Just stumbled upon this site.......sounds like fun...

[Jo]

My goodness, is that who I think it is? Another 5s survivor? If so, welcome......well, welcome anyway

And what has happened to Jenny - haven't seen her around here recently?

[chaosriddenyears]

Got it in one Jo - 5's survivors are alive and kicking!

You ask about Jenny - it was she who told me about this site! I couldn't find it when I looked for it and got into it by accident yesterday.

I was amazed to stumble upon myself as well - I'd forgotten that I had played "The girl with the flaxen hair" at CH - thankyou all who said such nice things.

The other day my daughter was chanting something I recognised - "Omsk, Tomsk, Vladivostok..." Yes, the Trans-Siberian railway is still on the curriculum.

Miss Wilson would be pleased.

[fra828]

I've just stumbled upon this site as well - I actually meant to start on a translation but then decided to look up CH (got the newsletter a few days ago) and ended up here.
Miss Jukes was so convinced I would create havoc in the cookery school that she fixed me with her beady eye as soon as I came in the door for the first lesson and said "You will come HERE", which was at the cooker right under that beady eye. It was terrifying. In the end I wasn't the one who created havoc, it was Helen who couldn't get her oven to light but in her panic, forgot to turn the gas off. She called to Miss Jukes for help; there was a great boom and BJ went round for the next few weeks minus eyebrows. For some reason I wasn't there, something I have always regretted

The worst thing about cookery lessons was the lighting of the ovens. You had to get right to the back inside the ovens to light them. I used to worry about it well before the lesson started. Rock cakes were the first cookery lesson with Miss Jukes, and she told me I was the only 'fly in the ointment' in the class that day, cos I made such a mess of even 'simple' rock cakes! I was upset about that, but did improve as time went on, tho I never took cookery Olevel. Unless you were a natural cook, lessons with Betty Jukes were pressurised and very stressful. I was constantly looking at the clock as everything needed such precise timing.

[chaosriddenyears]

I think BJ was even more of a stress factor when it came to sewing - I still dislike sewing machines and they still seem to take on a life of their own when I get near one - which thank God seldom happens.

I didn't do "O" level cookery and I doubt whether BJ would have let me!

So I never got to make "wock cakes".

[Angela Woodford]

Needlework with Miss Jukes?

Goodness knows, I still bear the mental scars of 'A' level Home Economics with that brusque wonderwoman... "Come along now Angela Marsh; if you can possibly hope to satisfy the examiners (which I doubt) you will have to work quickly and accuwately with no daydweaming into your mixture..."

Possibly, needlework with her would have been less traumatic. I mean, the victims would have been able to sit down? And despite the horrible possibility of a machine snarling itself into a frenzy, one can only sew so fast.

How come you had her for needlework and not SWSNBN? Perhaps my memory is failing me.

I believe that that lovat-green suit BJ wore for special occasions was a self tailored effort. Immaculate!

[Jo]

I don't think I remember Miss Jukes taking needlework lessons either. I have a feeling Mrs Owen, one of the scripture teachers, did some, though I didn't have her for needlework.

I do remember having Miss Jukes for General Science in the first year - we only had the pleasure of chemistry with Chemi T from the second year onwards

I didn't do O level cookery either, but I remember making wock cakes during the compulsory term's cookery in the 4th form. I still have my recipe book in the kitchen, although some of the pages are so faded as to be illegible.

[chaosriddenyears]

I don't remember BJ ever teaching science, I know we never had her. But she is firmly equated in my mind with sewing machines - I think we only had her for a term or two although I must admit that as I was naturally untalented at anything practical, and untidy into the bargain, needlework was a terrible subject for me and my memories are rather confused.

But I do remember being swept from my chair while struggling with the sewing machine and BJ contemplating the mess - she then turned to look at me in a way I can only describe as menacing, because I had "thweaded the machine wong". She then re-threaded it while I stood quaking - then she stared at me again for a while and just shook her head.

I think that was why she wanted me under her eye from the beginning of cookery lessons and actually, she wasn't too bad to me - I think I was a kind of moron in her opinion who couldn't help but do everything "wong".

BJ and the sewing machine - don't tell me I dweamed it!

[englishangel]

I don't think I remember Miss Jukes taking needlework lessons either. I have a feeling Mrs Owen, one of the scripture teachers, did some, though I didn't have her for needlework.

I do remember having Miss Jukes for General Science in the first year - we only had the pleasure of chemistry with Chemi T from the second year onwards

I didn't do O level cookery either, but I remember making wock cakes during the compulsory term's cookery in the 4th form. I still have my recipe book in the kitchen, although some of the pages are so faded as to be illegible.

Definitely made rock cakes, also, Queen of puddings , brandysnaps, cream horns, apple crumble, and (possibly) macaroni cheese. A well balanced diet then, perfect preparation for the rest of your life.

Having said that, my needlework has stood me in good stead. Saved a fortune on wedding dress, curtains, Roman blinds etc. My daughter cannot even sew on a button (though No.1 son can) and doesn't know what a dart is. I made her prom dress which didn't fir properly as she wouldn't sSon's current girlfriend is a needlewoman, and my old clothes are gradually being transferred to her, and she knows what a dart is.

[Jude]

ok - here is another 5's survivor! Welcome! I did O level cookery - known as food and nutrition - and was awarded an A - BJ hinted that I had done well after the practical... I actually miss the cookery book - as somehow in the madness of packing I lost mine - so if anyone wants to post recipes to me please do so and I will create an online BJ through the ages cookery book! By the time I did my O levels, Cookery was not taken to A level, (ahhh, no seriously I would have fought tooth and nail to do it!) The only think BJ hated about my cooking was when it came to decorating the cakes etc - my toppings were always "too anaemic" - I think it was to do with the fact I was tall, well built and really wanted to be tiny and unoticed... ho hum!

I must make some more marmalade and this time get it sent to BJ and Miss Tucker - I had done theirs before Xmas - however, a few problems with the old health and I ended up using their pots for others and have given up on the cards... I will get them sent this year (I hope!)

We need a 5's reunion girls - there seem to be so FEW of us in here! Better get ready to go out! Oops! still in pj's and it's gone 1pm - is anyone else feeling REALLY TIRED????

[fra828]

I don't think I remember Miss Jukes taking needlework lessons either. I have a feeling Mrs Owen, one of the scripture teachers, did some, though I didn't have her for needlework.

I do remember having Miss Jukes for General Science in the first year - we only had the pleasure of chemistry with Chemi T from the second year onwards

I didn't do O level cookery either, but I remember making wock cakes during the compulsory term's cookery in the 4th form. I still have my recipe book in the kitchen, although some of the pages are so faded as to be illegible.

Definitely made rock cakes, also, Queen of puddings , brandysnaps, cream horns, apple crumble, and (possibly) macaroni cheese. A well balanced diet then, perfect preparation for the rest of your life

Adding to the above list: Melting moments (easy to make and very tasty biscuits which I made at home for years afterwards) and quiche lorraine- I remember a friend in the class dropping hers- splat !-all that hard work gone to waste! Can't remember needlework with BJ- we just had the dreaded SWSNBN, easily the most fearsome teacher at Hertford at that time, and now I think that's because I never saw a caring side to her-did anyone else?

[dinahcat]

SWSNBN? Now I have a problem .Who is this? If she can not be named how will I find out? Will I have to live in eternal curiosity?

[englishangel]

SWSNBN? Now I have a problem .Who is this? If she can not be named how will I find out? Will I have to live in eternal curiosity?

Miss Richards

Also just looked at my post regarding daughter's prom dress and clearly got interrupted (and I am sticking to that).. didn't fit because she would not stand still. That was 4 years ago when she was 16. She found it at Easter and tried it on and discovered that it now fits. She has grown boobs (a bit) and her torso and hips have tightened because of all the Tae-Kwon-Do, riding, badminton and dancing she does.

[Angela Woodford]

Miss J Richards even. I have a strange idea that the J stood for Jocelyn.

Lunching with Carolynn (Head Girl 1971) the other week, the shrieks of laughter were interrupted by a "kind Miss Richards" story from Carolynn. Well, kind-ish. I'm sure she won't mind me repeating it.

I think it was 1970? SWSNBN had summoned us (UV upwards) to tell us that Singer were having a dressmaking competition, and that it would be excellent if some of us entered with some sort of special garment. I can still see her angry little eyes and quivering jowls as she made the pronouncement, offering to be available for advice if anyone didn't know what to make.

Carolynn was not only a super mathemetician, a brilliant pianist, a supercool peacemaker and Head Girl, naturellement, but a terrific dressmaker.And my friend! XXX! She made a lovely Vogue Difficult trousers and tunic in cream jersey, and made it to the semi-finals - to be held in a smart hotel in Birmingham.

SWSNBN wangled from DR an allowance to get Carolynn's accessories for this catwalk appearance, took Carolynn to Oxford Street for a shopping trip, and, when they just couldn't find a perfect silk scarf (to be tossed nonchalantly over one shoulder), SWSNBN bought a length of co-ordinating silk and sewed the scarf herself. All day, as they trolled about the shops, SWSNBN had been sweet! chatty! and positively girlicious!

Can you believe this? That awful dragon woman, who seemed to have been born with a grudge against the rest of humanity? She actually could be nice.

I personally felt terribly sorry for anyone who could be that dreadful, and felt that maybe life had been hard for her.

Dinahcat, look in Hertford Memories, the "School Needlework" thread if you want to read some dreadful accounts....

[chaosriddenyears]

I can't imagine going on a shopping trip with many of the staff at Hertford - Chemi T for example?

[dinahcat]

I remember a 'shopping trip' we went on. Items required for a life sized nativity for the day room.