Is the Belt Tightening ?

Anything that doesn't fit anywhere else, but that's still CH related.

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DavebytheSea
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Post by DavebytheSea »

englishangel wrote:
It is in the Victorian section of the book, so after Georg III.
But my grandfather was there in the 1890s - they didn't wear them then. George III reigned 1760-1820 - before my time.
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DavebytheSea
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Post by DavebytheSea »

I have just PMd JR. It worked! :)
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Post by Great Plum »

I believe it was around the 1860's when the pupils were using them as flannels after games...
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Post by Deb GP »

DavebytheSea wrote:
Well ........................ if the cap fits .........

but then George III banned the wearing of headgear by CH peeps after failure to remove in his presence, I believe. Hence it no longerr forms part of the uniform.

Anyone got a picture of housey headgear for Shoz - he will want to see it, I'm sure.
That's a sanitised distortion of the truth, I'm afraid; as is the story that they were withdrawn because the boys kept dunking them in the fountain on hot days. The caps were actually banned because of an outbreak of Ringworm (a skin infection caused by fungus that affects the scalp).
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Post by sejintenej »

englishangel wrote:Image

I don't have a year for this, but the caption underneath says,

"We all looked upon Grecians as some kind of god"

The hat has gone, and so has the philospophy but the coat is the same.
Surprise, surprise, I have just taken an original engraving of that off the wall. It does not have the same inscription: mine says:
A SCHOLAR of CHRIST HOSPITAL (Note the different name) and, at the bottom:
Published Oct ** 1916 at 101 Strand for R. Ackermann's History of Christ Hospital.

The engraving is by John S. Agar after an illustration by T. Uwins. It was produced for one of a series of books about Oxford, Cambridge and the Public Schools.

There are in fact a lot of differences:

this is the equivalent of a button grecian (all large buttons instead of small with a large at the bottom), the collar is not level with the top of the bands (?), the bands are spread, there is no velveteen on the cuffs, the buttons extend below the top part of the coat, and the shoes are now far more robust. Lastly, we wouldn't have been allowed to have such long hair. plus ca change

** being so old and such tiny print I cannot decipher the day in Oct.
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Re: Is the Belt Tightening ?

Post by Richard Ruck »

J.R. wrote: I hear that Quadrant Events may well be closing down. Allegedly, they will honour all bookings up until 2007 but none after that ! (Not making enough money, allegedly !)
I've just heard from some friends who had made a provisional booking with Quadrant Events for their wedding in July 2007.

It seems they received a call yesterday, telling them that their deposit cheque had not been cashed because Q.E. were unsure whether they could honour anything after 2006.

It appears that Quadrant Events may well be folding, and they were told that "the school would try to cover certain things themselves".

Does this mean that people who've already had their weddings confirmed will find themselves forming a line at the back of Dining Hall to get their grub?

C.H. is many things, but it is not an event management company.........

They were told that "it was the headmaster's decision". Surely not!
Is this not the kind of decision that would be taken by the Clerk or the governors?

Curiously, they were told that "the school is planning a lot of refurbishment and doesn't want weddings getting in the way"!!

My friends were going to book the Court Room and Big School - are these in critical need of renovation?

Also, I would assume that all this refurbishment needs to be paid for, so surely C.H. should be seeking to generate as much income as possible?

At a time when the school's public profile has never been higher, anyone with half a business brain would be looking to maximise potential revenue, rather than run down and close the commercial arm......

Unless Quadrant Events and C.H. Enterprises were actually draining resources (quite difficult to see how they could), this strikes me as a truly bizarre decision.

Perhaps there is indeed more to this than meets the eye.
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Post by Deb GP »

Errr... from when I worked there... we sat on things if we thought there was something bigger and more lucrative in the pipeline... Weddings are a lot of work for only one day. If you can get a group in using Big School (say) every day for a week, it's much better value than a one off.

As for reasons for it folding - with one person I knew of working there after I left, I'm not really surprised. She was bloomin lazy. Didn't make any effort to be out and about on site - which was the key to making things run smootly. Neither did she like to get her carefully manicured hands dirty. No heart for the place at all. :evil: :roll: :(
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Post by Deb GP »

Sorry to DP

As for draining resources - it became no longer viable to have a commercial reprographics company for CHE with the advent of desk top publishing.

But QE - someone must have got really upset for that to close - although admitedly - the facilities weren't actually that good on the whole.
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Post by Richard Ruck »

Waiting for more lucrative opportunities is sensible - most people in business would do this, but shutting the whole thing down?? Sounds a bit extreme?

Re. the manicured person - I assume it was 'just a job' for her, and that she had no particular interest in seeing the thing succeed. A pity.....
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Post by Deb GP »

On paper she looked excellent. She was also good at selling and negotiating. But the team was small. We all had to muck in, in order to get things done. She wasn't the sort to lug around dining room tables for a couple of hours, to make 50 beds in boarding houses, chat with the cleaners (good sources of info!) or clear up sick in the Court Room loos after the Sussex Rugby Dinner... All part of the fun.
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Post by Deb GP »

Sorry - another double post....

Weddings in Big School at Leave Weekend were a big PITA - especially when exams were on. You'd often be laying out the exam desks at 2am on a Sunday morning. Tiny profit margin. The only thing worse were weddings in the Theatre at Leave Weekend.
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Post by Mrs C. »

Interesting to note that school is now the proud owner of at least 3 lovely (not cheap, I`ll bet!) signs to the Health Centre.
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Post by Deb GP »

Actually - having spent a year in the signage industry - they're not that expensive.. grade II reflective on Aluminium....
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Post by Richard Ruck »

Deb GP wrote:Tiny profit margin.
Any particular reason? I'm sure it's a VERY competitive market, but other companies seem to manage........

A couple of years ago I looked at the possibility of holding a mini music festival at C.H.

The B&B rates offered were VERY good value. I know it's not exactly a hotel, but a bunch of of young(ish) musicians wouldn't have minded that. The prices could easily have been tweaked a bit to generate some more profit.

Unfortunately the company I worked for went bust before this could be organised.
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Post by Deb GP »

For weddings it really depends what you're working from. When I was there - leave weekends were still starting on a Saturday. If BS is being used for say, prize giving on the Saturday morning, you'd have to clear the chairs, clean the floor, move in the dining furniture, then the bits for the caterers, get the florist and the cake person in, set up the disco, put up the signs from the car park, check the loos, put up the table plan and any other fripperies the party wanted and let the caterers lay up et c. If leave weekend started at 1035 we reckoned on letting the wedding party arrive at 1430. It was hard work and took about four-six people. And then... you had to put it all back again the next day. The casual labour was the biggest expense, followed by cleaning (but the BS cleaner did do an excellent job of the floor!). We had to be competitive compared with the local market and compensate for the fact that the nearest adequate loos were in the Theatre. That's why leave weekend weddings were a bit of a bother. Summer holiday ones were much better value.

As for residentials - they were much better for profit. But the accommodation back then was pretty cr@ppy. Again - our competitors out stripped us.
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