just after I started at CH.

[englishangel]

Presumably Mr Stiff paid for the trip, I know we had an extremely good tea, presumably NOT paid for by the students.

I don't think we knew it was Mr Stiff either, a 'secret millionaire'?

[J.R.]

Was that seriously his surname, or was it a nick-name ?

If it were my surname, I think I'd have changed it by deed-poll.

[michael scuffil]

It seriously was his surname. I met him once at a Founder's Day Dinner.
"Call me Stiff," he said.

[Euterpe13]

Yes, it was his name, in fact I remember his coming with us on the bus .

[michael scuffil]

A memory has just returned. There was a girl in the Senior Sixth (?) at Hertford in 1962/63 (?) called Peta H. In my group of Stiff's juniors in the academic year 64/65 there was a girl who looked very like her. I mentioned this (asked if they were sisters or something) and she gave me a black look and the rest of the group laughed. This was clearly an old joke which the junior in question (for some reason) found annoying. Does that ring any bells?

[Foureyes]

I think that the Mr Stiff referred to was the same man as I stayed with in Wimbledon in (about) 1954/55. I remember him as being very tall. He was an Old Blue and "something" in the City - and very successful, I believe. He was very generous to CH and put me up for a forthnight in the Summer Holidays, at the request of my housemsater (I was in Lamb B), when I refused to go home (long story). He was a very kind man. He must have had children of his own as there was a nanny, but I am fairly certain that they did not go to C.H.

[michael scuffil]

I imagine he was too rich to send his children to CH. Was he a governor, does anyone know?

(Yes, the Mr Stiff I remember was also a very tall man.)

[kerrensimmonds]

I think Mr Stiff probably was a Governor, and maybe even also a 'Benefactor'....
I remember Peta Hutchins,very well. As a junior I had a 'crack' on her and we became sort of friends (her family lived in a village outside Bognor, not far from us in Arundel, and as they did not have a car and we did, my parents sometimes brought hers up to Hertford for Long Saturdays or whatever, and we sometimes saw each other in the holidays. My adolescent 5-year diary makes excrutiatingly embarassing reading on the subject!). Peta was also friendly with (the celebrated) John Snow who was at that time a Housey boy - the son of the vicar of Bognor. In the end my mother decided she did not approve of my friendship with Peta so when she left CH to go to York University (I think....to read English), we lost touch. I would love to know what happened to her.

[Ajarn Philip]

A very quick Google search reveals that Peta Hutchins graduated from York in '66 and had probably been reading History.

[kerrensimmonds]

blimey.....!