Unofficial Christ's Hospital Forum

Angela Woodford wrote:

Katharine wrote: Each form below the VI form had 2 Form Captains. There were quite a few of both of these.

Only a small point - surely there was only one Form Captain per form? Elected the first Form Time of term!

Foureyes - what was this RAF Foundationers badge, that it should show "naughty bits"? Sounds a bit risqué ?

I'm usually hopeless at remembering details from school but this rings a bell - I think we did have 2 captains! I finally became captain in the final term, along witih Caiti Steele I think - we were the only two who hadn't gained (or possibly lost) our Black Aprons and without them we wouldn't be allowed to continue in the sixth form, which for us meant not going to Horsham!

So we were made form captains to earn them just in time!

NB I still have mine... wasn't going to let it go once I finally got it!

sejintenej wrote:Down girl! just because they didn't teach you the difference between the birds and the bees and the cigarette trees

Whaddya mean David? We did the Reproduction of the Rabbit, last Bio lesson of the summer Term, U1V.

Armed with this knowledge, I feel sure I can cope with a rude boys' badge...

Angela Woodford wrote:

sejintenej wrote:Down girl! just because they didn't teach you the difference between the birds and the bees and the cigarette trees

Whaddya mean David? We did the Reproduction of the Rabbit, last Bio lesson of the summer Term, U1V.
Armed with this knowledge, I feel sure I can cope with a rude boys' badge...

Sounds like I need to come to the Hertford girls for lessons . We never did anything like that in Bilge - only chemical reactions of starch, messing around with clove oil to try to hide that foul preserving fluid.

It wasn't even Mr Kirby who at least would have made the lessons interesting.

I'm not certain whether we did have one or two Form Captains - I thought it was two but ... I have taught at a school where they used exactly the same badges and it may have been there that had 2.

We definitely had two form captains - one eleced by the form and one chosen by the form mistress. I remember Miss Morrison chose me in LIVA - an attempt to help me demonstrate I could be "responsible", a word (mainly with the addition of "ir" before it) that dogged me for most of my 7 years at Hertford, so I fear her attempt was a bit premature. OFF TOPIC FROM HERE: SORRY A year or so later Lil had a similar go by making me her "slave" (can't remember the official term) - cleaner, messenger, general factotum. This included an interesting period when she had lost her voice but refused to go sick and I had to go round with her and read to people the instructions and reprimands she wrote in her notebook.

I only remember two "Plates" being worn, in the 40s, RMS being one, I don't remember the other.
As has been said, it was not a great matter of interest, to the rest of us.

I came into CH, by a somewhat circuitous route ---- St Sepuchre's sent three boys, sons of "Workers" in the Parish, by competitive scholarship.(No plate)
My Father was a policeman at Snow Hill Station, and so I was entered.

I came FOURTH (No surprise there ?) and qualified instead for Bishop Wordsworth School, Salisbury.

One of the first three (I know not which) was killed in the first Blitz of 1940 ---- and so they chose number four, which meant that I didn't arrive at CH until December, which meant I was a Very, Very "New Boy" and a few attempts were made to ensure that I felt inferior.

Having been brought up in Stockwell, I was quite happy to join the "Pecking Order" and enjoyed it !!

I am, of course, totally reformed.

Angela Woodford wrote: what was this RAF Foundationers badge, that it should show "naughty bits"?

Pic and story here: http://www.617aircrew.co.uk/recentactivities.htm

Now I see, Geraint - thank you! Ooh!

Angela Woodford wrote:Only a small point - surely there was only one Form Captain per form? Elected the first Form Time of term!

There were two form captains per form, certainly every year that I was there (though not sure about VIth form now I think about it). Often one would be chosen by the form and the other by the form mistress but I'm not sure that was set in stone; I guess each form mistress had her own way of doing it.

There's a guy on eBay trying to sell an RMS badge for £3,000:

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Christs-Hospi ... 233d6ebff7

He listed it for £5,000 initially.

When I've seen these sold on eBay or auction they go for as little as £20 for a poor condition tin version, to £250 for a good conditioned silver version, usually somewhere in-between. So I think the guy is trying his luck.

He claims the reason for the inflated price is that it comes in the original box. Very rare if true, but I reckon it's just some elaborate gift/chocolate box that the previous owner put it in.

Adrian wrote:There's a guy on eBay trying to sell an RMS badge for £3,000:

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Christs-Hospi ... 233d6ebff7

He listed it for £5,000 initially.

When I've seen these sold on eBay or auction they go for as little as £20 for a poor condition tin version, to £250 for a good conditioned silver version, usually somewhere in-between. So I think the guy is trying his luck.

He claims the reason for the inflated price is that it comes in the original box. Very rare if true, but I reckon it's just some elaborate gift/chocolate box that the previous owner put it in.

That sounds about right to me, Adrian.