A Girl's School from Outside

[lonely_wolf]

In the midsummer of the mid70s I was invited to a dance at CH. A friend and his brother at my school (BSC) had girlfriends there, they must have needed a lift and I was the only one with wheels. I would blush to unfold the events of that evening in detail, not due to any erotic content but rather my ineptness at capturing the girl of my dreams, who unfortunately doubled as one of my friends' girlfriends. I remember entering a darkish hall, wherein it seemed to me I was immediately if temporarily dumped by my so-called friends and their concubines, who little understood the terror coursing through my veins. Feeling more sober than I'd ever felt in my life, I began to dance (if the nervous movements I was making could be dignified by such a description) and was joined by an unaccountably relaxed girl who was dancing more convincingly than seemed possible with such an opponent. With characteristic stupidity I lit a cigarette and was told apologetically and hardly surprisingly that it wasn't allowed. I wandered out into the night... Glossing over the ignominy of succeeding events, by the end of the evening I had perforce abandoned any hope. To my complete surprise and wonder, when it was time to say goodbye, I was rewarded out of the blue with my first chaste kiss, alas also to be my last.

There seemed to be no problem for us boys to pay a more informal visit, it was near end of term and the gfs were in their final year. They shared a room, which looked comfortable and individual. Later we went into a cozy communal room where a dozen or so girls of various ages were watching the Sunday night serial with a genial mistress. When it came to the clinching scene at the end of the episode, there were fervent cries of "kiss her!", or would it have been "kiss him!"? We must have reached some sort of curfew not long after that, or else boys were not allowed to be there at all and a less genial mistress became aware of us, and the girls had to usher us off the premises.

Sadly time was running out and our last visit was to the prize giving, where my final sights were of the girls walking across the stage wearing a blue garment which I considered to be by no means unflattering, but which Sophie referred to with disparaging tones and a pronounced wrinkling of the nose as "the sack". After the prizes, just hurried preoccupied goodbyes while trunks were slung into cars.

* * *

I was disappointed to learn of the school's demise. I thought it much more appealing than Horsham sounds, and would uphold "the sack" against their strange costume any day. My overall impression of the place was friendly and relaxed, though admittedly the circumstances lent it romance.

[midget]

Are we thinking of the same school? Admittedly I left well before the mid-70s but during the tenure of Miss West you wouldn't have got past the front gates!

[englishangel]

We must have reached some sort of curfew not long after that, or else boys were not allowed be there at all and a less genial mistress became aware of us, and the girls had to usher us off the premises.

I think this was probably the case, becasue although I left in 1972 I don't think much changed in the next 13 years or so. Tough we didn't have any dances under Miss West while I was there I believe there had been some earlier in her tenure.

Sacks they definitely were. And if you think they looked better than what the girls wear now it must have been love. Just look at the pic of Idgie on the 'Becomming (sic) a new dep" thread. It is towards the end.

[icomefromalanddownunder]

Are you sure that you are remembering the correct school???????????????????????????

I left in 1970, and do remember that at some time during my five years at Hertford we were invited to a dance at Haileybury, but declined, as we would have had to have worn school uniform. No dances, let alone young males, on site during my time. Another memory is of watching an ancient film version of Romeo and Juliet (which we were studying in Eng Lit that year), minus the reel that included the bedroom scene.

Changing subject somewhat - I have only met Miss Tucker twice. Once at Christmas 1972 when she very politely tried to stop me from attending Chapel (I was wearing loons - who remembers those attractive b&m-crack exposing legwear ) and an ankle length black cape. She had no chance - I hadn't had a good sing for ages, and carols were, of course, on the menu. The second time was on 5/4, when she surprised and delighted me by giving me a good bye kiss. If whoever it was who started quivering in her Café Rouge seat and hyperventilating before Liz offered to swop places is reading this - I'm guessing that Miss T's action would have surprised you too Um, where was I? Oh yes - I cannot, no matter how hard I try, imagine DR kissing any of us: definintely not me. Kerren? Anyone?

Sorry, for the waffle. The point I am trying to make is that I'm wondering whether things changed so dramatically when Miss T replaced DR that lonely-wolf's recollections are correct. I'm also wondering whether the dates are a bit out, as my current Post Grad Co-ordinator studied at Hatfield Poly, sorry, should that be The University of Hertfordshire? in the early 80s and one of his friends, who studied at Ball Park at the same time, used to drag Chris to Hertford to perve on CH girls in that oh so unattractive uniform. Er, I mean to visit one of the girls. Don't suppose you're reading this and can confirm/deny? Don't know what the friend looked like, but Chris is tall, short sighted, totally and completely politically incorrect, comes from Norfolk, and blushes at the drop of a hat. Can't comment on hair colour as he has been totally bald since I first met him.

xxx

[lonely_wolf]

Are you sure that you are remembering the correct school???????????????????????????

I left in 1970, and do remember that at some time during my five years at Hertford we were invited to a dance at Haileybury, but declined, as we would have had to have worn school uniform.
...
I'm wondering whether things changed so dramatically when Miss T replaced DR that lonely-wolf's recollections are correct. I'm also wondering whether the dates are a bit out

The Sunday of the incursion was June 29th 1975. The dance would have been the night before or possibly a week or two earlier. The girls wore jeans on the Sunday and their own clothes to the dance - long cotton etc. dresses which were almost invariably what you'd see at informal parties at that time. And yes, it was your school, I have the photos to prove it!

[Fran]

I was at CH during Miss Tucker's reign, I left at the end of the 5th form in '74. I do remember going to a dance at Haileybury (cloesly chaparoned by our housemistress) & also remember the 6th form having an end of year (I think) dance in the school hall with invited male company - we used to lean out of the windows of 4s to observe the romantic clinches!

[Jo]

I left in summer 1975 and I believe that was the first year there was a disco with boys' schools invited. I think it might have been held in the gym. I didn't go to it, but girls were allowed to wear their own clothes (as Fran says, we did at weekends anyway by then) and by all accounts people did "get off with" each other, in the charming phraseology of the time. The Sophie that lonely_wolf mentioned was probably Sophie Stones, who was in 3's (she'd had an older sister, Julia, in 4's). I vaguely remember seeing on FR that she lives in the US now.

Caroline - things did change with Miss Tucker, although I'm not sure many of us gave her credit for it. She tried to be less authoritarian, particularly with older girls, but I interpreted it as weakness and I didn't have much respect for her. Looking back, that probably wasn't fair. She abandoned some of the more archaic rules such as letter lists and, and she also did away with Mons and replaced it with everyone getting their GAs in the UVI but just having one House Rep whose duty was to be her liaison point with the house. That explains why the Mons Boards from 1974 onwards have far more names - all of the UVI rather than just Mons. People who have kept in touch with her since (unlike me) have said that she actually is a lovely person, and very caring. I feel quite guilty about not really giving her a chance

[lonely_wolf]

Thanks Jo, I had searched the board for "Sophie" and found one of your posts citing her as a contemporary, so I wondered if that was her - I never knew her surname. No good at Latin eh? Oh well, nobody's perfect.

I visited the scene of the crime today, and decided from memory that Sophie was most probably in 3s, so it's nice to have that confirmed. Judging from clues in the photo I took inside, I think her room which she shared with a girl called Toni was most probably on the SE corner overlooking the square and 2s, on the top floor. The corresponding ground floor room in 4s has not been let or refurbished and still has the identical fireplace. Not as much room as I thought though, must have had small beds.

I wasn't able to locate the building seen in another photo I took at the time, perhaps at the side/rear of the school hall, the part that has since been demolished.

I'm unsure whether the occasion I attended was in the school hall or gym. I found Fran's description of it being a dance in the school hall convincing, I've always remembered it as "dance" although it was in effect a disco. The phrase "invited male company" struck a chord too, as opposed to an invite directed at schools, in fact I'd left the previous year so wouldn't have qualified on that basis. I've some reason to believe it was in a building in the square where the houses are, but I didn't recognise the school hall or remember where it was, so it may have been the gym.

It's strange to revisit a place after such a long interval of time, so perhaps it's not surprising that I was affected today. I found the architecture impressive, love it or loathe it the place has atmosphere and oozes history. It has a much tighter arrangement than the school I went to, suggestive of security in both a good and bad sense. A machine for containing and processing girls? I can see how oppressive it would have been if you were unhappy. The extreme symmetry of the houses makes a powerful statement, and the trees although softening could perhaps make it eerie. After visiting the museum exhibition, seeing photos and reading accounts of life there, I felt this even more strongly, and a little ashamed of the way I had presented my experience of the school. I'm sure I would have found it hard going. I hope my flippant account has not offended or upset anyone.

Thanks again Jo for saying where S might be now, obviously something I'd wondered. I can't get Friends Reunited to work properly today, but I did have a look a few years ago and not many CH people were on there for the year I was interested in, which make me think, well, perhaps a lot don't want to dwell on their experience.

[Angela Woodford]

It's strange to revisit a place after such a long interval of time, so perhaps it's not surprising that I was affected today. I found the architecture impressive, love it or loathe it the place has atmosphere and oozes history. It has a much tighter arrangement than the school I went to, suggestive of security in both a good and bad sense. A machine for containing and processing girls? I can see how oppressive it would have been if you were unhappy. The extreme symmetry of the houses makes a powerful statement, and the trees although softening could perhaps make it eerie. After visiting the museum exhibition, seeing photos and reading accounts of life there, I felt this even more strongly, and a little ashamed of the way I had presented my experience of the school. I'm sure I would have found it hard going. I hope my flippant account has not offended or upset anyone.

Thank you, thank you for writing this, lonely wolf. You're obviously tremendously sensitive to stuff - I've never before heard somebody tune in so accurately to the feel of walking onto The Square at Hertford. When I did, in May, I felt overwhelmingly ill with memories, lost hopes, and pain. The shock of moving to the back of 5s - 8s and finding it all gone was expressed by one of my companions who said "It's like walking into the end of the world".

I closed my eyes and felt I could open them and see us all back in that world again. I wanted to be back in 1964 and begin again and do it differently. Or did I wish I'd never been moulded and institutionalised by that world? I couldn't tell.

[englishangel]

I am sure Kerren will come on and say that she and DR did an air kiss on greeting. We are all much more touchy-feely now than we were 30 odd years ago, I even hug and kiss my siblings much more than I ever did, (well I suppose I touched them when we were fighting)

I didn't feel ill on April 5th but all the hairs on the back of my neck stood up and I have often wished I had done things differently.

[icomefromalanddownunder]

I hope my flippant account has not offended or upset anyone.


Not me - I was just astounded that you could possibly be writing of a place that I had left only a few years earlier, but that sounded like a completely different world.

Thanks again Jo for saying where S might be now, obviously something I'd wondered. I can't get Friends Reunited to work properly today, but I did have a look a few years ago and not many CH people were on there for the year I was interested in, which make me think, well, perhaps a lot don't want to dwell on their experience.

Did you check out CH Horsham as well? The Hertford FR pages were begun some time after the general CH one (which I subscribed to, as did other Hertfordites). Good luck with your search.

Caroline

[lonely_wolf]

... the feel of walking onto The Square at Hertford. When I did, in May, I felt overwhelmingly ill with memories, lost hopes, and pain. The shock of moving to the back of 5s - 8s and finding it all gone was expressed by one of my companions who said "It's like walking into the end of the world".

I closed my eyes and felt I could open them and see us all back in that world again. I wanted to be back in 1964 and begin again and do it differently. Or did I wish I'd never been moulded and institutionalised by that world? I couldn't tell.

I did wonder on Saturday, such was my own reaction, how on earth those of you who spent years there had coped with returning. Even I felt a moment of confusion about what year it was, and half expected to see my friends walk out of the door. And as for wanting to go back and begin again, is there anything more poignant?

[Jo]

Sophie's FR entry reads "Worked for the MOD for 13 years and eventually posted to USA and married a Yank, where I've been ever since. Twin girls aged 10 and live in San Jose, CA." She's now called Sophie Dority.

The Toni with whom she shared a room (sounds like Little Dorm, the cubies - two person cubicles - were along the sides) would have been Toni Robson. Toni was multi-talented, being sporty, a good linguist, possibly musical (not sure - her elder sister Jo who was the year above me in 5's was an accomplished flautist). Funnily enough, in my year, one way or another, I am in touch with, or in touch with people who are in touch with, just about everyone except those in 3's. I'm not sure why this should be, but I could probably get news of virtually all the other houses in the class of '75, just not 3's.

Munch, whoever said it was like walking into the end of the world described it perfectly. I've been back several times now, and I still find the side walls behind the houses - 1-4s as well as 5-8s - quite shocking. I don't have unhappy memories of school any more (though I did for a long time) but every time I see things not as they were, I feel my memories have been corrupted somehow. It's so much the same place, and yet it's a totally different place, all at the same time.

Compared to Horsham (well, compared to most places really), it was a small site, and security was tight. I remember Miss Tucker pointing out that she had the gates locked at night during the holidays, which proved that it was to keep intruders out rather than to keep girls in. Hmm, not sure that was entirely true! I never thought about the symmetry, but what I didn't realise at the time - in fact until a few months ago - was that the 8 houses replaced the parallel ward buildings that were demolished when the younger boys moved down to Horsham at the turn of the 20th century. The old wards, as far as I can see from photos, were in long terraces, but still four on one side and four on the other. Wards 9 & 10 were girls' wards - 9's was (is) still there, against the front wall (it was the wardrobe department when I first started there), and 10's had been on the playground but was demolished when the school block and science block were built.

I never really thought objectively about the place - just had emotional reactions based on memories - but my partner came with me in March when I did a recce for the April visit, and he kept telling me how nice it was. He said "I know you say you didn't really have a happy time there, but as far as the buildings are concerned, it must have been quite a nice environment to live in". I'd never thought of it before, but it's true - it was an attractive setting. Shame so much of it had to be demolished.

[icomefromalanddownunder]

Munch, whoever said it was like walking into the end of the world described it perfectly. .

While watching 'The Lion, The Witch & The Wardrobe' last night (I got home after sitting with a friend's elderly mare as the Vet sent her to the land of the green dream, and it was either hit the Martell's or watch LW&W), and I had a flashback to Hertford in April.

I think that I had subconsciously been waiting for the wall behind Sixes to melt away so that I could step out onto the playing field, breathe deeply (I think that I must have been holding my breath for much of my visit, or at least shallow breathing) and admire the view of the Chapel etc.

I emailed the lovely guys who were so polite and accomodating when five of us invaded Sixes on the afternoon before our visit to The Museum, thanking them for being so patient and understanding. Received a lovely reply, thanking us for giving them an insight into the building where they work. It never occured to me that anyone other than school pupils and staff would have any interest in the site - my family certainly don't, and no-one here paid any attention to the photographs I took, yet there were lots of ooohs and aaahs over the shots taken in wine cellars and King's College Chapel, oh, and the ones of me auditioning for a part in The Bill (OK, so I was just dressing up in my nephew's uniform while he was out of the house, but I reckon I could give June Ackland a run for her money).


Strange, strange, strange.

xxxxxx

[Jo]

If that was the film version of The Lion, The Witch & The Wardrobe (I think there are actually two films out now, the second has just been released), then there is coincidentally a connection with CH. Anna Popplewell, who stars (is her character called Susan?) is the daughter of Debra Lomas, 3 years below me in 5's, and head girl in about 1978. All three of her children act - both girls were in Love in a Cold Climate on TV a few years ago, Lulu had a brief part in Love Actually (as Emma Thompson's daughter IIRC), and Freddie was in Peter Pan a few years ago. Debra is married to the son of Lord Justice Popplewell, and I believe she is still involved as an OB - I got a fundraising letter from her a couple of years ago (when I wasn't receptive to it - might have responded differently now).