Search found 1605 matches

by michael scuffil
Thu Nov 29, 2018 11:19 am
Forum: Abuse cases and related discussions
Topic: HUSBAND APPEAL ??
Replies: 32
Views: 15329

Re: HUSBAND APPEAL ??

Great news. Thanks for the update. Why is it 'great news'? It is neither good nor bad, just news. If serious judicial opinion had allowed the appeal, it would have meant they considered there was a prima facie case for an appeal. That is not 'bad news'. It is justice taking its course. Mutatis muta...
by michael scuffil
Thu Nov 29, 2018 11:15 am
Forum: Abuse cases and related discussions
Topic: HUSBAND APPEAL ??
Replies: 32
Views: 15329

Re: HUSBAND APPEAL ??

Does anyone have any "notes from Court"? Andrew Husband may never see freedom again, given his age. That is unlikely. He doesn't have a life sentence, and in any case almost no one dies in prison of old age because prisons don't have the facilities to provide expensive end-of-life care. A...
by michael scuffil
Tue Nov 27, 2018 4:51 pm
Forum: Abuse cases and related discussions
Topic: HUSBAND APPEAL ??
Replies: 32
Views: 15329

Re: HUSBAND APPEAL ??

In case you want to know why I think the English legal system is not 'the best': 1. it sends far too many people to prison 2. the accusatorial system does not allow the courts to conduct their own inquiries (defence and prosecution can agree -- tacitly or explicitly -- to omit matters of public int...
by michael scuffil
Tue Nov 27, 2018 4:32 pm
Forum: Abuse cases and related discussions
Topic: HUSBAND APPEAL ??
Replies: 32
Views: 15329

Re: HUSBAND APPEAL ??

Great news. Thanks for the update. Why is it 'great news'? It is neither good nor bad, just news. If serious judicial opinion had allowed the appeal, it would have meant they considered there was a prima facie case for an appeal. That is not 'bad news'. It is justice taking its course. Mutatis muta...
by michael scuffil
Thu Nov 22, 2018 11:28 am
Forum: General Chat - CH Stuff
Topic: Matrons
Replies: 27
Views: 34588

Re: Matrons

Many thanks for the updates on Mrs Riches. In my original post I should have said I wasn't aware she was married with a son whilst I was in Coleridge. It was not much realized in ThB either that his mother was the Coleridge matron. (I think she was the only 'Mrs' among the matrons.) He was one of t...
by michael scuffil
Wed Nov 21, 2018 1:34 pm
Forum: General Chat - CH Stuff
Topic: Matrons
Replies: 27
Views: 34588

Re: Matrons

It occurs to me that when I was thinking of the Barnes matron, it was not the young car-driving Miss Farr I was thinking of, but her predecessor, the formidable Miss Watts (who presumably was in her late 50s and retired at 60). The formidable Miss Dalziel in Thornton was succeeded (after I left) by ...
by michael scuffil
Wed Nov 21, 2018 9:15 am
Forum: General Chat - CH Stuff
Topic: Matrons
Replies: 27
Views: 34588

Re: Matrons

Our matrons were certainly in charge of laundry (within the house) and transferring/receiving it to/from the school wash-house. They were also in charge of repairs to clothing (and deciding when minor items -- shirts, socks, underwear -- were beyond repair). They didn't do this work themselves, of c...
by michael scuffil
Tue Nov 20, 2018 9:27 am
Forum: General Chat - CH Stuff
Topic: Matrons
Replies: 27
Views: 34588

Re: Matrons

Thank you Geoff for that. I never realized she had a car. But surely she was in her 40s at least?

But does anyone know what a matron was paid c. 1960? I think a run-of-the-mill teacher (without special status or responsibilities) would be paid around 850 a year.
by michael scuffil
Mon Nov 19, 2018 6:09 pm
Forum: General Chat - CH Stuff
Topic: Matrons
Replies: 27
Views: 34588

Re: Matrons

The thought of treating Miss Dalziel as a 'mother figure'? The mind boggles. I'm told Mrs Riches was more approachable in this respect, but then she was (almost uniquely) a mother. She was known to be sympathetic when you were injured; Miss Dalziel had no sympathy whatever. One of the matrons' unoff...
by michael scuffil
Mon Nov 19, 2018 9:50 am
Forum: General Chat - CH Stuff
Topic: Matrons
Replies: 27
Views: 34588

Re: Matrons

I think a grasp of child psychology probably helped. And a good dose of common sense. Mrs Riches was our matron in Coleridge. I don't know what qualifications she had but she always seemed to me to have a relaxed and pragmatic way of dealing with our various little problems. Her son Graham was in o...
by michael scuffil
Sat Nov 17, 2018 6:35 pm
Forum: General Chat - CH Stuff
Topic: Matrons
Replies: 27
Views: 34588

Re: Matrons

On paper, I imagine, none. I suppose matrons were appointed by the Lady Superintendent (?), and the applicant would have to demonstrate, on the basis of their experience, rather than formal qualifications, that they were competent organizers, had some knowledge of household management, and some basi...
by michael scuffil
Fri Nov 16, 2018 11:20 am
Forum: Abuse cases and related discussions
Topic: HUSBAND APPEAL ??
Replies: 32
Views: 15329

Re: HUSBAND APPEAL ??

In case you want to know why I think the English legal system is not 'the best': 1. it sends far too many people to prison 2. the accusatorial system does not allow the courts to conduct their own inquiries (defence and prosecution can agree -- tacitly or explicitly -- to omit matters of public inte...
by michael scuffil
Thu Nov 15, 2018 12:19 pm
Forum: Abuse cases and related discussions
Topic: HUSBAND APPEAL ??
Replies: 32
Views: 15329

Re: HUSBAND APPEAL ??

we must all remember that GB has by far the best judicial system in the world Like it has the best health service, the best roads, the best rail network etc etc. etc. England (there is no GB judicial system) has a good judicial system which is certainly comparable with that of other developed count...
by michael scuffil
Tue Nov 06, 2018 2:04 pm
Forum: General Chat - CH Stuff
Topic: Teaching staff
Replies: 38
Views: 11320

Re: Teaching staff

I don't get on with these newfangled smart phones I've never seen the point of them. They're no use as computers, and not particularly good as phones (dumbphones are better). Their main use is for taking snapshots and the instantaneous transmission of pictures. My wife inherited one from our grandd...
by michael scuffil
Tue Nov 06, 2018 1:58 pm
Forum: General Chat - CH Stuff
Topic: Teaching staff
Replies: 38
Views: 11320

Re: Teaching staff

Only one of my contemporaries at CH, or at least of those that I knew well, made a career in computing. He was an English Grecian, and read English at Oxford. As for Joe Lyons mentioned above: When I first arrived in Cambridge, it was a Sunday afternoon, I wandered around the town and happened to se...