The School Rules

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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Jo
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Re: The School Rules

Post by Jo »

Liz Jay wrote:More likely to be despaired of by one's husband due to inability to uncerstand the finer points of cricket, in my personal experience Munch!

One of the school rules was "Balls may be batted up against the Pavilion".

No other place? and we all Obeyed?? we were such docile children most of the time! Treading quite gingerly through the day.

As I remember it was less a question of breaking school rules than of accidentally venturing out into areas which had not been legislated against, and immediately incurring unexpected wrath, or was there a rule for all eventualities?

No wonder I have such a Thing about authority figures and an over-active conscience to this day.

I still flinch easily!

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Oh goodness, me too!! I could give you examples of where I've worked alongside people for several years and had a very easy relationship with them, and then they've been promoted to become my boss and all of a sudden my relationship with them changes and I find myself becoming all obsequious and compliant. I really hate that and I'm sure it's all down to the overbearing authority we were subjected to at CH. It's not that I'm unassertive in other aspects of my life, just with those in direct authority over me :x
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Re: The School Rules

Post by englishangel »

Angela Woodford wrote:DR loved all sport, JR, but I don't think horses would have registered with her somehow. I don't suppose one can lose one's virginity playing cricket?

Mary V will say that she recanted on the Tampax issue, but I don't remember this at all. I've never forgotten the great Talk. I just hoped at the time that nobody took it to heart. "Despised by your husband" indeed!
Noooo, she never recanted, but what we probably didn't realise was that she gave the same talk to every new sixth form,

"I have had a chat with the Doctor....."

I don't remember her mentioning horses, but she did say something about bicycles.

Incidentally IIRC she mentions being brought up with horses in Half to Remember.
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Re: The School Rules

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Angela Woodford wrote:DR loved all sport, JR, but I don't think horses would have registered with her somehow.

Incorrect :lol:

There is mention of DR and siblings having a pony in 'Half To Remember'.

Did I mention that I had a foal named after me recently? Lady Caroline was born on my birthday. Raelene, who bred her, gives all her ponies 'grand' names, despite that fact that they are woolly, mischievious Welshies. She recently gifted one of the colts to Jess (my daughter), who named him Arthur. Raelene insists that his name is King Arthur, but Jess prefers Arthur Dent. You are spared being bored by uploaded photographs because I'm at home, on dialup, and would fall asleep before the process was complete.

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Re: The School Rules

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Angela Woodford wrote:

No deodorants are to be used".
The one enlightened thing I've ever heard about the Hertford regime. Down with deo's, say I. (And so do my wife and daughters.)
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Re: The School Rules

Post by Angela Woodford »

icomefromalanddownunder wrote:
Angela Woodford wrote:DR loved all sport, JR, but I don't think horses would have registered with her somehow.
Incorrect :lol:

There is mention of DR and siblings having a pony in 'Half To Remember'
:? Yes! Quite right and I stand corrected. Maybe (thinks carefully) I don't remember anybody amongst us being particularly horse-minded, but may well be wrong. Josephine Maude and her sisters had a pony at home, but she never made a big thing of it.

So perhaps that's why I don't remember DR mentioning/ accepting/enquiring about/encouraging any sort of equine activities.

It's quite funny thinking of her as a child with a pony. I wonder if it always did what was Right?

"You may be visited on alternate Saturdays after 12.15 p.m. after grooming has been satisfactorily completed"

"Carrots and apples only may be given as refreshment after exercise. No Polo mints are permitted".

"You may graze only within allocated areas. All herbaceous borders are out of bounds".

"There is to be be no biting or kicking. You must behave in a seemly manner at all times".
"Baldrick, you wouldn't recognise a cunning plan if it painted itself purple, and danced naked on top of a harpsichord singing "Cunning plans are here again.""
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Re: The School Rules

Post by icomefromalanddownunder »

[quote="Angela Woodford"]
:? Yes! Quite right and I stand corrected. Maybe (thinks carefully) I don't remember anybody amongst us being particularly horse-minded, but may well be wrong.

Liz : :D



It's quite funny thinking of her as a child with a pony. I wonder if it always did what was Right?

I was going to type that I wish that ours did, but realised that their bad behaviour often makes me laugh uproariously, or helps me see what's really important when I'm loosing focus.

Guy, please don't pick up that visiting child by it's trackie daks and throw it into the blackberries.

Guy, what are you doing in the vege patch, and how did you get out of your yard?

Guy, please get your head out of the car and stop chewing on my steering wheel cover.

Guy, STOP TRYING TO BREAK MY CAR AERIAL.

GUYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! DO NOT KICK MY CAR (OR ME PLEASE).
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Re: The School Rules

Post by Angela Woodford »

What a Personality Pony he must be!

The clever boy. :lol: :lol: :lol:
"Baldrick, you wouldn't recognise a cunning plan if it painted itself purple, and danced naked on top of a harpsichord singing "Cunning plans are here again.""
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Re: The School Rules

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I absolutely agree with you Jo! I really do! Perhaps I've worded this a bit wrongly. It just struck me as interesting that Headmistress 1, a woman older than DR, should take just a hearty sporty "no girl should be off games!" line, whereas DR Headmistress 2 - her message carried a typically uncomfortable/consequential/worrying intention with it.

At least, DR was thwarted - I don't think anyone took her warning seriously, and just carried on with what suited them. I'd got a copy of Petticoat mag hidden under my mattress, which recommended the nifty small Lil-lets, which I found most convenient.

When it came to off-games wimpishness, I loathed and dreaded running onto that hockey pitch in the bitter cold. My stumpy legs would turn a horrible mottled purple. I'd be put into a defence position on the left, and when it came to tackling a right wing player (as she thundered down towards me, snorting and panting in the freezing air, clods of mud flying about her feet, dribble dribble thunder dribble, aarrrgh) I was like a poor rabbit strayed onto the M20.

How I wish I'd made the right contacts. Carola Curwen, Judith Pook and one other Miss Anonymous (cleverly kept her identity hidden) regularly concealed themselves to play cards in the inner bit of the Bio Lab during All-Out. Because they never turned up on week 1 of term for the games for which they'd been put down, it was assumed to be a mistake and others were substituted on the list . Clever, huh?
Last edited by Angela Woodford on Fri Jan 28, 2011 12:48 pm, edited 1 time in total.
"Baldrick, you wouldn't recognise a cunning plan if it painted itself purple, and danced naked on top of a harpsichord singing "Cunning plans are here again.""
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Re: The School Rules

Post by anniexf »

Would she have ridden her pony side-saddle? :lol:
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Re: The School Rules

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I remember one of my friends telling Miss Gravett and one of the other young games teachers that she couldn't go swimming a particular time, because <coughmumblecough>. Their response was "that's no excuse these days". Since this friend was one who couldn't get on with tampons, she was quite put out that either of them should have presumed to make any judgement about her choice of sanitary wear.

I quite agree with her. Whatever the recommendation of someone in authority might be, an individual's preferred sanitary arrangements are no business of anyone else's, and certainly not teachers. What presumption :shock:
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Re: The School Rules

Post by fra828 »

Jo wrote:I remember one of my friends telling Miss Gravett and one of the other young games teachers that she couldn't go swimming a particular time, because <coughmumblecough>. Their response was "that's no excuse these days". Since this friend was one who couldn't get on with tampons, she was quite put out that either of them should have presumed to make any judgement about her choice of sanitary wear.

I quite agree with her. Whatever the recommendation of someone in authority might be, an individual's preferred sanitary arrangements are no business of anyone else's, and certainly not teachers. What presumption :shock:

Oh Jo that really takes some beating!! :oops: Even the slightly scary and more 'old school' but youngish Nellie Norman was sensitive about these things. I might have mentioned before that housemistress Mrs Gardiner/Pryke gave us the 'tampax talk' but it was more about warning of what is now known as toxic shock.
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Re: The School Rules

Post by Angela Woodford »

Whoops! Fingers slipped - reply to Jo has appeared further up - cooking and typing at same time is my excuse!
"Baldrick, you wouldn't recognise a cunning plan if it painted itself purple, and danced naked on top of a harpsichord singing "Cunning plans are here again.""
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Re: The School Rules

Post by Vonny »

Jo wrote:I remember one of my friends telling Miss Gravett and one of the other young games teachers that she couldn't go swimming a particular time, because <coughmumblecough>. Their response was "that's no excuse these days".
I remember this happening in the 1980's as well! And I can STILL picture the look on Gravvys face and the rolling of eyes that accompanied it!
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Re: The School Rules

Post by Kim2s70-77 »

What happened to Miss Gravett?? She always seemed one of the more {normal} 'approachable' teachers.
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Re: The School Rules

Post by Jo »

I gather that another OB ended up teaching alongside her, and persuaded her to come along to an OB Day a few years ago. She shared a few tales and insights about the staff hierarchy and pecking order at Hertford in the 70s. :lol:
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