Sometimes I forget
Moderator: Moderators
-
- Button Grecian
- Posts: 3285
- Joined: Mon Dec 26, 2005 10:44 pm
- Real Name: Katharine Dobson
- Location: Gwynedd
Sometimes I forget
This morning I was talking with a group of ladies about my age en route to a meeting. Somehow, we got to talking about school uniform, and once again I completely forgot that my experience wasn’t the norm for schools in the 60s. I had said that all uniform was provided including underwear. Somehow it then got round to how frequently we were allowed to have a bath (3 times a week, no showers at Hertford in my day). I had more and more questions, I’d just have kept quiet had I remembered the usual reaction!
I was someone who accepted life at CH happened like that, never questioned it, but definitely became a rebel in later life. Do you ever have similar experiences?
I was someone who accepted life at CH happened like that, never questioned it, but definitely became a rebel in later life. Do you ever have similar experiences?
Katharine Dobson (Hills) 6.14, 1959 - 1965
- LongGone
- Deputy Grecian
- Posts: 383
- Joined: Mon Jul 28, 2008 4:17 pm
- Real Name: Mike Adams
- Location: New England
Re: Sometimes I forget
Horsham in the fifties allowed one bath a week, though showers after sports were common. Truth is, that was probably more than I got at home. The building I lived in had just one bath for four flats, in an unheated room, so not much incentive in the winter.
I agree, I just accepted everything as normal back then. Talking about it to people in the US gets some very strange looks!
I agree, I just accepted everything as normal back then. Talking about it to people in the US gets some very strange looks!
If a stone falls on an egg: alas for the egg
If an egg falls on a stone: alas for the egg
If an egg falls on a stone: alas for the egg
- J.R.
- Forum Moderator
- Posts: 15835
- Joined: Wed Mar 09, 2005 4:53 pm
- Real Name: John Rutley
- Location: Dorking, Surrey
Re: Sometimes I forget
Oh Katharine! Your last paragraph describes me to a 'T'.Katharine wrote: ↑Thu Oct 18, 2018 5:18 pm This morning I was talking with a group of ladies about my age en route to a meeting. Somehow, we got to talking about school uniform, and once again I completely forgot that my experience wasn’t the norm for schools in the 60s. I had said that all uniform was provided including underwear. Somehow it then got round to how frequently we were allowed to have a bath (3 times a week, no showers at Hertford in my day). I had more and more questions, I’d just have kept quiet had I remembered the usual reaction!
I was someone who accepted life at CH happened like that, never questioned it, but definitely became a rebel in later life. Do you ever have similar experiences?
I am now sometimes told I'm not PC in my local because of my views by some of the young 'know-all' sprogs. 'Good' I tell them. Nothing will change me at my age.
John Rutley. Prep B & Coleridge B. 1958-1963.
-
- Button Grecian
- Posts: 1612
- Joined: Tue Oct 30, 2007 12:53 pm
- Real Name: michael scuffil
- Location: germany
Re: Sometimes I forget
Somehow it then got round to how frequently we were allowed to have a bath (3 times a week, no showers at Hertford in my day).
Three baths a week would have been a luxury in most households in those days, and it was well into the 1970s before most homes had a shower. (It is said that the first showers in Buckingham Palace were installed to meet the wishes of the visiting King Faisal of Saudi Arabia in (?) 1971.)
The first shower I ever experienced was in a college hostel in Cambridge (needless to say, there were no showers in the College itself, where 60% of the students lived.)
Three baths a week would have been a luxury in most households in those days, and it was well into the 1970s before most homes had a shower. (It is said that the first showers in Buckingham Palace were installed to meet the wishes of the visiting King Faisal of Saudi Arabia in (?) 1971.)
The first shower I ever experienced was in a college hostel in Cambridge (needless to say, there were no showers in the College itself, where 60% of the students lived.)
Th.B. 27 1955-63
-
- UF (Upper Fourth)
- Posts: 85
- Joined: Tue Aug 30, 2005 10:51 am
- Real Name: John Saunders
- Location: Northumberland
Re: Sometimes I forget
Ref baths.Before 1955 Th.B had showers and a tiled trough bath in the changing room. We used to unscrew the shower heads and let hot water rain down after rugby. We could also fill the bath to overflowing to get a bath about 1 ft deep! THE tiled trough was also useful for keeping carp,caught in the duck pond. This was additional to a rostered bath at night.
In 1958 St Johns Cambridge had a large shower block with many comforts. It was quite usual for undergraduates to stroll through the courts in dressing gowns after games en route to the baths to the amusement of tourists.
In 1958 St Johns Cambridge had a large shower block with many comforts. It was quite usual for undergraduates to stroll through the courts in dressing gowns after games en route to the baths to the amusement of tourists.
-
- Button Grecian
- Posts: 4092
- Joined: Tue Feb 08, 2005 12:19 pm
- Real Name: David Brown ColA '52-'61
- Location: Essex
Re: Sometimes I forget
In Col A the showers simply didn't work - the taps were seized solid. As for baths the limit was 5 or six inches depth. At home we had to carry buckets of hot water up three flights of stairs. (The owner's family had working hot water taps but that was not for those "downstairs")LongGone wrote: ↑Thu Oct 18, 2018 5:36 pm Horsham in the fifties allowed one bath a week, though showers after sports were common. Truth is, that was probably more than I got at home. The building I lived in had just one bath for four flats, in an unheated room, so not much incentive in the winter.
I agree, I just accepted everything as normal back then. Talking about it to people in the US gets some very strange looks!
What happens if a politician drowns in a river? That is pollution.
What happens if all of them drown? That is solution!!!
What happens if all of them drown? That is solution!!!
-
- Button Grecian
- Posts: 1612
- Joined: Tue Oct 30, 2007 12:53 pm
- Real Name: michael scuffil
- Location: germany
Re: Sometimes I forget
The showers and trough were still there till 1963. But not once did I ever see a shower being used, and I always presumed they didn't work. If you count the trough as a bath, then of course we had lots of baths, most days (in the winter), in fact (but that's a big 'if').John Saunders wrote: ↑Fri Oct 19, 2018 11:31 am Ref baths.Before 1955 Th.B had showers and a tiled trough bath in the changing room. We used to unscrew the shower heads and let hot water rain down after rugby. We could also fill the bath to overflowing to get a bath about 1 ft deep! THE tiled trough was also useful for keeping carp,caught in the duck pond. This was additional to a rostered bath at night.
In 1958 St Johns Cambridge had a large shower block with many comforts. It was quite usual for undergraduates to stroll through the courts in dressing gowns after games en route to the baths to the amusement of tourists.
Th.B. 27 1955-63
- J.R.
- Forum Moderator
- Posts: 15835
- Joined: Wed Mar 09, 2005 4:53 pm
- Real Name: John Rutley
- Location: Dorking, Surrey
Re: Sometimes I forget
I can't remember any showers as such in Coleridge B. Just the two baths and the one long trough with tin basins, and that was it. Then there were the two stand up urinals and the one semi shielded sit down bog.
John Rutley. Prep B & Coleridge B. 1958-1963.
- jhopgood
- Button Grecian
- Posts: 1884
- Joined: Mon Jun 07, 2004 6:26 pm
- Real Name: John Hopgood
- Location: Benimeli, Alicante
Re: Sometimes I forget
The showers over the trough did work, at least in Barnes B.
I seem to remember someone being pushed under the shower, fully clothed, and on other occasions, a coat could be hung over the shower head, making it easier to clean, (a swab's trick).
I seem to remember someone being pushed under the shower, fully clothed, and on other occasions, a coat could be hung over the shower head, making it easier to clean, (a swab's trick).
Barnes B 25 (59 - 66)
- jhopgood
- Button Grecian
- Posts: 1884
- Joined: Mon Jun 07, 2004 6:26 pm
- Real Name: John Hopgood
- Location: Benimeli, Alicante
Re: Sometimes I forget
You're talking about the lav ends. The trough and showers were in the changing room area.
Barnes B 25 (59 - 66)
- J.R.
- Forum Moderator
- Posts: 15835
- Joined: Wed Mar 09, 2005 4:53 pm
- Real Name: John Rutley
- Location: Dorking, Surrey
Re: Sometimes I forget
Oh yes. Sorry. Age marching on I'm afraid.
John Rutley. Prep B & Coleridge B. 1958-1963.