rockfreak wrote: ↑Fri Sep 07, 2018 8:00 pm
Life at Hertford sounds absolutely gruesome back then Katharine. Culturally and in other ways. Was this due to the Headmistress Formerly Known as DR? Or That Woman as some refer to her?
I don't really know the answer to that David. It probably was a lot to do with DR. One thing I have been aware of reading the recent posts on staff accommodation was the very real difference in Housemistresses and Housemasters. Ours were non-teaching members of staff, all lived in the house in just two rooms. They didn't even have private bathroom or loo. There may have been a washbasin in the bedroom, I don't think I ever went into it. The Housemistress combined the jobs of Matron, looking after our clothes etc and Housemaster in imposing discipline, and that varied from house to house. I can't imagine any woman really wanting the job!
A big difference from Horsham was space, we were on a restricted site in the town centre, so we omitted one verse of the Votum, which we called the Carmen. I think one verse extols the location, not suitable for us! We weren't allowed out into town until our O level year, then in a group of at least three.
It wasn't all bad, we didn't know any other boarding school life!