Just stumbled upon this site.......sounds like fun...

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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Angela Woodford
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Re: Just stumbled upon this site.......sounds like fun...

Post by Angela Woodford »

Katharine wrote:Mary, you weren't the first to get that tag - I'm sure I wasn't either! Did she have something against us?

Speaking as one who spent two unfortunately hellish years of being licked into shape by Miss Jukes -

She took a positive pleasure in fastening on girls who were gifted in other areas, who weren't necessarily at their best in the Cookery School. They might be talented, confident, filled with self-esteem - but she, Miss Jukes, was going to knock that out of them on her territory... and she, Miss Jukes, always spoke her mind.

There was the time when, stung by her frank comments about my hair, I'd had it cut during the holidays into the "Venetian Pageboy" style that was the new thing in 1970. It didn't flop over my face, and jee-ust satisfied the hair-must-clear-the-collar School Rule. I felt sure she would approve!

Gradually, during the 3 hour Practical, I fell behind. I rushed hither and thither, working in a terrible panic, exerting every effort to catch up with the timings in my Order of Work. I felt Miss Jukes watching me. I knew, just knew, that she was about to come out with some frank personal remark. She hovered by my workbench.

"Come along, huwwy huwwy! You needn't think that just because you've had some fancy haircut - "

She couldn't think how to finish this sentence. Did she think that I thought I would work better as a Venetian Pageboy? :roll: She sped away. I felt crushed, as she no doubt intended.
"Baldrick, you wouldn't recognise a cunning plan if it painted itself purple, and danced naked on top of a harpsichord singing "Cunning plans are here again.""
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Re: Just stumbled upon this site.......sounds like fun...

Post by Katharine »

The main thing she had against me, was that I would forget to light the oven. We had an Aga at home and I had never had to think about such things as oven temperature or heating it up. It became a regular thing, asking me each week whether I had anything to remember.
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Re: Just stumbled upon this site.......sounds like fun...

Post by MKM »

Wasn't there another, younger teacher who took us for cookery sometimes? She was frightened of Miss Jukes too. She (the younger teacher) supervised us making souffles, none of which rose as they sould have done.

Angela was wonderfully generous with the scrummy things she made - I remember eclairs filled with cream and iced with coffee-flavoured icing.
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Re: Just stumbled upon this site.......sounds like fun...

Post by icomefromalanddownunder »

MKM wrote:Wasn't there another, younger teacher who took us for cookery sometimes? She was frightened of Miss Jukes too. She (the younger teacher) supervised us making souffles, none of which rose as they sould have done.


Hiya

I'm back - even if only briefly on this occasion (still working out how much scrutiny is applied to internet usage by my new employer).

Did you take cookery in LVI Mary? I only remember doing about one term (maybe a year - another case of burying painful memories, perhaps), and don't remember attempting a soufflé. Surely that requires the use of real eggs, as opposed to that stuff that would be served to us for breakfast: yellow and white snot floating in grey water?

Off to chat to our chooks and reach beneath the warm and fluffy bodies of the two broodies to see what lies beneath :D



Angela was wonderfully generous with the scrummy things she made - I remember eclairs filled with cream and iced with coffee-flavoured icing.
Maybe I should have stayed on for VIth form :D :D :D


xxxxx
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Re: Just stumbled upon this site.......sounds like fun...

Post by Angela Woodford »

MKM wrote:Wasn't there another, younger teacher who took us for cookery sometimes? She was frightened of Miss Jukes too. She (the younger teacher) supervised us making souffles, none of which rose as they sould have done.... I remember eclairs filled with cream and iced with coffee-flavoured icing.
I was trying to remember the name of that younger mistress. She was tremendously nice - Deirdre and I had her for the design, fabrics and flooring bit of Home Economics. One day, Miss Jukes burst into one of our sessions with her, and shouted, yes shouted at her for not having left the workbenches in the Cookery School clean enough. Residual crumbs and smears had been spotted!

Miss Jukes stormed off. The poor young mistress sat there, totally speechless. Deirdre and I resolutely steered her back to the subject she'd been teaching us. I think if we'd offered sympathy, she'd have wept! So humiliating.

I was usually successful with choux pastry! Glad you enjoyed the coffee éclairs, Mary! (Hmm, perhaps I might make some for nostalgic purposes? Coffee iced choux buns, I think.)
"Baldrick, you wouldn't recognise a cunning plan if it painted itself purple, and danced naked on top of a harpsichord singing "Cunning plans are here again.""
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Re: Just stumbled upon this site.......sounds like fun...

Post by Jo »

Angela Woodford wrote:
Katharine wrote:Mary, you weren't the first to get that tag - I'm sure I wasn't either! Did she have something against us?
Speaking as one who spent two unfortunately hellish years of being licked into shape by Miss Jukes -

She took a positive pleasure in fastening on girls who were gifted in other areas, who weren't necessarily at their best in the Cookery School. They might be talented, confident, filled with self-esteem - but she, Miss Jukes, was going to knock that out of them on her territory... and she, Miss Jukes, always spoke her mind.
I think the majority of the non-academic teaching staff were like that. I got on well with most of the academic subject teachers, although some of them were better actual teachers than others. But I think many of the others had enormous chips on their shoulders - principal amongst whom was, of course, SWMNBN. I used to think it was because they didn't have gowns they could wear on Speech Day, but you'd have to be pretty desperate to build up so much resentment about a once-a-year occurrence. Then I thought they might be bottom of the pecking order in the Staffroom (whose politics were concealed from us as pupils, but I bet it was a hotbed of factions, hierarchies and general bitchiness), but I'd have said Miss Jukes and SWMNBN were firmly near the top of the roost there. So I don't know what it was, but can you think of a nice non-academic teacher? There was Mrs Dawson, who came to teach Art in 1970 (and I believe was the only other person apart from Miss Morrison to move to Horsham); she was quite nice. And there was.......nope, I'm stuck now.
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Re: Just stumbled upon this site.......sounds like fun...

Post by Angela Woodford »

What about Nellie, Jo? And there was smashing Miss Westhorp, with whom Kerren got on so well. Can we count dear Mrs Fiddaman (piano) as non academic? She was such a sympathetic ear to her pupils.

I think just before your time was a super Old Girl Art Mistress called Miss Esch, followed by the little slender blonde Mrs Trotman - Vidal Sassoon five-point-haircut and mini-dresses.

Maybe Nellie counted as in with the academics because she shared Middle House and was best buddies with Miss Rutherford? Carolynn was telling me that Nellie resigned from CH eventually to become a Headmistress somewhere.
"Baldrick, you wouldn't recognise a cunning plan if it painted itself purple, and danced naked on top of a harpsichord singing "Cunning plans are here again.""
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Re: Just stumbled upon this site.......sounds like fun...

Post by Jo »

Ah well, now I never really got on too well with Nellie, what with me not really being built for games and all that :lol:. But games aside, she took us for geography in the second year and she was quite spiky and sarcastic to everyone, I thought. Mrs Trotman was far too hip and trendy to be interested or sympathetic to gauche little first-formers and I found her quite scary.

Some of the music teachers were nice - I didn't know Mrs Fiddaman but I gather Miss Cordery was ok, and Miss Taverner - though someone, possibly you, said they didn't like her. I sort of thought of them as academics though.
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Re: Just stumbled upon this site.......sounds like fun...

Post by Alexandra Thrift »

Just read through this thread ( skimmed) and have a few corrections to add...

Munch, the Sylvester and the Morgan Twins were not the only twins in your time, but the only identical twins.
You can't possibly forget the Bonfanti twins who were both delightful but totally and utterly unalike. Susan has posted here in the past (can't remember her monika) and Anne ( who was always as good as gold and in our house...6s ) was expelled by DR for going to a Rolling Stones Concert in memory of Brian Jones in Hyde Park on Long Sat. ( without permission).

Miss Jukes did like to bwing us down a peg or two.I had come top in an exam set by her when she taught us Science for one term, so when I first started doing Cookery she was swift to spot my tendency to verge towards chaos regarding practical issues.
" Alexandwa " she said " You may be good at Science...but you can't even whisk an egg pwoperly ! ". I was quite devastated...but have turned out to be rather a good cook (though I say so myself ! )

As for "nice" teachers...I honestly think there were quite a few that suited me and seemed generally kindly. Miss Dawson ( art ), Mrs Topliss ( Latin or History ?) , Miss Mercer, Chemi T , Mrs Betterton , Miss Taverner ( who was actually lovely but Munch was disappointed in her for a personal reason I can't remember), Miss Cordery , Mr Mulholland and I'm sure others whom I can't remember.

Gotta go now. Like Caroline down-under I also work full time (teaching) and that's why I am often absent for long periods. I am also doing a post-grad. Diploma and learnt today that I passed the first part ( an exam !...it honestly is a miracle) but I've now got endless ghastly assignments to write.

So pleased to hear you are still playing Bridge, Mary. I think DR taught us both.Mary,could you please send me your email address ? tks.

Bye for now.
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Re: Just stumbled upon this site.......sounds like fun...

Post by Angela Woodford »

The Bonfanti twins.... how did I forget? Sorry! Ann - superb needlewoman. Everything she made was perfection.

Yeah - Miss Taverner! Those blank cold blue eyes! Whenever I spoke to her, she'd look past me either thinking other thoughts, or in search of something more interesting. Thought: I probably wasn't that interesting! (And then there was that little promotion I had planned for myself... Enough!) I found her a very chilly personality. Another CH dog! Miss T had a very playful handsome cocker spaniel called Benjamin, after Britten.

Mastered whisking an egg now, Alex? :lol: :lol: Honestly - Miss Jukes! :roll:
"Baldrick, you wouldn't recognise a cunning plan if it painted itself purple, and danced naked on top of a harpsichord singing "Cunning plans are here again.""
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Re: Just stumbled upon this site.......sounds like fun...

Post by su523 »

Apology accepted! Occasionally I forget I'm a twin, so there's no reason why anyone else should remember, especially as we look so unlike. Looked quite different when we were at school and still do.
Everyone else seems to have much better recall of their schooldays than I do, but sometimes a memory floats to the surface. Does anyone else remember the cookery class, probably in the U5 or maybe lower 6, when we were making a fruit flan and had to put the jelly in dishes on the exterior window sill to cool? Sadly not all the dishes remained on the window sill and Kathleen Bell for one (with whom I shared most of my sixth form years as we did Latin and Greek together) saw hers descend to the playground below. I can't recall what Miss Jukes made of that ...
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Re: Just stumbled upon this site.......sounds like fun...

Post by Angela Woodford »

su523 wrote: Does anyone else remember the cookery class, probably in the U5 or maybe lower 6, when we were making a fruit flan and had to put the jelly in dishes on the exterior window sill to cool? Sadly not all the dishes remained on the window sill and Kathleen Bell for one (with whom I shared most of my sixth form years as we did Latin and Greek together) saw hers descend to the playground below. I can't recall what Miss Jukes made of that ...
I absolutely can't bear to think what Miss Jukes would have said! Poor, poor Kathleen! Maybe something beginning

"You may think yourself a Classics genius, Kathleen Bell, but you can't even - !" (Thinking "Classics? Wubbish!")

Once, when making that completely reliable fruit flan, my perverse jelly set wock hard whilst my attention was diverted elsewhere. Desperately I tried to warm it up a bit so that it would be spoonable - without Miss Jukes noticing. She did notice, of course. :oops: :oops: :oops:

Are you still in touch with Kathleen, Su?
"Baldrick, you wouldn't recognise a cunning plan if it painted itself purple, and danced naked on top of a harpsichord singing "Cunning plans are here again.""
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Post by englishangel »

Kathleen is on Friends Reunited and I sent her an invitation letter to here at the weekend. Maybe we shall see her yet! It wasn't just Miss J who had it in for her, she was a writer and dreamer and she got many a piece of chalk in the ear from Chemi-T when she was thinking deep thoughts. (Kathleen not Chemi-T)
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Re: Just stumbled upon this site.......sounds like fun...

Post by Angela Woodford »

"Abou Ben Adam..."

Go, Kathleen!
"Baldrick, you wouldn't recognise a cunning plan if it painted itself purple, and danced naked on top of a harpsichord singing "Cunning plans are here again.""
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Post by su523 »

No, Kathleen and I were always more fellow-travellers than friends. I'm sure that somewhere else on this forum I've told my favourite Kathleen story ... but for those who haven't heard it:

We were in a Greek a level class - so that means just Kathleen, me and Queenie Blench. The classics room was in the oldest part (can't remember what it was called). It was winter and this was before they put in central heating. So we had an electric fire, one of those 2 bar, curved wire grid jobs. The fire was tucked under Queenie's desk. In the middle of the lesson we all started to notice a very odd smell ... and then fumes ... and a stronger smell ... emanating from the fire ... or to be more accurate from Kathleen's shoes which were resting on the wire grid of the fire. The soles had melted in the heat and aside from exuding fumes, had attached themselves to the fire.
The really odd thing is that I have no recollection of what happened next!! Anyone else know?

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