Hertford Memories - The Book

[englishangel]

Kerren/Katharine can you help here?

[Fjgrogan]

Speaking purely from memory, I think the answer is to be found in Hazel's book, my copy of which is with Angela.

[Fjgrogan]

Found it at last! I am rereading Half To Remember in which Miss West says that the name change from Ward to House was made in 1964. It then took me ages to work out on which thread the question had arisen in the first place!!!

[Angela Woodford]

Frances! Your book is on its way back to you! Many many thanks. I read it carefully - so pleased to see a nice picture of Miss Morrison!

I took great care of it. I see what you mean about it being very loosely bound!

[Fjgrogan]

Yes, Angela, definitely not a professional bookbinding job! And I can think of no way of repairing it, short of going through individually 'sticking and licking' each separate page, which would be ridiculous, so I shall continue to hold it together with a couple of elastic bands! Somewhere I have some pictures of the three headmistresses taken together at a Hertford Reunion - I think I have said this before - all I have to do is find them, and see whether I can e-mail them to you. Given my usual level of technical expertise, it would probably be easier to just print copies and send by snail mail - I'll see what I can do - it throws up all sort of possibilities for captions if you were to use them in The Book.

[Angela Woodford]

Three Headmistresses! How wonderful...

A frontispiece, maybe!

[kerrensimmonds]

The photograph of Miss West, Miss Morrison and Miss Tucker was taken in June 2000, outside All Saints Church Hertford, on the occasion of our Millennium Reunion. It is in Susan Mitchell's book 'Christ's Hospital in the Year 2000'.

[Fjgrogan]

Mine were taken at the local school where we had lunch - I cannot remember what year it was,but I don't think it was the millenium.

[kerrensimmonds]

17 June 2000. I should know because.. er... I organised it.
Service at All Saints Church in the morning, accommodated more than 300 Old Girls. Organist was Catherine Ennis, Choir Director Jean Taverner (about 30 of us assembled for the Choir and curiously managed to recreate the Hertford sound of all female voices in harmony). There were three Old Blue priests - Judith Thompson (Lillie), Bridget Woollard and Dorothy Green (Steele) who led the emotionally-charged service - this included DRW re-administering The Charge - with impromptu additions including 'as I know many of you do.....'. Tears all over the place. Afterwards we adjourned to Richard Hale School for lunch (217 had lunch), and then all OG people had the afternoon to explore Hertford and the school site.
The event prompted enormous outpourings of emotion, which I have held faithfully ever since. It seemed to provide a watershed for so many - and seeing three Headmistresses together was clearly very poignant. That two of them have now Gone to Glory seems to underline the poignancy.

[midget]

Dorothy Steele. Was she in 2's? If so I have a photo of her in the queue for dosh from the Lord Mayor on St Matts day.

[kerrensimmonds]

Yes Maggie. Yes, I believe that Dorothy was in 2's. I have no idea whether she is still with us, but she made a very welcome albeit decorous and serious contribution to the service in Hertford in 2000.
Kerren

[Katharine]

I volunteered to take part in the Service and did read some sentences. Very strangely amongst the others taking part in that section (about 6 of us?) were at least two others who had been in my year in 6s - Anne-Marie Kelly (on her birthday) and Susan Cottingham. In true school needlework fashion I had made the dress I wore that day!

[chaosriddenyears]

Angela, all this talk about The Book is really getting very tiring. Why don't you just sit down and write it instead of wondering about it and letting yourself be confused by all our endless gassing and faffing?

You are a really gifted writer and I think it is about time you sent us your specific commands and wrote your masterpiece,and if we distract you. simply told us to shut up!

Go for it girl!

[Angela Woodford]

Angela, if your book goes ahead - and I sooo hope it does, what a blast! - I would be happy to help if you think I would be of any use. I worked in academic book publishing for some years and still do some freelance editing, project managing publications and print buying.

Lynn is right. I need to get focussed. I have pm'd Lizzyfrog for advice (per-lease?)

I scroll through all the memories thinking how to arrange them, and what we girls would like.

I don't want to begin with my arrival (clever girl, all excited) and end with my huffing and puffing out in an old maternity dress (having achieved nothing). See, there I go!

I'd like to decide how to marshall all our reminiscenses -

House - attendant Housemistresses - Music - Sport - Uniform - DR - Food - Mistresses!

Illustrations! The way we were! There are some great pictures by lonelywolf of the way it is now.

What would we all like to read about the DR days? What about the possibly litigious situations arriving from the use of real names?

I'm reminded of Adrian Mole - the Cappuccino Years - the blast he gets from Boston Goldperson on failing to write his Offal Cookery Book!

"Listen, kiddo, the f****** book has been sold already! WH Smith have made it their Book of the Week! The cover has been sent to The Bookseller! Stoat Books have had advance orders for 25,000 copies in hardback! This book is a f****** bestseller! It has to be written! Stoat is threatening to sue this agency for every cent we have if you don't deliver. So write the mother!

Preferences please? I've got to write the mother!

[gma]

Get a dicatphone and just start talking!!