Unofficial Christ's Hospital Forum

kerrensimmonds wrote:Try this

http://www.archivist.f2s.com/bsu/Blcoat.htm

I don't know when the photo was taken at the station but it looks to be 60's and the middle boy has his buckle at the back!

If you mean the sepia one then you're about 30 years out on the date..

When was it? The Train times posters look quite dated, like the ones when I was travelling across London.

Funnily enough 30 years either way the boys would have haircuts like that

The colour one at the station does not show a single woman so it would be very difficult to date it - except being colour and the men are not wearing hats we could probably say not before .... (I'm not going to put in my guess!)

sepia=1999

Er....sepia in 1999? Eight years ago....
The coloured photos are more recent and if e.g. you click on St. Matthew's Day you will see David Farringdon taking the salute alongside the Lord Mayor who I think is Richard Nichols. Another photo, of the band marching (on the page before), clearly shows Peter Bloomfield in the background, looking much as he does today.
The back view photo of the boy with a rugger ball, sitting at a railway station, is quite well known (I have seen it before...) and amongst the 'charming 18th Century pictures' of 'bluecoat boys strolling the streets of London' I am sure is the celebrated picture claiming to be the bluecoat wedding. Miss West's FD Addresses refer to it more than once.. a wealthy benefactor gave money to the Foundation provided a boy married a girl.. so it is alleged that they did!

englishangel wrote:When was it? The Train times posters look quite dated, like the ones when I was travelling across London.

Funnily enough 30 years either way the boys would have haircuts like that

Look at the socks, not a yellow one in sight.

I would guess it was late 40's after the war.

There was a bluecoat school in Exeter as someone has already mentioned. It was bombed in the war and was then closed - it is where Princesshay now is (or being redveloped!)

In the old Princesshay, there was a statue of a Bluecoat boy in housey dress which some drunk students as part of RAG week once painted all in blue...

Plum,
The Blueboy was carefully removed prior to the rebuild of Exeter City Centre and is now back in position. See:

http://www.exetermemories.co.uk/EM/Prin ... hotos.html and scroll down - he is fourth from the bottom of the page on the right.
...and he is still blue!

Signed "Someone" aka

kerrensimmonds wrote:Er....sepia in 1999? Eight years ago....

Yes. Even my mobile's camera has the option of that effect.
Btw one person in that photo has posted on here.

Foureyes wrote:Plum,
The Blueboy was carefully removed prior to the rebuild of Exeter City Centre and is now back in position. See:

http://www.exetermemories.co.uk/EM/Prin ... hotos.html and scroll down - he is fourth from the bottom of the page on the right.
...and he is still blue!

Signed "Someone" aka

Gosh - how Exeter has changed since I was last there about 10 years ago!

Really must go back sometime - perhaps I can persuade younger daughter that she`d like to see the university before she starts applying!

Mrs C. wrote:Gosh - how Exeter has changed since I was last there about 10 years ago!

Really must go back sometime - perhaps I can persuade younger daughter that she`d like to see the university before she starts applying!

There's a new shopping centre there now as well - only very recently opened. I'm off there for a Christmas shopping trip in December.

http://www.archivist.f2s.com/bsu/ch/ch2/parade.htm

A couple of questions about the uniforms shown on the bottom photo:

2 button greciams (with the lowered collars) don't appear to have the increased number of large buttons; has this changed?

The boy looking over the head of the trombonist: the seam on his left shoulder seems to be overstitched which wasn't done back in the 1950's - something new?

The same boy and the two button grecians: there seems to be an extra crescent of cloth across the top of the sleeve where it meets the body of the coat - new?

The girl back extreme left: her girdle seems to have been pulled in tight to create a wasp waist; normal nowadays?

sejintenej wrote:The same boy and the two button grecians: there seems to be an extra crescent of cloth across the top of the sleeve where it meets the body of the coat - new?

My understanding is that this is of Tudor origin and it was common in those times for men's tunics to have such an epaulette. So it is actually original and I believe that it has always been there.

sejintenej wrote:The same boy and the two button grecians: there seems to be an extra crescent of cloth across the top of the sleeve where it meets the body of the coat - new?

It was like that in my day at CH... maybe not quite so large as in the photograph.
John