Hertford Museum : Follow up visit 2 August

Share your memories and stories from the Hertford Christ's Hospital School, which closed in 1985, when the two schools integrated to the Horsham site....

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kerrensimmonds
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Hertford Museum : Follow up visit 2 August

Post by kerrensimmonds »

An informal gathering - hopefully allowing time to have a proper look at the Museum exhibition and, if people wish, an opportunity for a pub lunch?
If you would like to be there, and would also like to visit Chauncy Court (Dining Hall and School Hall, now sheltered accommodation), please let me know? Given that its a non-working day, its most unlikely that we would be able to secure access to those Boarding Houses which are still occupied as offices. Sadly a lot of the Houses are currently empty, beginning to look neglected, with 'To Let' signs on the front. As there is no caretaking/janitorial/security support at weekends, we would not even be able to gain access to an empty House.
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Re: Hertford Museum : Follow up visit 2 August

Post by gma »

Would love to join up on 2nd or whichever date around that ends up being the one! How much has the inside of the houses changed (apart from the fact that there aren't 30 beds split across the lower dorm nor the cubi dorms upstairs any more!!) does anyone know? Is it worth contacting one of the estate agents handling the rentals to see if we can get access that day? If they need a 'company' to do so then happy to oblige!

X fingers for my runners this weekend weather looks appalling but hopefully they'll all finish and we'll have lots of lovely lolly to spend on the children!

By the way, how did Mallet's Mallet get from button to lolly? What am I missing?
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Re: Hertford Museum : Follow up visit 2 August

Post by icomefromalanddownunder »

gma wrote:Would love to join up on 2nd or whichever date around that ends up being the one! How much has the inside of the houses changed (apart from the fact that there aren't 30 beds split across the lower dorm nor the cubi dorms upstairs any more!!) does anyone know?
Four of us, accompanied by Ruby (bearded collie) gained access to 6s. Only the top floor is currently let, The Study and Pot's Room remain on the Ground Floor - kitchen/scullery remodeled into bathroom facilities. The external fire escape has been removed, and an internal one constructed, so standing at the Day Room doors and looking towards the back of the house - Tuck Room and part of the Lower Sixth Study now combined into one, and the left hand corner of the room is boxed in to accommodate the fire escape.

The window catches were FILTHY - if only I had taken some Bluebell with me.

Filthy, smelly old loos on 1st and 2nd floor replaced with something a little more sanitary. Lower dorm just a large open room, apart from the box of the fire escape. Top floor has desks, and a semi-separate room at the far end. The bars, from which the more agile of us would swing upside down, remain.

xx
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Re: Hertford Museum : Follow up visit 2 August

Post by Katharine »

Interesting about the fire escape. What about the cloakroom and the outside loos? What have they done with them? Presumably all the houses might be different now.

I don't know whether the whole site is owned en bloc by one company and buildings let out, or whether it was sold in sections. Can anyone enlighten me, please?
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Re: Hertford Museum : Follow up visit 2 August

Post by Jo »

I'm sure the Chauncy Court (retirement flats) Manager told us that the site was owned by one company (??Standard Life??) because she was bemoaning the lack of maintenance and the fact it was all starting to look a bit run down. However, there were several different letting agents for the business units in what were the boarding houses.
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Changes to boarding houses

Post by MKM »

It looked to me as if the outside loos had been demolished. But it was difficult to be sure as the inside space (where the cloakroom used to be) had been remodelled.

Sevens and Eights were joined by a new single-storey building.

We went down into the cellar in sixes, and I was delighted to find big patches of shoe polish on the walls. There seemed to be new internal walls in the cellar too, so it was difficult to remember how it used to be.

What struck me was what lovely rooms they were, full of light. Especially the study, with windows on two sides. I had forgotten (or perhaps never noticed) how many instances of the school crest there were, both inside and outside the buildings.

It felt strange being in the square, now the school site has been made so much smaller. It reminded me of the casinos in Las Vegas, where you can visit a miniature version of Venice. Lovely, but not the real thing.
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Re: Hertford Museum : Follow up visit 2 August

Post by kerrensimmonds »

The site (less Chauncy Court) is owned by the City of Edinburgh (as an investment), and managed by a posh London Property Management Agency. I believe that the rental fees have increased, which is why so many of the former Boarding Houses are now empty and 'to let'. I was sad that some of them were showing signs of neglect - dowdy paintwork and in at least one case a broken window just boarded over.
It was the Property Management Agency (and the various letting agents) with whom I was negotiating to try and gain access to some Boarding Houses for last Saturday.
And yes the Warden of Chauncy Court is right. Since Ken Whitaker retired, there has not been any janitorial or caretaking service at weekends.
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Re: Hertford Museum : Follow up visit 2 August

Post by sejintenej »

I do hope, ladies, that somebody - anybody will take a camera and actually take some photos. I see that on the CHA site there is a display of the photos taken last time; just three photos of people like you, together with a building, caps, dresses and other stuff - I think there was a grand total of 7 photos of which I suspect the pub featured in more than one.

Worse, there were no titles, names, call it what you like - after all your contributions here don't be shy about beiong identified; I promise not to lurk after you.
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Re: Hertford Museum : Follow up visit 2 August

Post by kerrensimmonds »

There were LOADS of pictures published from April, David.. but they are on a CH Hertford-specific forum. The was the choice both of the photographers and of those who agreed to set up the forum. From the pictures on the CHA website, I can identify three people, two Hertford buildings and one restaurant which,in our day,used to be a tea room. And I suspect I can identify the provenance of those photos.

I regret that I have not been able to aquire copies of the 'formal' photos taken that morning by the photographer from the Hertfordshire Mercury. We must have been small news, that week......

I guess that photos taken on 2 August (and indeed on 5 July, when there is to be a 60th birthday party in London for the Hertford girls of that era.. I won't tell you how many are coming!) will want to be kept 'private' to those who are there.

I have suggested that the CHA officers might like to visit the Hertford Museum because it might help them better understand us 'Hertford' folk. That was probably a cheeky suggestion, but there has been no response.
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Re: Hertford Museum : Follow up visit 2 August

Post by englishangel »

I put comments on all mine but if the CHA have chosen not to use them....
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Re: Hertford Museum : Follow up visit 2 August

Post by J.R. »

englishangel wrote:I put comments on all mine but if the CHA have chosen not to use them....
Hmmmmmmm !!
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Re: Hertford Museum : Follow up visit 2 August

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No comment....
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Re: Hertford Museum : Follow up visit 2 August

Post by MKM »

After the April reunion I set up a Yahoo mailing list for Hertford old blues. Two people have posted photos to the Yahoo group: Liz Jay and Jude Comber. Jude's photos are also on Facebook.

Why set up a mailing list when we have a perfectly good Forum (I hear you ask)? Mainly because I came away from Hertford with a list of email adresses, and wasn't sure what to do with them. Setting up the list and inviting everyone to join was a neat way of allowing people to swap email adresses iff they wanted to.

The other reason was that some Old Girls I chatted with at Hertford said that they were aware of this forum, and read it, but were too shy to post. I hoped that a more private list would reassure them. Nobody wanted privacy from other Forum members, but there was some concern about the way this Forum can be read by anyone with web access.

There haven't been many postings to the new list, so perhaps there isn't a need for it after all.

If any Hertford Old Blues would like to join the list then let me know.
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Re: Hertford Museum : Follow up visit 2 August

Post by englishangel »

OK here are the p[hotos I posted, with captions.

Image
This is a selection from our Sunday uniform with the navy blue coatdresses (40's to early 60's) and the cherry red blazers (late 60's to '85)

Image

A chapel cap, worn when going to chapel (obviously) and when outside the school on a weekday (unless going to Ashbourne to play sports). Abandoned with the other hats around 1969.

Image

This is now an Indian restaurant but when CH was at Hertford it was a teashop called Christine's (looking exactly the same) and on Long Saturdays it would be packed to the gunwales with CH girls supplementing their diet with cream teas and tea out of teapots, not urns. I wonder what sort of business they did all the rest of the time?

Image

This is the front of 2's, with Julie Howlett, (who is a memebr of this forum but can never remember her password) standing outside.

Image

Tis seal is set into the floor of the hall at the foot of the stairs leading up to what was or dining hall.

Image

And these are said stairs.
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Re: Hertford Museum : Follow up visit 2 August

Post by kerrensimmonds »

Mary.. I think Caroline would say that in terms of Hertford related stuff she would rather contribute to your Yahoo forum, since it has not been invaded by Google. Anyone googling e.g. 'Tim Tams' will be led to the discussion on the CH Forum, which indicates that the Forum is open to anyone and everyone who happens to stumble in to our discussions.
If she is right (and I suspect she is...) I would agree with her. For that reason I have been more circumspect in my contributions to this Forum, in the last couple of months.
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