Welcome to the unofficial Christ's Hospital Forum - for discussing everything CH/Old Blue related. All pupils, parents, families, staff, Old Blues and anyone else related to CH are welcome to browse the boards, register and contribute.
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....
englishangel wrote:Another thought on how things have changed, I don't know what happens with your offspring but my daughter and her friends do not say "the Curse" they just say "my period".
Oh, some of those stupid expressions I remember from my youth. "A little friend has just visited' etc. My footy-playing Grand-Daughters and their team mates are quite open about the subject. Thankfully !
Sorry ! Am I encroaching what might be deemed a female only subject ?
Iris was lonely from the start we tried very hard with her, or thought we did. Interesting to read different views of people from those younger! Denise wouldn't say boo to a goose when she came into 6s. Maureen definitely not funky in my memory!
I saw Sally Tyrrell at a College reunion - did not know she had gone to Oxfod, let alone my college. She left before the VI form so probably not in the CHOGA Mag. At the reunion I asked my college friend "Who's that over there?" When she insisted that Sally had not been in College with us, I insisted she had! Exactly the same conversation was going on between Sally & her friend. We each decided to speak to the other - and discovered our friends had been correct - not only did we have CH in common but 6s as well!
As I remember, the CHOGA announcement didn't record that Iris had taken her own life??? It just recorded her death. I just thought of a) she seemed deeply separate from everybody else; and b) I thought at the time - perhaps because of the pain she suffered every, every month. Why the hell didn't Jackdaw notice and get Iris to a doctor?
As I have posted before, I wish I had done more to understand my schoolma Judith Pook, an artistic and musical genius, who threw herself under an Underground train. Her talent never recognised or appreciated at CH, she became deeply depressed (what's that?) and began nursing training after leaving. A ridiculous waste of talent!
Denise Brownlow! I arranged to "do her basket" every night because she had so many beauty products in her locker - already a lure for me! Wasn't she a gorgeous blonde? The Margaret who had to watch over Caroline eating her cheese fish was Meg Gunter ("Meggan"). She played the guitar, and would jazz up evening prayers from time to time. Contemporary with Meggan were Jo and Deb - joined-at -the-hip friends!
Munch
"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.""
J.R. wrote:Sorry ! Am I encroaching what might be deemed a female only subject ?
Absolutely not. When daughter no. 1 was doing sex education at school recently, the class was divided into boys and girls. I was a little concerned that it meant a division in the subjects covered but it was to save pre-/pubescent embarrassment I believe. In this day and age, it would be shocking for boys and men of the younger generation not to know about these things. I hated that expression, 'The Curse'. It's not, of course, but the insinuation is that it is something awful and wrong. Maybe it should be renamed 'The Blessing'?
Catherine Standing (Cooper) Canteen Cath 1.12 (1983-85) & Col A 20 (1985-90) Any idiot can deal with a crisis. It takes a genius to cope with everyday life.
From the moment my mother explained it to me, I regarded menstruation as a dreary and repulsive business! A blessing? Not really! Definitely a Curse.
Poor Iris Stanley's agonies. Alex has recounted her troubles. Those horrible sanitary towels, held up by a sanitary belt. DR's daft "loss of virginity" lecture! Disposal bins. Dysmennorhoa. And of course I had an irregular system , which made my life unpredictable. It was the Pill which was a real blessing for me.
After my third baby I needed a hysterectomy. The counsellor who arrived at my bedside to counsel me on my loss of femininity feelings found me celebrating. Hooray! No more Tampax! No more contraception! A real liberation.
Munch
"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.""
I suffered terribly with painful periods right into my 20s. At school, my housemistress thought I had appendicitis. Every month. And I remember passing out in the science lab and then having to walk to the sicker on my own feeling like I was going to die. By the time I got to university I would be bedridden in complete agony for 4 or 5 days. The medical profession were no help and it was acupuncture some years later that sorted it out, so quickly and simply. I would have gladly had a hysterectomy at one point to be rid of it, but it doesn't have to be like that now. I desperately don't want my girls feeling that side of womanhood as dread and repulsive. Daughter number 1 seems to have take it all in her stride and is very open about it all. However I do remember seeing the sanitary towels and belts in the wardrobe when we were at Hertford. We brought in things from home rather than resort to those things which seemed positively archaic.
Catherine Standing (Cooper) Canteen Cath 1.12 (1983-85) & Col A 20 (1985-90) Any idiot can deal with a crisis. It takes a genius to cope with everyday life.
Acupuncture, cj? What a brilliant idea. I'm so glad it worked for you.
Reading my last post, I'm sorry if it sounded a bit negative. For my own daughters, I was very positive, and they have had no troubles or hangups. Funnily enough, after the hysterectomy, I felt much more sexy and was relieved to have been done...
Aren't products these days much more attractive? I felt full of horror aged 11 looking at a brown paper package of bulky horrible sanitary towels which would be my fate for years to come.
I feel so fortunate to have had a hysterectomy and never to know the difficulties and unpredictable moments I hear from many menopausal women.
Munch
"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.""
Angela Woodford wrote:I feel so fortunate to have had a hysterectomy and never to know the difficulties and unpredictable moments I hear from many menopausal women.
Munch
Yes, I'm not looking forward to that!
Catherine Standing (Cooper) Canteen Cath 1.12 (1983-85) & Col A 20 (1985-90) Any idiot can deal with a crisis. It takes a genius to cope with everyday life.
Katharine wrote:In some ways it does take you back to your early teens - all over for me now!!!!
Do you feel very different emotionally? I still can't get my head around my own hormonally-induced moods after 20-odd years. The one great thing about my lousy pregnancy was the stability and clarity of thought that fluctuating hormones have never let me enjoy otherwise. I'm hoping that's what it will be like post-menopause.
Catherine Standing (Cooper) Canteen Cath 1.12 (1983-85) & Col A 20 (1985-90) Any idiot can deal with a crisis. It takes a genius to cope with everyday life.
cj wrote:Do you feel very different emotionally? I still can't get my head around my own hormonally-induced moods after 20-odd years. The one great thing about my lousy pregnancy was the stability and clarity of thought that fluctuating hormones have never let me enjoy otherwise. I'm hoping that's what it will be like post-menopause.
I don't feel any different! Stability and clarity of thought has still to be accomplished!
I decided to have a small dose of HRT in my early 40s, as I lost some height and half a shoe size. My mother and sister had shrunk very noticeably after 55-ish, and I've always been keen to maintain bone density. A bit of research showed me that even with conserved ovaries, they can give up hope earlier after hysterectomy at a young age. It's suited me very well.
Perversely, I have never had a hot flush, but my inner thermostat swung the other way and at 51-52-ish I began to feel the cold, mega! Thank goodness Nellie Norman could no longer tell me to take that warm sweater off.
Sorry to hear you had a tricky pregnancy cj -
Munch
"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.""
cj wrote:Do you feel very different emotionally? I still can't get my head around my own hormonally-induced moods after 20-odd years. The one great thing about my lousy pregnancy was the stability and clarity of thought that fluctuating hormones have never let me enjoy otherwise. I'm hoping that's what it will be like post-menopause.
I don't feel any different! Stability and clarity of thought has still to be accomplished!
Ditto to everything Munch has said One time when I had snapped at one of my sons he made a comment to the effect all the Mums were like me now! I don't think it was menopausal. I had very few hot flushes and had an easy time compared with some.
I had some HRT, but not becuse of my symptoms. Osteoporosis is rife on my mother's side of the family - she has lost more than 6 inches in height. I am now being monitored and on calcium, I was told to return for another bone scan in 10 years 'when you MIGHT become interesting'!!!
Back to CH & 6s Meg Gunter came from the Wirral - Wallasey I think. I had never heard of the Wirral and I thought it a strange name. I don't know how many times this year I have been to the Wirral - it is part of my Inner Wheel District and I have spoken at meetings there at least a dozen times in the last 12 months.
, which made my life unpredictable. It was the Pill which was a real blessing for me.
