Unofficial Christ's Hospital Forum

blondie95 wrote:
Gemma

You will get used to the tiredness thing although can i suggest after lunch in winter when afternoon lessons are later is th perfect time fr a film and a little nap (at least we I did that a fair bit on my deps)You will find in the holidays you will suddenly stop feeling tired and its the strangest feeling having got so used to feeling tired.[/quote]


Good grief

In our day we had sports during that time. Finish morning lessons, yummy (not) lunch, don sports gear, head up hill to Ashbourne (wearing our bl**dy hockey boots), freeze t*ts off, walk back down to school, change (no shower), followed by afternoon lessons.

xx

Then shoe cleaning (in junior House) tablework if it were your turn to set tables for tea or you might have a music practice in a cell in the Music School. Then tea. A rota dictated a senior and junior to wash up the weird-smelling cutlery in it's residue-encrusted baskets.

Then House prayers then prep then bed. House prayers! A senior and a junior chose a hymn, a devotional reading, and appropriate prayers - often very earnest! To give, and not to count the cost. To fight and not to heed the wounds - it still sticks in my mind! In the Spring term, we then trained for the Singing Competition before prep.

LV, I think it was, you could actually make a hot drink in the kitchen after prep. Luxury.

Throughout the day you frantically did needlework, pleased if you were up to date with it, desperately worried if you fell behind.

Caroline writes of the Winter Timetable. In summer it was classes first, then All-Out. I found it a bit less exhausting having school before compulsory sport.

Friday was a slight variation, as there was Choir Practice for the whole school before tea.

I must say, a film and a little nap sounds rather pleasant! In my case, most days were spent in a state of high anxiety! Every weekday seemed packed with worry from which there was no escape.

Nevertheless, we managed to incorporate those strange and eccentric diversions which still reduce us Hertford Girls to helpless giggling!

Munch

Back again. Yay.
I just had breakfast, even though I was sleeping until someone reminded me that I actualy wanted to go to breakfast. To be honest, there was nothing more I wanted in the world than to tuck back up into bed and keep dreaming of Aristotle. Bliss . Breakfast was O.K.............. The bacon was inedible but I had a nice hearty bowl of cereal, some toast and a roll. I really have been eating far more than I'm used to in meals. Just like last night I ate nearly everything there. I just use up all the energy really quickly. No more going on the internet to all hours of the night and whittling the day saway eating nutella and watching daytime chat shows.

I have a double free period now!. woohoo. First on a monday but sadly it's my only one since I'm doing Further Maths. I was tempted to just go back to sleep but is it posible to be too tired to go back to sleep. I don't have the energy to climb back onto that bed.
I NEED CHOCOLATE. I'm starting to get withdrawl symptoms by the lack of chocolate in my system. I need to make a visit to to tuck shop. Like, urgently before I die from lack of chocolate in my system. I might get a slush puppie aswell but that might be pushing the bar a little. I know if I start buying food from the tuck shop I won't stop.

I finally got my belt!. I'm really really happy about that. I could have got it presented to me by the new headmaster but I had to forfeit that right to watch a film with my english class. Gosh Darnit.
House singing is going to make my head explode before it is finished. And that is all I have to say on that topic.
Finally went to Horsham. Got some stuff. Nothing too interesting. they realy make it sound far more exciting than it really is. Yarg. Oooh. Might go nab some more toast from the senior kitchen. ooooooh yes. New Col is a lovely place. Even though they stole our back entrance to put in a public toilet. It's still really really lovely. Sad I never got to see what an unrefurbished Boarding house looked like but ah well.

xxxxxxxx Gemma

..... to toil and not to seek for rest, to labour and not ask for any reward save that of knowing that we do thy will .......

Yes, Munch, I remember that too ..... House prayers, to us known as "duty" every evening. I wonder how many these days understand the reference:

"Holy Prayer in duty made"

in the Foundation hymn.

laying in bed and not going to breakfast, "Luxury"

at the other end of the day, Up at seven, lick and spit, get dressed and strip bed. house prayers at 7.30, back upstairs to make bed (hospital corners and two blankets, not a quick flick of the duvet) and start cleaning (list of who cleans what done at the beginning of the year). Breakfast at eight, back to house to complete cleaning, chapel at 8.50 then lessons.

(edited for spelling)

DavebytheSea wrote:..... to toil and not to seek for rest, to labour and not ask for any reward save that of knowing that we do thy will .......

Yes, Munch, I remember that too ..... House prayers, to us known as "duty" every evening. I wonder how many these days understand the reference:

"Holy Prayer in duty made"

in the Foundation hymn.

At Hertford, "duty" was the housework we did before breakfast. The Foundation Hymn always made me think of someone praying while polishing the bluebells. Now I know what it really means.

You'll be telling me next that "Finish then thy new creation" isn't about Scandanavia.

Good thread swerves fellow Hertford-ites. Keep up the good work.

Was it the prayer of St Richard of Chichister, DBTS? A beautiful prayer.

"Duty" for us was cleaning after bedmaking. 0730hrs - breakfast 0800hrs!

Now, Gemma! Six sweets/squares of chocolate only on Wednesdays, Saturdays and Sundays. Checked by a senior at the tuck room door. Then the tuck cupboard locked.

Munch

this is turning out very Monty Pythonesque

OK Daily (Mon-Sat) routine 47-55

06:55 Rising Bell followed by nose blowing and bedside prayers
07:00 Lav-ends for ablutions followed by folding blankets and arching the mattress
07:20 Dining Hall trades or dealing with swabmaster's blankets and mattress
07:25 Fall in outside houses to march to breakfast
07:30 breakfast
08:00 make beds (inc swabmaster's) followed by by by inspection. Medication at matrons (cascara twice weekly) Queue for loos - only 4 per house excluding exterior ones and ones in lave-end (open).
08:30 Chapel
08:50 back to house to collect books from dayroom lockers - up to classrooms
09:00-10:20 lessons
10:25 change into PE kit for Physical Training on asphalt behind houses
10:30-10:40 PT then change back to full Housey
10:45 milk and biscuits
10:55-12:15 lessons
12:50 Dining Hall trades and fall in for dinner parade (outside houses)
13:00 Lunch
14:00 Change into PE kit for rugger - out to pitches for 14:30 match
14:30 Rugger
15:45 Back to houses for "trough" communal bath and change
16:30-17:50 lessons
17:55 Dining Hall trades and fall-in outside houses to march to tea (bugles in quad by fountain)
18:00 tea
18:45-19:15 reading prep/chapel choir practice etc
19:15-20-30 Silent prep in dayrooms
20:30 Duty and bed for juniors
20:45-22:00 2nd prep (silent in dayrooms)
22:00 Bed for seniors
23:00 Bed for Deps and Grecians

NB 1. Roll-call and lock up (nobody allowed out of houses except as above varied in winter from 16:30 to 18:00

NB 2. In the summer term afternoon lessons and games were reversed so cricket took plsace after afternoon school

NB 3. Sundays were equally filled - extended chapel in the morning and evening while the after noon was taken up with a compulsory walk and "letter writing" (done in silence in the dayroom)

NB 4. there were NO half terms or leave week-ends. Half day parental visits were allowed on Weds Sat or Sun up to a maximum of 3 half days per term.

Angela Woodford wrote:Was it the prayer of St Richard of Chichister, DBTS? A beautiful prayer.

Prayer of St Richard...

Thanks be to you, our Lord Jesus Christ,
for all the benefits which you have given us,
for all the pains and insults which you have borne for us.
Most merciful Redeemer, Friend and Brother,
may we know you more clearly,
love you more dearly,
and follow you more nearly,
day by day.
Amen

Prayer of St Ignatius...

Teach us, good Lord,
To serve Thee as Thou deservest
To give and not to count the cost
To fight and not to heed the wounds
To toil and not to seek for rest
To labour and not to ask for any reward
Save that of knowing that we do Thy Will.
Amen

DavebytheSea wrote: 07:00 Lav-ends for ablutions followed by folding blankets and arching the mattress

That includes the bit where we all had to dive into a bath full of cold water (filled the night before and the windows left open).
Or was that just Barnes B?
John

..... and in Prep B - supervised by Mr Pink.

I do remember the glorious feeling of climbing into bed (lovely smooth sheets on a horsehair mattress and woodenboards on a bed that first saw service in Newgate St) on a Sunday evening after Chapel. The exquisite bliss of those minutes just before sleep - minutes which I could at last call my own!

Thank you, stpandp! I have my Saints mixed up -

gemmygemmerson wrote:Breakfast was O.K.............. The bacon was inedible but I had a nice hearty bowl of cereal, some toast and a roll.

Try a fish finger sandwich (in white bread with lots of red sauce) when they are next on the menu. That plus baked beans and fried bread were my faves.

We only got lie-ins on our Grecians year. What is the world coming to?

I think we must have done trades etc after breakfast at Horsham, before 8.30 chapel, but the Hertford routine was still the same, with roll call in dayroom at 7.30 before duties -I liked sweeping the dorm floor, hated doing the brass (still do) - then a pitiful breakfast that wouldn't have sufficed a gnat. Somehow (and I never knew why and always felt extreme disregard for those who made the decision) 1s had a cooked breakfast once a week on a Monday. All the other houses had it twice a week!!!! It still rankles now. (Can you tell?)

We were much the same as DBTS outlines but our prep was done in classrooms.

Year 7 1845- 1925hrs then up to bed at 1930 until Easter hols with lights out at 2000hrs. After Easter all bedtimes went 15 minutes later for the lighter evenings.

Each successsive year had an extra 15 minutes prep and went to bed 15 minutes later then had a half hour to get into bed with lights out. No reading after that half hour until Sixth Form when you were not in a general dorm. This wz\as pre 1967. Then in 1967 the cubies were built on the 2nd floor for year 10 and up and I think we were allowed to read.