Unofficial Christ's Hospital Forum

richardb wrote: Thu Jun 20, 2019 4:59 pm I suppose cycling shorts were good grooming tools. You could say it showed the dog the rabbit...

Very droll, Richard !

I can but try John.

Pe.A wrote: Thu Jun 20, 2019 6:21 pm

richardb wrote: Thu Jun 20, 2019 4:59 pm I suppose cycling shorts were good grooming tools. You could say it showed the dog the rabbit...

I'd actually be interested to know more about these parties, and how clandestine they were (if at all...). Think someone on here mentioned that they had heard about them at time. Tbh it struck me as something out of a very surreal version of a Frankie Howerd type film. Not doubting their inappropriateness, but was this some sort of 80s camp risque joke thing? Can't imagine any of my contemporaries actually attending anything similar...

I don’t think they were that far before our time. I’m sure it was Julian who mentioned he’d been invited.

David has correctly alluded to the link between the extreme taboo that this country has regarding alcohol and older teenagers, and the big problems we have with binge drinking which hardly exist in other European countries.

The mindset that even the tiniest bit of alcohol for a 17-year-old is unacceptable, directly causes the alcohol problems that young adults have, as naturally anyone who’s been told by adults - while drinking - that doing so is taboo, are going to go overboard when they get the chance.

A housemaster is in loco parentis. A sensible parent would let their 17-year-old have one bottle of beer or one glass of wine, to teach them that it’s ok in moderation but not in excess. So a housemaster doing the same - with no ulterior motive! - is fine, in my opinion.

I'm sure I've mentioned previously on here that Ron Lorimer used to invite us into his study to watch Match of The Day and often offer us a beer to go with it.

No ulterior motives whatsoever and a little comfort I and others were grateful to receive in those pre Grecians Club days.

jtaylor wrote: Thu Jun 20, 2019 4:23 pm
I'd be interested to know what the CH approach to under-age (or even 18+ ) drinking at CH is today, and also of staff giving alcohol to pupils today?

Robert's perfectly valid opinion aside I would guess that the mere idea is totally prohibited. Possibly it would become considered that the allowing of a pupil to have alcohol is automatically considered grooming. (We know better but there are those .............)

In this country we see long established concepts being made unacceptable just because one person ws injured/killed. I would cite the pressure on the traditional British breakfast of fried eggs, fatty bacon etc swamped by cooking fat. (That said, in Frankfurt I was introduced to the local "delicacy" of a thin slice of bread with a thick crust of fat or lard - they seem to survive it). In the USA we saw Prohibition simply because one faction thought alcohol bad - that religion was involved is a side issue here.

Given that alcohol was one of the inducements used by certain staff there is likely to be a total reversal of any implied or actual acceptance of alcohol. Perhaps staff will need to become teetotal!

I think the only official alcohol I even received at CH was at Cast parties in the Theatre or in the Club which i got into a few days before the end of my deps (you were allowed in on the first day on the month of your 17th Birthday)

The club was an excellent idea, being able to sit around chatting with mates with a pint or 2 rather than downing a 1/4 of Vodka in a lav end in sub 5seconds was definitely better in every way

The first time I ever got drunk was indirectly related to Dobbie - he took some people on trip to the museum of mankind in London - as it was just before our Xmas party we all gave a particularly tall peer who was going £2 each - 2 cans of special brew each later we were very messy, there had been a fire alarm (broken break glass alarm) and I didnt drink again for nearly a year

How did the the Grecians' Club, which presumably had a licence, get away with serving alcohol to under-age drinkers?

postwarblue wrote: Fri Jun 21, 2019 2:47 pm How did the the Grecians' Club, which presumably had a licence, get away with serving alcohol to under-age drinkers?

You were eligible when you were 17 or rather the beginning of your birthday month.

I think in the 90s the 16-18 age bracket were allowed alcohol in a pub if the drink was bought by an adult.

wurzel wrote: Fri Jun 21, 2019 1:00 pm
The club was an excellent idea, being able to sit around chatting with mates with a pint or 2 rather than downing a 1/4 of Vodka in a lav end in sub 5seconds was definitely better in every way

Maybe. But people invariably did both...

sejintenej wrote: Fri Jun 21, 2019 8:24 am

jtaylor wrote: Thu Jun 20, 2019 4:23 pm
I'd be interested to know what the CH approach to under-age (or even 18+ ) drinking at CH is today, and also of staff giving alcohol to pupils today?

In this country we see long established concepts being made unacceptable just because one person ws injured/killed. I would cite the pressure on the traditional British breakfast of fried eggs, fatty bacon etc swamped by cooking fat. (That said, in Frankfurt I was introduced to the local "delicacy" of a thin slice of bread with a thick crust of fat or lard - they seem to survive it). In the USA we saw Prohibition simply because one faction thought alcohol bad - that religion was involved is a side issue here.

The good old-fashioned moral panics...

DazedandConfused wrote: Thu Jun 20, 2019 7:21 pm

Pe.A wrote: Thu Jun 20, 2019 6:21 pm

richardb wrote: Thu Jun 20, 2019 4:59 pm I suppose cycling shorts were good grooming tools. You could say it showed the dog the rabbit...

I'd actually be interested to know more about these parties, and how clandestine they were (if at all...). Think someone on here mentioned that they had heard about them at time. Tbh it struck me as something out of a very surreal version of a Frankie Howerd type film. Not doubting their inappropriateness, but was this some sort of 80s camp risque joke thing? Can't imagine any of my contemporaries actually attending anything similar...

I don’t think they were that far before our time. I’m sure it was Julian who mentioned he’d been invited.

I appreciate they werent that long before, at all. Just saying that i can't imagine anyone who was on my year group or the year group above being expected to play waiter in just a pair of cycling shorts (maybe one or two, though...). The mind boggles. That's why i'm curious to find out what was known on the underground pupil grapevine...

postwarblue wrote: Fri Jun 21, 2019 2:47 pm How did the the Grecians' Club, which presumably had a licence, get away with serving alcohol to under-age drinkers?

Special licence from the council. I heard rumours there was a masonic connection with someone at the council. No idea if true or not. I don't know what to believe anymore to be honest!

marty wrote: Fri Jun 21, 2019 3:20 pm

postwarblue wrote: Fri Jun 21, 2019 2:47 pm How did the the Grecians' Club, which presumably had a licence, get away with serving alcohol to under-age drinkers?

Special licence from the council. I heard rumours there was a masonic connection with someone at the council. No idea if true or not. I don't know what to believe anymore to be honest!

Think it was 'fairly' standard for similar boarding schools at the time. A key point was that you were not 'buying' alcohol in the Club. You exchanged money for chits somewhere else and I think possibly this could not happen while the club was open. You then exchanged the chits for the drink. The chits were issued only by housemaster and number issued recorded, etc.

I remember O'Meera telling me there was a special licence category for schools and barracks - rules were only beers and wins NO spirits or fortified wines, NO money to pass over bar, No profit to be made just enough surplus to cover wear & tear but 17 year olds allowed as long as no guests from outside the organisation.

Believe the category was abolished with the rewriting of the licencing laws

As for cycling shorts - i remember when cycly/touring took off at the school and had a couple of contempories who did 100 mile sunday rides with a couple of masters, they were also quite chapel orientated but dont ever remember talk of cycle short parties