Proposed gathering at Hertford Museum - 4/5 April 08

[kerrensimmonds]

whoops - I meant Lower IV (not Lower V) - it was a typo!
But I don't remember anyone having 'CH' embroidered on the strap of their BA - maybe because by the time I got towards the top of the school there was a new crop of Monitress' badges?
I now have the stocks of books, badges and lapel ribbons for 5 April, so I'll be posting 'Away from the Bombs and the Boys' to Katharine and Maggie tomorrow -
but I am sorry to tell everyone else that whereas I said that DRW's book would be £1, 'they' want me to charge at least £3 for it, saying that it is worth at least that. Funnily enough, 'they' never had to pay a penny towards it - DRW paid for the printing and the publishing and gave the stock to the school to sell...........

[Angela Woodford]

Katharine, if there were several girls in House in the UV1, how was it decided who would be a GA and whom "Senior BA?" Age or performance? Mightn't that have caused a bit of ill-feeling in the Study?

I've never heard of "Senior BA". There must have been a new supply of badges by the time I arrived. I know that you, Cott, Ruth McC and Lady Wendy all wore badges! I don't remember ever having to clean a Mon's badge.

The seaming I did at the side of the pinny was a "French seam" - that's run-and-fell, isn't it?

Kerren, Junior Houses were abolished summer term 1965, as I started in 6's in the Autumn Term, after a year of Millie in 1's. Much as we dreaded her, much as we realised that she was loonily round the bend, I wasn't unhappy because of the peculiar pleasure of outwitting her.

When in 1's, because of my January birthday I enjoyed the instant status of "Senior 111rd Form". Even as a new girl I got to sit at Top Table in House with beautiful Sabina Stewart, Jenny Peebles, Clare Tattersall, Veronica Hydon, Damaris Gwilliam and my birthday sharer Elaine Woods. Going into 6's however, I was the lowest of the low; alas. That's when I began spectacularly to comfort eat, put on weight and find consolation in in Being Funny.

Anyway, lots of love, Munch

[Katharine]

The Senior BA went at the time the GA came in, I gather that it was not often awarded so there were not very many of them. Munch, one of the reasons for the change, in Half to Remember (or was it in a Founder's Day address I read?) more girls were staying on to the UVI so more could be made Mons. Somewhere in the back of my mind I have it that there were 30 of the new Mons badges, which are the sort worn after about 1960. Previously there were 16 + 2 + 1 or 2 so 19 or 20.

As to how they decided who had what, well we never knew that did we? In my year in 6s there were 7 of us in UVI, and at the start of the year only 3 were Mons, Anne-Marie was made one at Christmas. Susan Cott and I were not made Mons until we went into the SVI (Linda Smith left without being a Mon). I know from something one of the teaching staff said to me that I had been vetoed by the Hag when she & others of the teaching staff wanted me to be a Mon. Until we all left at Christmas, Sarah Haslett was the only Mon from the UVI, Ruth and Alex Szantyr being made Mons to replace us.

My birthday is in August, so I was always young for my year. In house I sat at the junior table for tea for three years, the middle one for one term then got my BA and sat at the top table for three years!

Run and fell seams are not the same as French seaming - you stitch the two pieces together right sides together - then trim one seam allowance and stitch the other seam allowance over the trimmed one. This means that you can see parallel lines of stitching on both sides of the garment.

[Jo]

I remember making pinnies in the LIV - it was supposed to be our way of "giving something back" to the school. And yes, I too remember French seams (though not run and fell). I still do French seams now - and I was also doing some herringbone hemming the other day.

I don't remember senior BAs at all, only BAs and GAs. BAs were awarded during the UVth year so that virtually everyone had one to enter the LVI. Generally mons (GAs) were only UVI, usually starting with two per house, but by the end of the year it could be more, or even all of the UVI. LVI might get their GAs occasionally, if there was only one UVI in the house.

I believe I might have held the record for having my BA for the shortest time - one term if I remember correctly. I didn't get it until Easter in my UV year I think, but by the end of the year I got my GA in time for the start of my LVI year. There were only going to be two UVI in 5s that year, one of whom was awarded her GA, but the other had a few "issues", and was very deliberately passed over, which was most unusual. So I guess in one term the powers that be decided I must have grown up a lot

I remember Miss Tucker commenting when she started on how confusing the CH jargon was, and how she'd read in the rules that girls could go into town if they had a black apron - and she wondered why they would need to take a black apron into town with them. She also commented on the use of "classroom" as a detention - as in going out on Saturdays if we didn't have classrooms. She couldn't make sense of it as we all obviously had classrooms.

Gosh, Jenny Peebles - I was cracked on her for a while (I was quite fickle ) and I remember sending her an Easter Egg via a friend in 1s, and receiving a very nice note back from her, which I treasured for several years. And Sabina Stewart - I see her name around occasionally as I believe she runs her own recruitment agency now. She had very long hair, right down to her bottom, and she was very imperious.

[Katharine]

Last night I skimmed through some of the Founder's Day addresses, and found the following facts, Miss Robertson introduced the BA in 1899, and she presented 19 Mons badges in 1916. The GA was introduced 'as an experiment' in September 1960, and the worn out Mons badges were replaced so that there could be 'an elastic number of up to 30 Mons'. At one stage they tried an experiment of giving all Upper V their BAs together but the girls did not approve of this, so they went back to the system of earning them.

Jo, we had at least one case of passing over one of two UVI in 6s to be Mon and a LVI instead in my time in 6s. I can't remember how long she had had her BA but probably since Christmas.

[midget]

The year ahead of us were all awarded BAs at the start of their UV year, but some of them were so awful* and we were even worse, that they stopped that idea in its tracks, and we had to earn ours.
*By awful I meant what was called inefficient. Was that still a favourite word in later years?

[Alexandra Thrift]

Gosh, Jenny Peebles - I was cracked on her for a while

This is a reply to Jo...but hi to everybody reading. Reading about Jenny Peebles reminded me that Charis Dunn (later Charis Chan ,Eights) and I both knew Jenny's brother Andy Peebles who was a DJ/ House Disco Manager in Bournemouth (when Charis and I used to go down the disco in the hols !). He later became a well-known Radio DJ and then found fame as the last person to interview John Lennon (in New York) two days before he was murdered (That interview must be on the net and Google-able somewhere.) Both Jenny and Andy were really nice.

http://icliverpool.icnetwork.co.uk/0100 ... _page.html

[Jo]

I've heard of Andy Peebles, of course, but I never realised he was Jenny's brother, and I also didn't know he was the last person to interview John Lennon. Thanks for the link Alex - interesting reading.

[Alexandra Thrift]

Hi Jo,

Andy was a few years older than us but very well-groomed and formally dressed (in those days) for a DJ/Manager. As far as I can remember he asked us which school we went to and we said Christ's Hospital; "My sister Jenny goes there !",he replied. After that he used to let us in for free and keep a watchful eye on us,always taking the trouble to chat to us and at the end of the evening making sure we had a safe way of getting home ( we were rather young).He must have been around 21 years but clearly already very ambitious, and mature and sensible beyond his years. That is not a flattering photo in the Liverpool newspaper.As a young man he looked very like Jenny but a kind of "negative" image with dark curly hair and brown eyes where Jenny was blonde and blue eyed ( as I remember).



The C.H. connections stretch to surprising people and places !

[englishangel]

Gosh, Jenny Peebles - I was cracked on her for a while

This is a reply to Jo...but hi to everybody reading. Reading about Jenny Peebles reminded me that Charis Dunn (later Charis Chan ,Eights) and I both knew Jenny's brother Andy Peebles who was a DJ/ House Disco Manager in Bournemouth (when Charis and I used to go down the disco in the hols !). He later became a well-known Radio DJ and then found fame as the last person to interview John Lennon (in New York) two days before he was murdered (That interview must be on the net and Google-able somewhere.) Both Jenny and Andy were really nice.

http://icliverpool.icnetwork.co.uk/0100 ... _page.html

Yes, it's here http://www.radiorewind.co.uk/andy_peebles_page.htm but you have to register to listen.

[gma]

Hi All,

Enjoying reading this pinging conversation, keep receiving 'blasts from the past' when familiar names pop up - new to this and randon FU visitor! Q - Anyone from House Two coming to this mini-bash?

Gerrie
House Two Expellee!

[kerrensimmonds]

Well, I was in 2's....

[sejintenej]

Well, I was in 2's....

I have just had an account of the exhibition you are going to see ; going to be interesting to see what you think having been through it. Englishangel's East End poverty?

[Jo]

Hi All,

Enjoying reading this pinging conversation, keep receiving 'blasts from the past' when familiar names pop up - new to this and randon FU visitor! Q - Anyone from House Two coming to this mini-bash?

Gerrie
House Two Expellee!

Hi Gerrie

Veronica Trevor (now Sanderson) is coming, though not staying to dinner, I don't think. She was the same year as me - 1968-75. You might remember her.

I remember you - I think, like me, you came from near Bedford, and we had a mutual acquaintance. You would have been about 4 years younger than me, I believe. I vaguely remember that you were expelled, though I don't remember whether it was while I was still there or after I left.

[Alexandra Thrift]

Hi Gerrie,
Congratulations on being an expellee !

The nearest I got to being expelled was breaking the shelf in my brand new upper-dorm cubicle and having to write to Sir Barnes-Wallis for permission to stay at the school !

I was also called to see Miss Tucker when she was a new Headmistress and I was in the Upper Sixth ( having stayed on I think ?)
and asked whether I had phoned the school anonymously with a "bomb scare"...I would never have dreamt of doing such a thing
and never liked her much after that.