Who Else Has Never Been Back to CH?

Great Plum · Post by **Great Plum** » Wed Jul 27, 2005 12:10 pm

Oh yes, that new year's....

Richard Ruck · Post by **Richard Ruck** » Wed Jul 27, 2005 4:26 pm

jtaylor wrote:I'll let this go a little longer - but only if things get a little more civil!J

I wouldn't worry, Julian, I'm sure everyone can cope with a few differences of opinion, even if the barbs do start to fly a bit.

Makes for lively reading, anyway.

JamesF35 · Post by **JamesF35** » Wed Jul 27, 2005 5:26 pm

Isn't "Life Skills" something to do with learning how to get a round in at the pub ? Well, I can conirm there most certainly were plenty of opportunities for picking up that skill in the 70s as I am sure Richard would also confirm ?

(What was the name of that pub at Dragons Green with the gravestone in the garden ? It surely was a very good Life Skills classroom)

Richard Ruck · Post by **Richard Ruck** » Wed Jul 27, 2005 6:07 pm

JamesF35 wrote:Isn't "Life Skills" something to do with learning how to get a round in at the pub ? Well, I can conirm there most certainly were plenty of opportunities for picking up that skill in the 70s as I am sure Richard would also confirm ?

(What was the name of that pub at Dragons Green with the gravestone in the garden ? It surely was a very good Life Skills classroom)

That'll be the George and Dragon - click on this link for a bit of nostalgia

http://www.horshampub.co.uk/georgedragon.html

Post by **richardb** » Wed Jul 27, 2005 6:17 pm

Time to come out of the woodwork methinks.

I too was a child of the CH 70s and my principal regret was that I did not avail myself of the cultural opportunities that it presented. I certainly don't regret going there for one moment as it equipped me for life far beyond our anything I could otherwise hope for.

What is puzzling me is that I remember Messrs. Bishop and Ruck well. I have read the messages on this thread as it has unfolded and have tried to work out exactly who dear old Spoonbill is and which part of the 70s he appeared in.

Come on Spoony, give us a clue so that we can work out why you have such a downer on the school.

Spoonbill · Post by **Spoonbill** » Thu Jul 28, 2005 10:28 am

A clue? My name is Bill, as in Spoonbill. (Surely you didn't suppose I was actually a spoonbill? That'd be ridiculous.)

And this wasn't intended as a deliberately abrasive Let's all slag off CH thread. I was merely interested to know who else hadn't been back and what their reasons were. (Afraid they'd cry like they did at the Leaving Service, afraid they'd get their head flushed down the toilet again, etc., etc., etc.)

Nice to see Hannoir, RichardB and Richard Ruck actually being sensible on this thread. How very refreshing.

Saw a job vacancy advertised in the paper the other day for an Inclusion Officer at a large secondary school - the idea being that minority groups like gay pupils and (yes) transvestite pupils have their interests protected by a designated member of staff so nobody'll discriminate against them. Can you imagine that back in the '70s? If you were gay at CH, you'd get caned - then expelled if you didn't 'see sense'. How times change. Maybe next year's Senior Grecian'll be a tranny.

Richard Ruck · Post by **Richard Ruck** » Thu Jul 28, 2005 11:02 am

Spoonbill wrote: Saw a job vacancy advertised in the paper the other day for an Inclusion Officer at a large secondary school - the idea being that minority groups like gay pupils and (yes) transvestite pupils have their interests protected by a designated member of staff so nobody'll discriminate against them. Can you imagine that back in the '70s? If you were gay at CH, you'd get caned - then expelled if you didn't 'see sense'. How times change. Maybe next year's Senior Grecian'll be a tranny.

Aaah, that ties in with 'Life Skills', I suppose.

Lesson 1 - How to visit a public lavatory without getting arrested.
Lesson 2 - How to argue about soft furnishings
Lesson 3 - Where to buy trousers with the bottoms cut out

etc. etc.

Which reminds me, I suppose that somebody should warn the proposed Christ's Hospital Cruising Club that meetings in Soho / Brighton / Manchester may not be all that advisable.......

Spoonbill · Post by **Spoonbill** » Thu Jul 28, 2005 11:52 am

Richard Ruck wrote: Lesson 3 - Where to buy trousers with the bottoms cut out

I bought mine from David Lee Roth of Van Halen.

Or was it Jim Bishop?

(Or was it Alan Baber?)

Richard Ruck · Post by **Richard Ruck** » Thu Jul 28, 2005 12:06 pm

Spoonbill wrote:
Richard Ruck wrote: Lesson 3 - Where to buy trousers with the bottoms cut out
I bought mine from David Lee Roth of Van Halen.

Or was it Jim Bishop?

(Or was it Alan Baber?)

I've actually seen A.B. (from a distance) a few times in recent months, wandering around Horsham.

Never knew him well enough at school to go up and say hello, though!

Post by **richardb** » Thu Jul 28, 2005 5:43 pm

Sorry Spoonbill, doesn't ring any bells.

As an educated guess, I would say that you probably left after O levels and did your A levels elsewhere.

CH wasn't right for everyone and I can only express my own personal view that it gave me an opportunity that would never otherwise have been available to me.

Having left, however, my life moved on and I have visited the school very rarely, not least because I now feel little affinity with it due to the many changes which have happened. It doesn't mean I didn't appreciate it: on the contrary I am proud to be associated with its many success stories.

I did visit in the first year of leaving. Perhaps I was more grateful to the school than you. Perhaps it was just that it was a large part of my life for a greater proportion of my life than it was yours

If I had my time again, i'd do the same again.

Richard Ruck · Post by **Richard Ruck** » Thu Jul 28, 2005 6:18 pm

richardb wrote: I did visit in the first year of leaving. Perhaps I was more grateful to the school than you. Perhaps it was just that it was a large part of my life for a greater proportion of my life than it was yours

If I had my time again, i'd do the same again.

Yes, likewise. The main reason people go back during the first year or so after leaving is surely that they still have friends there. I also played in a couple of band concerts after I left. I did that as much for Dave Elliott as for any other reason. Oh yes, and I played in the Old Blues rugby match against the first XV. I'd forgotten about that.....

Nowadays, even though I find myself living in Horsham, I haven't been up there that much. I went to (and enjoyed) the Retreat this year, and I may well haul myself up there for Old Blues Day (provided a few drinks are thrown into the mix).

Bingo the Poop-Eating Dog · Fri Jul 29, 2005 11:22 am

Richard Ruck wrote:I've actually seen A.B. (from a distance) a few times in recent months, wandering around Horsham. Never knew him well enough at school to go up and say hello, though!

So the renowned Chilly Alf is still in circulation, then? He's a geezer I'd often wondered about over the years. Has anyone else checked out his listing (and photos) on friendsreunited? Mindboggling stuff, to be sure. What a star.

Richard Ruck · Post by **Richard Ruck** » Fri Jul 29, 2005 12:13 pm

Bingo the Poop-Eating Dog wrote:
Richard Ruck wrote:I've actually seen A.B. (from a distance) a few times in recent months, wandering around Horsham. Never knew him well enough at school to go up and say hello, though!
So the renowned Chilly Alf is still in circulation, then? He's a geezer I'd often wondered about over the years. Has anyone else checked out his listing (and photos) on friendsreunited? Mindboggling stuff, to be sure. What a star.

Chilly Alf....

Not sure I'd heard that one!

'Renowned' - you can say that again!

It's quite strange (no pun intended) - seeing someone you've forgotten about for a quarter of a century suddenly walking around the place.

If he's on Friends Reunited he'll have had the e-mail about this forum, so perhaps he's lurking somewhere.

Mid A 15 · Post by **Mid A 15** » Fri Jul 29, 2005 11:20 pm

In common with others I returned to CH the year after leaving to visit friends still there.

The next visit was five or six years on as a few of us decided to meet at CH being halfway(ish) between London and the Sussex Coast. A year or two after that I showed the place to 'er indoors.

I then had nothing to do with the School for nearly twenty years although I continued to meet up with friends from CH during that period.

Who's Blue, borrowed from a friend, inspired me to rejoin the CH Club and I visited CH with one of my daughters as she was interested in my schooldays for some reason.

My most recent visit was for the Horsham Centenary in 2002.

I had some very low points at CH but good times as well. Seven years of your childhood and adolescence is a large chunk so I expect I will continue to visit the School on occasion especially if people I know are also in attendance.

Rory · Post by **Rory** » Fri Oct 21, 2005 2:30 am

what an excellent story to start the day with - and because I was around in the 70's I guess I'll chip in a bit - even though I have been back the once...I don't remember anyone called Bill....I think CH aroused all sorts of different reactions in different people - it certainly did in my "family". As for me - I had a great time - mainly because of the music and the space - oh and the russian. In those days it seemed like if you wanted to do something and you could get yourself sorted you could just go ahead. Because there were so many aspects to school life - there was a niche for almost everyone....as for life skills - I think in the 70's you just picked them up - how not to get caught smoking - how to get your own way - how not to get punished for breaking stuff - I learnt a good life skill when I was 16 - I kicked in a quiet room door and as there was no hiding the damage - I went and confessed to the house captain. He was so surprised that I was honest about it - I was actually commended and they forgot to punish me for being a vandal. Valuable lesson in that.....