House structure

Anything that doesn't fit anywhere else, but that's still CH related.

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Avon
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Re: House structure

Post by Avon »

I would hold APFA up as one of the individuals of significant integrity at CH in my era. A bit hidebound but I think he had values and standards that were shockingly remiss in others ostensibly senior to him.

I was very, very peripherally involved in the Housey Rap, such that I didn’t know the lyrics until one day, the tapes arrived. The lyrics got some people down to a tee - including the line ‘Dobbie and XX - enough said’. However, I did feel that it took a cheap shot at Hammer.
DazedandConfused
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Re: House structure

Post by DazedandConfused »

Avon wrote: Wed Jul 18, 2018 8:41 pm I would hold APFA up as one of the individuals of significant integrity at CH in my era. A bit hidebound but I think he had values and standards that were shockingly remiss in others ostensibly senior to him.

I was very, very peripherally involved in the Housey Rap, such that I didn’t know the lyrics until one day, the tapes arrived. The lyrics got some people down to a tee - including the line ‘Dobbie and XX - enough said’. However, I did feel that it took a cheap shot at Hammer.
He was utterly terrifying to me as a 12 year old girl, although I’m fairly sure he didn’t mean to be.

As a more general musing, it must have been strange for teachers who had taught only boys for decades to suddenly have an invasion of teenage girls.
DazedandConfused
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Re: House structure

Post by DazedandConfused »

A cheap shot at Mason too- or were the lyrics referring to masons plural?
Scazza
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Re: House structure

Post by Scazza »

jakew wrote: Wed Jul 18, 2018 6:38 pm
DazedandConfused wrote: Wed Jul 18, 2018 6:06 pm He left that year I think. I knew the lyrics of the Housey Rap well (I believe I still have a cassette tape copy somewhere) but I hadn’t realised he was a literal w****r.
Well, my only source for this is the Housey Rap, which I imagine is referring to his personality rather than his habits. On the bright side, I think it's safe to say he hated kids far too much to be a paedophile.
My fondest memory of CH was mid 80s Thorn A lads encouraging their own doom by singing 'away in a manger, no crib for a bed, the little lord Jesus lay down and he said... Hammer is a wa*ker, hammer is a wa*ker, la la la la.'

I always thought the name was because he was tough as anything. We used to play footie in Peele B and Thorn A ends as goals, with all those little glass panels. He hated it and went terrifyingly apeshit a few times.
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Jolyon
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Re: House structure

Post by Jolyon »

DazedandConfused wrote: Wed Jul 18, 2018 10:21 pm A cheap shot at Mason too- or were the lyrics referring to masons plural?
I’m pretty certain that was Freemasons as opposed to Mr Mason.

Though the subject of Freemasons, and in particular the relationship between a society, renowned for both secrecy and being above the law, and recent events is a topic perhaps for another thread...
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Avon
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Re: House structure

Post by Avon »

Jolyon wrote: Thu Jul 19, 2018 8:30 am I’m pretty certain that was Freemasons as opposed to Mr Mason.
It was. At the time there was a master (Neil Simms) who - whilst slightly batty - encouraged pupils to question the value and motives of such organisations as Freemasons.
Jolyon wrote: Thu Jul 19, 2018 8:30 am Though the subject of Freemasons, and in particular the relationship between a society, renowned for both secrecy and being above the law, and recent events is a topic perhaps for another thread...
I think so. There are plenty of schools with FM associations but given the endemic nature of the abuse at CH and the failed role of the school to exercise governance and care, both to itself but to regulate its relationship with the Church and a collection of paedophile priests and bishops, the Masonic link should be explored.

I've always felt that CH should drop any reference to 'brotherhood' - it implies stronger Masonic links than do or should exist.

For that matter, I always felt that Royal, Religious and Ancient were pretty meaningless too. None of these helped the school thirty years ago...
DazedandConfused
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Re: House structure

Post by DazedandConfused »

Jolyon wrote: Thu Jul 19, 2018 8:30 am
I’m pretty certain that was Freemasons as opposed to Mr Mason.
Good. Mr Mason was one of my favourite teachers, although he taught one of my least favourite subjects.
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Re: House structure

Post by scrub »

Avon wrote: Thu Jul 19, 2018 8:54 am... the Masonic link should be explored.

I've always felt that CH should drop any reference to 'brotherhood' - it implies stronger Masonic links than do or should exist.
Not sure if that's ever likely to happen though, the links are very real and quite strong.
The CH lodge was formed in 1897, sponsored by the same Grand Master who laid the school's foundation stone. I don't think any of the masters who were masons ever hid the fact (most notably Bob Sillett MBE), a lot of my peers who joined the lodge are equally open, and the school hosts lodge days. Freemasonry is wound into the very foundation of the Horsham site.
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Re: House structure

Post by yamaha »

Personhood.
BTaylor
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Re: House structure

Post by BTaylor »

Scazza wrote: Thu Jul 19, 2018 12:26 am
jakew wrote: Wed Jul 18, 2018 6:38 pm
DazedandConfused wrote: Wed Jul 18, 2018 6:06 pm He left that year I think. I knew the lyrics of the Housey Rap well (I believe I still have a cassette tape copy somewhere) but I hadn’t realised he was a literal w****r.
Well, my only source for this is the Housey Rap, which I imagine is referring to his personality rather than his habits. On the bright side, I think it's safe to say he hated kids far too much to be a paedophile.
My fondest memory of CH was mid 80s Thorn A lads encouraging their own doom by singing 'away in a manger, no crib for a bed, the little lord Jesus lay down and he said... Hammer is a wa*ker, hammer is a wa*ker, la la la la.'

I always thought the name was because he was tough as anything. We used to play footie in Peele B and Thorn A ends as goals, with all those little glass panels. He hated it and went terrifyingly apeshit a few times.
I always thought Hammer was pretty genuine and overall, compared to much of the CH experience, he was consistent: Tough but fair. However, step out of line and his punishments could be pretty draconian. I liked him.

He used to come round with a bell to get us out of bed in the morning - you'd hear it ringing long before he'd appear.

I remember him calling the UF (and those new GE who had stayed down as house monitors) into his study at the beginning of the year and giving us a talk. I don't remember much of it, apart from advice along the lines of "be excellent in everything you do. If you're going to be an academic, be the best. If you're going to be a thief, be the best and don't get caught!"
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jakew
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Re: House structure

Post by jakew »

DazedandConfused wrote: Wed Jul 18, 2018 10:18 pm He was utterly terrifying to me as a 12 year old girl, although I’m fairly sure he didn’t mean to be.

As a more general musing, it must have been strange for teachers who had taught only boys for decades to suddenly have an invasion of teenage girls.
You know, I think I remember him saying this out loud, possibly in a 2nd form French lesson.
Scazza wrote: Thu Jul 19, 2018 12:26 am My fondest memory of CH was mid 80s Thorn A lads encouraging their own doom by singing 'away in a manger, no crib for a bed, the little lord Jesus lay down and he said... Hammer is a wa*ker, hammer is a wa*ker, la la la la.'
You will observe that this pre-dates the "housey rap"! I think the origin of the name is earlier, I remember house photos from before my time showing a hairstyle not unlike the "pointy-haired boss" of "Dilbert" fame, and being told that "hammer" was originally a contraction of "hammerhead", as in the shark. By the 1980s, this had been replaced by a different meaning, viz
Scazza wrote: Thu Jul 19, 2018 12:26 amI always thought the name was because he was tough as anything
I'm sure there's a word for this kind of linguistic transition, but I'm also sure I can't remember what it is!
BTaylor wrote: Thu Jul 19, 2018 10:24 am
I always thought Hammer was pretty genuine and overall, compared to much of the CH experience, he was consistent: Tough but fair. However, step out of line and his punishments could be pretty draconian. I liked him.
Yes, this is a fair comment. He wasn't the type to invite the kids back to his study for a few sherries, for instance, and in hindsight that isn't a bad thing, although it probably made him less popular at the time. Despite long service at the school (I think), he's another one that managed to escape "institutionalisation".
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Re: House structure

Post by wurzel »

i started in 81 taking my exams in ColB, by the September Col only contained Grecians as it was preparing to become a Girls house already.

LH, Bar & Ma were junior with La, Mid, Th & Pe fully occupied Snr houses

50% of UF stayed down and 50% went up. In my 2nd & 3rd form you could sort of choose which snr house you went to and certain houses had certain reputations (La for Art) but my LE was I think the first year your senior house became tied to your junior, it was also the year LhA & PeB, MaA & LaB, BaB & ThB and BaA @ MidB swapped.

This was the start of the block system, the following year the girls arrived in I went up to LhA on my UF and at the time we felt the block system was a retrograde step. As juniors we had rarely seen drinking and saw little smoking, with the Block system juniors could easily see the excesses of the seniors and in our view at least their behaviour suffered with juniors drinking. Their ended up being a pecking order of smokers places with certain year groups using certain places (subject ot the usual exceptions for people higher in the social pecking order)

There seemed to be quite a different set up between the old senior houses and the new ones, not least as LhA & MaA had the old downstairs dayroom converted into 3-4 person studies along with the quiet room/house library above the changing rooms and the bottom dorm was set up as a massive dayroom with chest height cubicles, whilst the older senior houses had dayrooms with Toyces and 2 full dorms
Avon
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Re: House structure

Post by Avon »

In another thread, Golfer wrote:
Golfer wrote: Thu Jul 12, 2018 1:33 pm No. That information would stay with the Counting House. Occasionally donation governors might visit a pupil in school and house parents would be aware of that, but I don't think all such pupils were on full fee remission as the CH definition of "need" was not just financial.
Actually, this begs an interesting question. How did the School socially engineer the houses? I mean, did they ensure an equitable division of FFP pupils with non-FFP? If so, how? In my time, Lamb had a reputation for poshness (and being effete) whilst allegedly Sillett once claimed that he had more than his fair share of challenging kids from London in LH. I wonder how it was done?
DazedandConfused
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Re: House structure

Post by DazedandConfused »

Interesting. The Counting House told my parents that there were only two FFPing pupils in my year, I have no idea whether that was true or typical, but if so there wouldn’t have been enough to spread around. Having said that, my parents had less disposable income than many others because of the FF, so people wouldn’t have had us down as rich anyway.
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Re: House structure

Post by scrub »

Avon wrote: Sat Jul 21, 2018 9:25 pmActually, this begs an interesting question. How did the School socially engineer the houses?
I'm not sure they did, at least not in any calculated way. Like most organisations, the culture tends to be defined by those at the top and I think/thought that the house more reflected the character of the housemaster. A HM with a lassiez faire attitude to most things but minimal tolerance for bullying would preside over a more genteel house whereas a disciplinarian who adored hospital corners and shiny shoes and endorsed/ignored "the rough and tumble of boys being boys" would oversee a bear pit. Albeit one with immaculately made beds and shoes they could see their face in while shouting at you for your socks being down.
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