'Posh School' at Hertford

Katharine · Post by **Katharine** » Sun Jan 08, 2006 10:37 pm

Last year I found myself driving through Hertford with my mother. At first she wanted to see what they had done to the school, so I managed to park at Tescos (ie on the School Field). We went in to the said store to go to the loo and try for something to eat. Unfortunately they don't have a caff so Mother asked one of the staff where she could recommend, adding "my daughter used to play hockey on your car park". The response was "Oh, did she go to the posh school?" The fact that it was boarding made it posh in her eyes. I never thought it posh, did anyone else?

As it was time for mother to take her medication I had to get her somewhere where she could eat, and we did not walk around the site.

englishangel · Post by **englishangel** » Sun Jan 08, 2006 11:53 pm

No.

Did you go to Christine's?

Great Plum · Post by **Great Plum** » Mon Jan 09, 2006 12:15 pm

The vast majority of Horsham think that CH is 'posh'...

Richard Ruck · Post by **Richard Ruck** » Mon Jan 09, 2006 12:34 pm

Great Plum wrote:The vast majority of Horsham think that CH is 'posh'...

Very true!

Euterpe13 · Post by **Euterpe13** » Mon Jan 09, 2006 2:36 pm

Yes, but we are talking about Hertford here, where the town's perception was somewhat different ( I always got the feeling when out shopping that we were considered a cross between a female Borstal and a classic convent - with all available innuendoes and clichÃ©s ! )

This feeling was even prevalent when us 3 wot did russian went up to Haileybury - suspicion was a mild term for the looks which we received...

englishangel · Post by **englishangel** » Mon Jan 09, 2006 7:38 pm

I thought we were a school for unmarried mothers, what with the blue pinnies and all.

Katharine · Post by **Katharine** » Mon Jan 09, 2006 9:47 pm

Euterpe13 wrote:This feeling was even prevalent when us 3 wot did russian went up to Haileybury - suspicion was a mild term for the looks which we received...

You went tthere for classes, and you are only a few years younger than me, don't think it would have happened in my time, we did go there for concerts.

Haileybury had some very strange ideas about us. I remember meeting somebody who had been there when I was at University, and we exchanged names of schools, his comment was "oh the school with the communal underwear". He said that they thought all the clean underwear was thrown on the floor, and we dived in to find something to fit.

For the sake of those who weren't there, our underwear was marked with our House and Number (6.14) and was definitely not shared!

englishangel · Post by **englishangel** » Mon Jan 09, 2006 10:33 pm

However, clothes were passed down as we grew out of them. Summer bloomers and winter blues certainly were though I don't think the winter briefs (linings) were.

We didn't go to Haileybury for any social occasions at all. One girl in my year went in Sixth form to do computing for A level but that was it. I suppose some language people might have gone too.

Great Plum · Post by **Great Plum** » Tue Jan 10, 2006 12:18 pm

What was Haileybury?

englishangel · Post by **englishangel** » Tue Jan 10, 2006 12:21 pm

Great Plum wrote:What was Haileybury?

Is

http://www.haileybury.herts.sch.uk/

Just a boys school in our day.

Great Plum · Post by **Great Plum** » Tue Jan 10, 2006 12:49 pm

Well at least you could fraternise there...

Euterpe13 · Post by **Euterpe13** » Tue Jan 10, 2006 1:25 pm

Not under Aunty Dot, we couldn't !

2 examples :
- 3 of us did O-level russian at the same time as our A-levels, and joined the class at Haileybury. The boys were swiftly weeded from the class, and for the 2nd year we were just us "gels" with the teacher - something about " conflicting time-tables"

- Haileybury came once ( and only once , I believe) to play hockey against the school team. They were practically delivered to the pitch in a Black Maria, and swiftly despatched at the end of the game - no " hockey tea " fraternising there ! Why only once ? Well, at half-time the Head of Haileybury was heard to complain to Dot about the standard of play of our team - said we were " a bunch of hoodlums" ( were we perchance a trifle agressive? repressed hormones?) , to which Dot proudly replied that it was not her fault if the Haileybury team were a load of cissies .... they didn't come again, and I think that the " going up to classes at Haileybury" died a swift death after our experiment.

englishangel · Post by **englishangel** » Tue Jan 10, 2006 1:30 pm

Great Plum wrote:Well at least you could fraternise there...

If you have read the earlier part of thsi thread, you would see that we didn't.

There is some more on our (non) contact with Haileybury on another thread, but I'm blowed if I can find it. They used to invite us to their 'end of year' dance, but as we would have had to wear uniform we always declined the invitation.

englishangel · Post by **englishangel** » Tue Jan 10, 2006 1:37 pm

I don't ever remember any boys coming for sports, the only boys I remember were Housey boys on Speech Day ( what a flutter they caused) and once when the Housey jazz band came to entertain us.

However I don't think we were just hoodlums against Haileybury. I have recently had a manager who went to Poles Convent (in Ware) who we used to play at sports, and she said they always regarded us as formidable opponents.

Euterpe13 · Post by **Euterpe13** » Tue Jan 10, 2006 1:47 pm

I taught my daughter to play hockey by Hertford rules , when she first went to KES ( if you can't get the ball, get the player...) --- and she was chucked off the pitch ! She actually explained, in her innocence, that this was how Mummy taught her to play - and when she said that I went to CH ... " well, then I'm not surprised" ...

I was a bl**dy good centre-forward...