Hot breakfasts

Share your memories and stories from the Hertford Christ's Hospital School, which closed in 1985, when the two schools integrated to the Horsham site....

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Alexandra Thrift
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Re: BA's and GA's

Post by Alexandra Thrift »

Alex vS wrote:I've just worked out what the BA's and GA's of the previous posting are all about - Black Aprons and Green Aprons - instead of those blue overalls that everyone else wore to dinner. Forgotten all about them!
Blimey Alex vS ...I'm concerned about your memory !

You can't remember "hot breakfasts" ( we ate breakfast in the dining hall except on Sunday 1965-72), can't remember Green and Black Aprons and can't remember the correct name for " Pinnies" (blue pinafores)...they were NEVER called "overalls" when I was there.

In a way I understand the memory loss. I feel that, by the time you were there, the big, wide ,real world was beginning to encroach on the Hertford microcosm of existence and these small details of daily life no longer held the same significance. Their memories were thus not burnt indelibly into the very fabric of your consciousness forever and ever, Amen.

In the sixties we were still quite cut off from real life.All that existed for me was that strange unquestionable, timetabled world with it's rules and uniforms....different hats ,different knickers, deadlines,rewards,punishments, lots of marching around ,gossip,scandal, more than a tinge of Dickensian harshness and something of Jane Eyre, feeling alienated...and ticking off the days desperately until the last day of term and the hols.
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Post by englishangel »

You give it to her Alex (T),
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Re: hot breakfasts

Post by Jude »

englishangel wrote:Obviously dropped off since my time. We had a hot breakfast every day.

Deep fried bread, which we spread marmalade on!!

Powdered scrambled egg.

Boiled egg.

Bacon (the fattiest they could find I think)

And drinking tea out of bowls!!
We were still drinking tea out of cereal bowls when I was there - until 1980, blue pinny's which on the last day of term we were allowed after the meal prayer to take off and throw in the air shoulting "Housely" - Any one tell me WHY?????????

breakfasts were better as you got older - as the juniors were the furthest away from the food - breakfasts always had toast - we also spread marmalade on our fried bread - it was the only way of getting it down - I also remember the occaisonal piece of cheddar cheese in a plastic wrapper which we squished and squashed until it was like a fluid and then ate.... Porridge featured high on the list with cornflakes, sugar was always at the seniors end so I learnt to eat anything without sugar!

Very runny yoghurt on the odd occaision

all in all, looking at what mine ate at boarding schools, and later day school and college - I don't think much has changed - school food at boarding school is always the cheapest out. Thank goodness I can eat my own food now" :lol:
Jude Comber (nee Kelynack) 5's 5.38 1975-1980 Herts.
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Sausages and marmalade...

Post by WildOne »

We certainly did have hot breakfasts every day in the late 60's. :D I'm amazed that it changed to two houses a day. Did the kitchens suddenly shrink??? What torture to smell bacon in the next house and be faced with something cold yourself :cry:

I remember one girl used to split her sausages lengthwise and spread marmalade down the middle! :shock: After a few groans, one or two others tried it and liked it too I believe.

To this day, I still wonder what it must have tasted like, and it still passes through my mind as I'm cooking sausages even now. Isn't it weird what sticks in the memory 35 years later !
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Post by Great Plum »

Did you not eat togehter in one dining hall then?
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Post by Katharine »

Great Plum wrote:Did you not eat togehter in one dining hall then?
When I was there we had most meals in Dining Hall. Tea each day and Sunday breakfast were in houses, also some special occasions when 'they' wanted us out of the way, eg Speech Day.

When I was first there we marched from House to Dining Hall each time, and 6s were always last so we had several extra minutes which were precious at times. Later this changed and we just drifted there except on Sunday Lunch, and they didn't stick to the old order so we sometimes had to be ready first!!
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Post by Great Plum »

Did you have a band at Hertford too?
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Post by englishangel »

A Band, a BAND!!!

From reading this forum you must have realised that Hertford was very much a poor relation to Horsham. No photos, no sports tours and certainly no band.

We marched to lunch on Sunday all the time I was there, I don't remember in which order, and considering we had nothing to keep time we were b****y good.
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Post by Great Plum »

I guess the girls that moved from Hertford to Horsham must have loved the freedom, facilities and boys...
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Post by englishangel »

A whole new world.

Hertford was a town centre site on about 8 acres surrounded by 8' walls and railings.

We could even see the cinema across the road but we were not allowed outside the gates until fifth form, GE (16 years old), then only in threes.

Monitresses only were allowed out on their own.

Talk about look but don't touch!
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Post by Vonny »

Great Plum wrote:I guess the girls that moved from Hertford to Horsham must have loved the freedom, facilities and boys...
We did :twisted: :lol: :lol:

When I was at Hertford the only meal I remember having in house was Sunday tea. On that day two girls from the IV form had to go up to the kitchens and get the tea which was in 2 metal containers. Actually, the more I think about this I'm thinking we may have also had Sunday breakfast in house as well :? I remember we had an hour and a half lie in on a Sunday and I don't remember if we went to the dining hall for breakfast or not :roll: Wish I had Marys memory :roll: :lol:
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Post by Katharine »

In my day Sunday tea was always the same - a lump of cheese with bread and marge etc. In 6s the Mons had the job of dividing the cheese into 36 portions! I never had to do that as I wasn't a House Mon but a Headmistress' one, can't remember much of the duties we did for that except various things she, or her secretary, Miss Gamble, asked us to do.
Katharine Dobson (Hills) 6.14, 1959 - 1965
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Post by AKAP »

Katharine wrote:In my day Sunday tea was always the same - a lump of cheese with bread and marge etc. In 6s the Mons had the job of dividing the cheese into 36 portions! I never had to do that as I wasn't a House Mon but a Headmistress' one, can't remember much of the duties we did for that except various things she, or her secretary, Miss Gamble, asked us to do.
It gets worse. I'm glad I went to Horsham.
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Post by Katharine »

AKAP wrote:
Katharine wrote:In my day Sunday tea was always the same - a lump of cheese with bread and marge etc. In 6s the Mons had the job of dividing the cheese into 36 portions! I never had to do that as I wasn't a House Mon but a Headmistress' one, can't remember much of the duties we did for that except various things she, or her secretary, Miss Gamble, asked us to do.
It gets worse. I'm glad I went to Horsham.
We didn't get any choice as to which we went to did we!!!! I am trying hard to think of anything that we had which was better than Horsham. How easy was it for you to leave the school grounds and get into town? When we reached Upper V (O level year) it was relatively easy for us to go out in 3s then gradually it reached the stage when you could even go out by yourself

One thing I thoroughly enjoyed in the VI form was the Schools Lectures at the Royal Institution. We went up to London by train, very easy as the station was by the back gate. The lectures were held in the same hall as the Christmas lectures which are on TV each year. Memory fails now to the details but I remember them as exciting and making Physics alive. We certainly didn't see any Housey boys there, so perhaps that was one for us!
Katharine Dobson (Hills) 6.14, 1959 - 1965
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Post by englishangel »

Same as Katharine here, High tea in house on weekdays, breakfast and tea on Sunday.

Not only did we have cheese on Sunday we also had CAKE which had to be cut into sufficient pieces.

I did sciences too and went to the a Royal Institution lecture, I thought it was the Christmas one but perhaps memory fails me on this one, possibly becasue, to my shame, I fell asleep.

However it is not the last time I have doen that. The first Rock concert I went to (about 4 years ago with my son) was Alice Cooper. 'School's Out' was released in the summer of '72. There were folk of all ages from 10 to (at a a guess) 65 and although his hobby is golf he is just as loud as ever and I fell asleep!!!!
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