Hertford Memories - The Book

[Angela Woodford]

Oh, yes! Katharine! A sudden thought! Why couldn't your peers Anne-Marie, Wendy, Ruth and Susan have shared their bananas with you? Meanies!

[MKM]

Basket presents were still given in my time, though there was a ruling (from DR) that they should be limited to a packet of polos.

[MKM]

Fruit was an "extra". We would pay 6d or 1s a week, (at the start of each term) and the fruit was delivered from a local shop, divided up in brown paper bags labelled with our names. The standard contents were one apple, one banana, one orange and a pear.

This one one of many extra expenses, and I used to worry about the financial burden on my mother.

[Euterpe13]

Oh my goodness, reading all this really does bring it back - I can even taste again that horrible pink fish sauce - and the strange Sunday morning coffee!
I also was addicted to fried bread with marmalade - and have never been able to reproduce the taste of the CH variety - to my family's relief, I might add - heavens alone knows what it might do to my arteries these days !

[MaryB]

Does anyone remember the solid lump of jam we used to get in a big pot for tea? It was completely smooth and solid.

Jam - and probably other things too - came in enormous tins from a company called Unecol. We could see their vans in the kitchen yard from the bottom end of 1s to 4s tables when the fire escape door was open in summer.

[MaryB]

Now a question for all. As a junior, I performed in my turn that rather ghastly duty known as "bits". Does anyone remember doing this? Could there have been a bits disposal bucket down by the serving hatch, which would have led to my regular visit there? I know I did admire the menu, and also a rather splendid portrait of a big Queenly matronly bosomy female whose identity I have forgotten.

I remember the buckets being right at the end of 3s table, but it would surely have made more sense for them to be nearer 1s and the kitchen doors. Yuk.....
I think there were two bosomy female portraits on that wall - Queen Anne, and a Mrs something something, wife of A Benefactor and looking like a slightly flighty dowager from Georgette Heyer.

[Angela Woodford]

Did you know you can ask a banana a question? If you cut the end off, not the stalk, there will be a black mark which may be in the form of a Y or a blob.

The banana - It said Yes!

What a thrill. Fabulous.

[englishangel]

The coffee tasted so odd because it came in the same urn that the tea was made in, so Sunday tea-time tea also tasted extremely odd.

[chaosriddenyears]

The coffe was really odd, I remember.

Yes, it was Queen Anne, showing more bosom than we would ever have been allowed to, some other woman, and also King Charles II and something about him founding the Royal Mathematical School. And on a frieze thing round the dining hall, Fear God, Honour the King, Love the Brotherhood, Love(or was it honour?) all Men.

Odd to have this in a girls' school!

Fried bread and marmalade! The marmalade was ok, it was only the slab of jam that was dreadful.

[kerrensimmonds]

Honour all men..
and it was the School motto. Quotation from Peter but can't remember whether 1 or 2.

[Fjgrogan]

I Peter 2v17 I quite like the translation known as The Message which says 'Treat everyone you meet with dignity. Love your spiritual family. Revere God. Respect the government.' Doesn't have the same memorable sonorous quality as King James but gets the meaning across pretty well!

[MaryB]

I Peter 2v17 I quite like the translation known as The Message which says 'Treat everyone you meet with dignity. Love your spiritual family. Revere God. Respect the government.' Doesn't have the same memorable sonorous quality as King James but gets the meaning across pretty well!

Respect the government... well!
I know what The Message is trying to do, but it lacks all poetry.

[Angela Woodford]

Basket presents were still given in my time, though there was a ruling (from DR) that they should be limited to a packet of polos.

Maureen Connor did my basket. A packet of Polos? How dreary!

Maureen, I hope I gave you something more exciting!

[Angela Woodford]

Yes, it was Queen Anne, showing more bosom than we would ever have been allowed to,

I really liked that portrait and would linger longer than strictly necessary by the bits bucket.

The "eyebrows" portrait of Susannah is stuck away in the museum at Horsham, which seems a shame. It's charming. The full-length portrait is in the Dining Hall, but is put up at an unviewable height. Well, IMHO anyway.

[Kim2s70-77]

Just had a couple of random and unrelated thoughts from the old days.....

When we were allowed to go into town to go shopping, there was always the confusion and lack of clear understanding, by townspeople, of exactly what kind of institution we were. I know the staff of Woolworth's seemed to think we were a Borstal of some description and would follow us closely through the store, to make sure we didn't 'pocket' things. Other shopkeepers knew we were a Boarding school - but there were definitely some who must have thought we were an orphanage of some description . Somewhat abashed, I haveto admit to 'milking' this mercilessly and refining my acting skills by crying very poor - particularly at the spectacularly kind Baker's store. I don't remember the name, and I'm sure I was not the first to do this, but - I would structure my outings so that the last stop on the itinerary was always the bakery, when I just had a few pennies left in my purse. Composing my face into the leanest, hungriest look possible, I would gaze longingly at assorted pastries (my mouth is currently watering with - I'm an Ex-Pat, don't forget - images of Eccles cakes/ Lardy cakes /buns etc) and quaveringly enquire the price of each bun. When told the cost, I would peer sadly into my purse and ask what did they have for ( fill in the blank with paltry sum in coppers)? The lovely man would pack 3 or 4 juicy cakes into a bag, wipe a tear from the corner of his eye and hand over the bag, to my stammered profusion of thanks and undying gratitude. Of course, once out of sight, I would snatch up my loot, skip off back to school and gleefully scoff the lot. Mea culpa!!