Search found 50 matches

by Richard
Wed Aug 08, 2018 7:33 am
Forum: Abuse cases and related discussions
Topic: Letter to the Head Master
Replies: 194
Views: 90584

Re: Letter to the Head Master

As for the different explanations for the immediate cause for Buck’s departure, I can add the following comments. I was not in Col B I knew both the monitor whom I mentioned and also another member of Col B, a personal and close friend of Buck’s, with a totally ‘normal’ relationship. The latter was ...
by Richard
Tue Aug 07, 2018 8:47 pm
Forum: Abuse cases and related discussions
Topic: Letter to the Head Master
Replies: 194
Views: 90584

Re: Letter to the Head Master

There are two important differences between abusers’ departures from CH described in this thread and that of AH Buck. (1) As soon as possible after Buck’s last improper approach to a boy in a dormitory a monitor reported the event to the HM (Seaman). (2) Within a few hours Buck left CH. Whether he w...
by Richard
Thu Jun 21, 2018 9:40 pm
Forum: General Chat - CH Stuff
Topic: Death on a roller
Replies: 7
Views: 2414

Death on a roller

I’ve just seen a poster for a newish film called “On Chesil Beach”. (I probably won’t see it because I didn’t think much of Ian McEwan’s novel on which it is based.) The poster shows a young couple fooling around, with one pulling a roller and the other standing on top of it. That recalled a story f...
by Richard
Fri Jan 12, 2018 6:45 am
Forum: General Chat - CH Stuff
Topic: The Story of Old Blues in North America - BCOB Book Project
Replies: 30
Views: 8551

Re: The Story of Old Blues in North America - BCOB Book Project

If this proposed book is to be complete for diaspora OBs (note the post by Taplin on 9 Jan), then Australian OB contributions should be outlined. They made vast contributions to the country’s development and so were honoured (e.g. portraits on stamps/banknotes). This suggestion would add to the hist...
by Richard
Wed Nov 01, 2017 5:06 pm
Forum: Stories, Reminiscing & Teacher/Pupil Memories
Topic: Strange old man dressed in WW1 army gear / dog named lobster
Replies: 142
Views: 89512

Re: Strange old man dressed in WW1 army gear / dog named lobster

I haven’t seen any these “very public open air urinals” here, but I admit I haven’t been looking for them, so I’ll ask a local. I wonder if they have vanished as did the elegant Parisian “Pissoirs” some years ago. But at least there seem to be no unisex toilets in The Hague.
by Richard
Tue Oct 31, 2017 10:55 am
Forum: Stories, Reminiscing & Teacher/Pupil Memories
Topic: Strange old man dressed in WW1 army gear / dog named lobster
Replies: 142
Views: 89512

Re: Strange old man dressed in WW1 army gear / dog named lobster

I’m in The Hague for a short while and visited the Peace Palace or Palais de la Paix . (It and its history are interesting, but there are no CH connections of which I am aware. So I have invented one.) There used to be a large group of boys’ toilets (10 toilets?) in the Art School parking place, sur...
by Richard
Fri Aug 04, 2017 7:36 am
Forum: General Chat - CH Stuff
Topic: Clean clothes at Horsham in the 40s & 50s
Replies: 29
Views: 10540

Re: Clean clothes at Horsham in the 40s & 50s

The correctness of Dr Scuffil’s mother’s “Clean Dirt Theory” and his own practice of allowing his children to play in non-hygienically clean environments are confirmed by medical publications with titles such as: The environment shapes the immune system. How dirt protects against allergies (https://...
by Richard
Thu Jul 27, 2017 3:14 pm
Forum: Stories, Reminiscing & Teacher/Pupil Memories
Topic: Less flamboyant CH teachers
Replies: 37
Views: 20550

Re: Less flamboyant CH teachers

The best known teachers of the 40s and 50s have been mentioned in this thread. Below are some others who are much lesser known (except one). Phillip Dore, nicknamed Pip, a small, rotund man, who was an excellent organist. Mr A Eagle, a Prep housemaster, who later married Mrs Morrison, a widowed moth...
by Richard
Thu Jun 01, 2017 6:51 am
Forum: General Chat - CH Stuff
Topic: American soldiers at CH during the War
Replies: 12
Views: 3565

Re: American soldiers at CH during the War

Thanks for putting me straight, for I suppose it was then one of the coldest parts of the Cold War.
by Richard
Wed May 31, 2017 1:38 pm
Forum: General Chat - CH Stuff
Topic: American soldiers at CH during the War
Replies: 12
Views: 3565

Re: American soldiers at CH during the War

There were at least two good reasons why US servicemen’s wives (there were no ‘partners’ in the early 1960s) preferred to shop on base, at their PX store (Post Exchange). One was that the prices were much lower than in the local shops and the other was that many American products, unknown then in th...
by Richard
Mon Apr 10, 2017 8:10 am
Forum: General Chat - CH Stuff
Topic: Time to bring back Kiff Bowls?
Replies: 19
Views: 7013

Time to bring back Kiff Bowls?

In the 1950s and 60s kiff bowls were in daily use for tea (and coffee on Sundays). By the 1980s they had vanished, having been replaced by ordinary cups and saucers. (Note - two items replaced one). Why? I can think of several reasons (not in their order of importance) to return to using kiff bowls....
by Richard
Fri Mar 31, 2017 10:29 am
Forum: General Chat - CH Stuff
Topic: Can We Donate Our Dead Bodies to Christ's Hospital?
Replies: 13
Views: 4081

Re: Can We Donate Our Dead Bodies to Christ's Hospital?

The idea of teaching human anatomy at CH is an excellent one. But there are several difficulties, apart from the questions of cost and requiring facilities to store bodies, before use. In medical schools there is normally one cadaver for 6 students, so more than one will probably be required at CH. ...
by Richard
Fri Sep 23, 2016 5:51 am
Forum: General Chat - CH Stuff
Topic: Poor disciplinary C.H. staff
Replies: 95
Views: 26291

Re: Poor disciplinary C.H. staff

I suspect that the very poor disciplinarians already mentioned were so obviously bad teachers (general uproar during their classes, etc, etc) that their deficiencies were very quickly recognised by the powers that be. Therefore they soon left CH. There was someone like that in my days, but I never w...
by Richard
Wed Jun 08, 2016 6:52 pm
Forum: General Chat - CH Stuff
Topic: Images of Christ's Hospital London
Replies: 21
Views: 6550

Re: Images of Christ's Hospital London

Katharine be reassured, Armstrong initiated much to improve the teaching of science at all levels and certainly both greatly encouraged (and personally provided) education in science for women and girls. He believed that all school pupils should learn some science (including girls, then a most radic...
by Richard
Mon Jun 06, 2016 11:39 am
Forum: General Chat - CH Stuff
Topic: Images of Christ's Hospital London
Replies: 21
Views: 6550

Re: Images of Christ's Hospital London

Here’s some speculation. There was naturally some resistance from City grandees to the move out of London, mainly because of fears that with the school no longer in the City the close ties to the City and its institutions would tend to dissipate. However the Royal Society’s appointed governor (Prof....