Unofficial Christ's Hospital Forum

Well, I have nearly finished it and I see one forum member is an exact contemporary of Longmate. Was Boom Macnutt really quite so bad as Longmate says? He was there in my time, but never taught me - I dont remember hearing too many bad things about the revered Ximenes though.

I found it a breath of fresh air and acted as a long needed antidote to the "Christ's Hospital book" which appeared in 1953. I have just had a card from Norman who celebrated his 8th birthday on the 15th of this month. He had a party which included another OB who, as he puts it "...hated the place". I can't say that I actually hated it but it was a curate's egg of a place. Good in parts, nasty and violent in others. Career advice was minimal, specially if one had a record of under achievement. My father and I were told by Flecker that I couldn't be an engineer because I was not doing Latin! True to the good in parts thesis, at least the late Dr Van Praagh gave me sound advice for which I am ever grateful. Recent correspondence that I have unearthed from by parent's files included a letter from Mr Averill (Head of the engineering school) saying that I had never applied to become an engineering student. This was, in fact, misleading. It was assumed that those in the D & E streams were incapable of being engineers and, as a consequence, I was never asked! Hopefull things have improved. I became a very senior research engineer at the prestigious Central Electricity Research Laboratories in Leatherhead.
Well well.
If any current Blues want advice on careers in engineering they can contact me.

'Boom' never taught me either, and I don't remember him as a fearsome character at all.

OK, my curiosity has finally got the better of me. Can someone give me a brief synopsis of the Longmate Book please?

shoz wrote:OK, my curiosity has finally got the better of me. Can someone give me a brief synopsis of the Longmate Book please?

pm DaveByThe Sea, I think he is the expert, and a very sympatheitic character to boot.

shoz wrote:OK, my curiosity has finally got the better of me. Can someone give me a brief synopsis of the Longmate Book please?

A very well written and well researched book - but it is huge (600+ pages). Longmate is perhaps the leading historian on English Social history during WW2. The only problem is that he hated EVERYTHING about CH. The book is a blow by blow account of his years at Housie just before and during the war.

The book can be acquired through Amazon, I think.

I have written more elswhere on the forum - search Longmate!

I did a search on Longmate but it didn't come up with much. I searched Amazon and it came up with 'How we lived then'. This is only £14 so I can't see it being the 600 page book you describe.
Also, does anyone have any information on 'The Christ's Hospital Book' from 1953 as mentioned above?

shoz wrote:I did a search on Longmate but it didn't come up with much. I searched Amazon and it came up with 'How we lived then'. This is only £14 so I can't see it being the 600 page book you describe.
Also, does anyone have any information on 'The Christ's Hospital Book' from 1953 as mentioned above?

Try:
http://www.amazon.co.uk/exec/obidos/ASI ... 74-1290828

for the Longmate Book "The Shaping Season

and:
http://www.amazon.co.uk/exec/obidos/ASI ... 74-1290828

for the Christ's Hospital Book

Thanks for info. Could you tell me if The Longmate Book is exclusively about CH or is it just a chapter ot two?

shoz wrote:Thanks for info. Could you tell me if The Longmate Book is exclusively about CH or is it just a chapter ot two?

The book is about his time at CH over 8 years, The first introductory chapters are background - his parentage and events leading up to the scholarship by which he was awarded a place by Newbury city council. It is the most detailed and well-researched book I have read about life at Housie - but his experiences and conclusions are by no means shared by his contemporaries or those that followed shortly after. I knew most of the teachers he describes and apart from DSR (whom he clearly adored and by whom I also had the privilege of being taught as a grecian) I simply do not recognise them as the brutes he makes them out to be.

DavebytheSea wrote:It is the most detailed and well-researched book I have read about life at Housie

I have only just noticed the term 'Housie' being used in this way. Is it just a generic term for time spent at CH or has it some other meaning?

DavebytheSea wrote:

shoz wrote:I did a search on Longmate but it didn't come up with much. I searched Amazon and it came up with 'How we lived then'. This is only £14 so I can't see it being the 600 page book you describe.
Also, does anyone have any information on 'The Christ's Hospital Book' from 1953 as mentioned above?

Try:
http://www.amazon.co.uk/exec/obidos/ASI ... 74-1290828

for the Longmate Book "The Shaping Season

and:
http://www.amazon.co.uk/exec/obidos/ASI ... 74-1290828

for the Christ's Hospital Book

B****y H*ll, I am sitting on a goldmine. I didn't realise the 1953 book was worth THAT much.

englishangel wrote:

DavebytheSea wrote:

shoz wrote:I did a search on Longmate but it didn't come up with much. I searched Amazon and it came up with 'How we lived then'. This is only £14 so I can't see it being the 600 page book you describe.
Also, does anyone have any information on 'The Christ's Hospital Book' from 1953 as mentioned above?

Try:
http://www.amazon.co.uk/exec/obidos/ASI ... 74-1290828

for the Longmate Book "The Shaping Season

and:
http://www.amazon.co.uk/exec/obidos/ASI ... 74-1290828

for the Christ's Hospital Book

B****y H*ll, I am sitting on a goldmine. I didn't realise the 1953 book was worth THAT much.

I reckon what you are sitting on is probably worth a gold mine but not your copy of the book. Have alook here for a more realistic set of prices for copies: http://dogbert.abebooks.com/servlet/Sea ... k&sortby=2

I reckon what you are sitting on is probably worth a gold mine but not your copy of the book. Have alook here for a more realistic set of prices for copies: http://dogbert.abebooks.com/servlet/Sea ... k&sortby=2

I'll take the $100.00 one

Mine still has it's paper cover. But it is the 1958 reprint, and bit light damaged.