Up t'inf

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....

Moderator: Moderators

Post Reply
Fjgrogan
Button Grecian
Posts: 1427
Joined: Sat Feb 07, 2009 7:56 pm
Real Name: Frances Grogan (nee Haley)
Location: Surbiton, Surrey

Re: Up t'inf

Post by Fjgrogan »

Does anyone else remember Sister's daily question 'Have you been good today?' - referring to exercising one's bowels! I had been saying yes for some time before I realised what she was really asking!
Frances Grogan (Haley) 6's 1956 - 62

'A clean house is a sign of a broken computer.'
midget
Button Grecian
Posts: 3186
Joined: Tue Nov 01, 2005 3:49 pm
Real Name: Margaret O`Riordan
Location: Barnstaple Devon

Re: Up t'inf

Post by midget »

Ah yes, I remember it well.! I also remember that if you were not confined to bet you would always answer "Yes", the alternative was a fearsome PILL, and then you got into trouble for getting out of bed during the night. (Heads sister wins, tails you lose) If you were kept in bed for some reason she KNEW the answer anyway.
Thou shalt not sit with statisticians nor commit a social science.
kerrensimmonds
Button Grecian
Posts: 9395
Joined: Mon Apr 11, 2005 8:34 pm
Real Name: Kerren Simmonds
Location: West Sussex

Re: Up t'inf

Post by kerrensimmonds »

I spent quite a lot of time off and on in the Infirmary because I went to school as a sickly child. Though not as sickly as my friend who suffered abominable migraines and was admitted to the Infirmary for 'rest' on a regular basis. Lucky her.
The 'have you been good today' initially took most young girls by surprise and as a dutiful 9 year old you always answered 'Yes, Sister', without knowing what she meant. I remember infirmary jigsaws, books, Sister's lemonade, the ticking of the clock if you were in one of those rooms upstairs (a bit scary), inhaling from the marmalade jars encrusted with generations of Friar's Balsam. And I also remember being in Long Ward, early on, and somehow being given a pomegranate. Why? And from whom? Anyway, I stuffed it under the bedclothes thinking I would keep it safe from confiscation - and then kicked it and it burst. OOOOh dear. What a mess. And what trouble did I get into. Very sad when you are only 9 or 10!
Kerren Simmonds
5's and 2's Hertford, 1957-1966
Katharine
Button Grecian
Posts: 3285
Joined: Mon Dec 26, 2005 10:44 pm
Real Name: Katharine Dobson
Location: Gwynedd

Re: Up t'inf

Post by Katharine »

Ah Kerren, that pomegranate must have been before DR issued her edict saying "No pomegranates are allowed to enter the school gates". Apparently she thought that a couple of cases of appendicitis had been caused by reckless eating of the offending fruit. As none of these cases had been in 6s and most of us had never seen a pomegranate we fantasised about massed armies of them marching up the square!
Katharine Dobson (Hills) 6.14, 1959 - 1965
User avatar
englishangel
Forum Moderator
Posts: 6956
Joined: Mon Feb 07, 2005 12:22 pm
Real Name: Mary Faulkner (Vincett)
Location: Amersham, Buckinghamshire

Re: Up t'inf

Post by englishangel »

kerrensimmonds wrote:I spent quite a lot of time off and on in the Infirmary because I went to school as a sickly child. Though not as sickly as my friend who suffered abominable migraines and was admitted to the Infirmary for 'rest' on a regular basis. Lucky her.
The 'have you been good today' initially took most young girls by surprise and as a dutiful 9 year old you always answered 'Yes, Sister', without knowing what she meant. I remember infirmary jigsaws, books, Sister's lemonade, the ticking of the clock if you were in one of those rooms upstairs (a bit scary), inhaling from the marmalade jars encrusted with generations of Friar's Balsam. And I also remember being in Long Ward, early on, and somehow being given a pomegranate. Why? And from whom? Anyway, I stuffed it under the bedclothes thinking I would keep it safe from confiscation - and then kicked it and it burst. OOOOh dear. What a mess. And what trouble did I get into. Very sad when you are only 9 or 10!
I think it was actually the nurse who made lemonade. She was totally human, and I have an inkling that she had a couple of teenage daughters so understood us better than any other staff.
"If a man speaks, and there isn't a woman to hear him, is he still wrong?"
Vonny
Button Grecian
Posts: 1625
Joined: Sat Dec 11, 2004 7:33 pm
Real Name: Yvonne Payne

Re: Up t'inf

Post by Vonny »

kerrensimmonds wrote:IAnd I also remember being in Long Ward, early on, and somehow being given a pomegranate. Why? And from whom? Anyway, I stuffed it under the bedclothes thinking I would keep it safe from confiscation - and then kicked it and it burst. OOOOh dear. What a mess. And what trouble did I get into. Very sad when you are only 9 or 10!
:lol: :lol: :lol:

That's hilarious :lol:
2's 1981-1985 2:12 BaB 1985-1988 BaB 41
User avatar
icomefromalanddownunder
Button Grecian
Posts: 1228
Joined: Thu Jun 29, 2006 6:13 am
Real Name: Caroline Payne (nee Barrett)
Location: Adelaide, South Australia

Re: Up t'inf

Post by icomefromalanddownunder »

Katharine wrote:Ah Kerren, that pomegranate must have been before DR issued her edict saying "No pomegranates are allowed to enter the school gates". Apparently she thought that a couple of cases of appendicitis had been caused by reckless eating of the offending fruit. As none of these cases had been in 6s and most of us had never seen a pomegranate we fantasised about massed armies of them marching up the square!

This is a really sad state of affairs, and may be due to my runny nose, itchy teeth and barking cough, but I can't intuit whether or not Katharine is joking.

I so hope that she is.

Oh please, Katharine, tell me that you are: that DR didn't really do this.

I'm not sure when I first met a pomegranate, but was about to recount that the seeds are a remedy for intestinal parasites. Until I remembered that it's papaya seeds.

Oh bother! Now I have a craving for Sangria. Or, perhaps it isn't Sangria that contains grenadine ..................

In fact, I think that I would prefer a jug of Margarita ('Tequila for my friend - it makes her flirty' tra la la), and the lime juice would surely help alleviate my cold symptoms.

xx
lonelymom
Button Grecian
Posts: 1767
Joined: Sat Sep 15, 2007 10:56 am
Location: Maidstone, Kent

Re: Up t'inf

Post by lonelymom »

icomefromalanddownunder wrote:Oh please, Katharine, tell me that you are: that DR didn't really do this.

I'm not sure when I first met a pomegranate, but was about to recount that the seeds are a remedy for intestinal parasites. Until I remembered that it's papaya seeds.

Oh bother! Now I have a craving for Sangria. Or, perhaps it isn't Sangria that contains grenadine ..................

In fact, I think that I would prefer a jug of Margarita ('Tequila for my friend - it makes her flirty' tra la la), and the lime juice would surely help alleviate my cold symptoms.

xx
:lol: While I was reading your post I got the feeling you'd already 'had a few' of something alcoholic!
lonelymom :rolleyes:
Katharine
Button Grecian
Posts: 3285
Joined: Mon Dec 26, 2005 10:44 pm
Real Name: Katharine Dobson
Location: Gwynedd

Re: Up t'inf

Post by Katharine »

Caroline, I am NOT joking! I cannot imagine that anyone would pull a fast one on the whole house - imitate the neatly typed notice and the oh-so-memorable DRW in its distinctive shade of ink at the bottom.

Kerren, Frances do you remember the pomegranates?
Katharine Dobson (Hills) 6.14, 1959 - 1965
User avatar
icomefromalanddownunder
Button Grecian
Posts: 1228
Joined: Thu Jun 29, 2006 6:13 am
Real Name: Caroline Payne (nee Barrett)
Location: Adelaide, South Australia

Re: Up t'inf

Post by icomefromalanddownunder »

lonelymom wrote: :lol: While I was reading your post I got the feeling you'd already 'had a few' of something alcoholic!
I wish! I'm at work (but not for much longer).

xx
User avatar
icomefromalanddownunder
Button Grecian
Posts: 1228
Joined: Thu Jun 29, 2006 6:13 am
Real Name: Caroline Payne (nee Barrett)
Location: Adelaide, South Australia

Re: Up t'inf

Post by icomefromalanddownunder »

Katharine wrote:Caroline, I am NOT joking! I cannot imagine that anyone would pull a fast one on the whole house - imitate the neatly typed notice and the oh-so-memorable DRW in its distinctive shade of ink at the bottom.

Kerren, Frances do you remember the pomegranates?

Oh Katharine, I just can't get my head around this one.

I'm sure that I didn't encounter a pomegranate until I visited Europe (despite spending many happy hours perusing the stalls at Brixton Market, and coming from a family of keen gardeners). Now, if DR had banned cherries (I thought that cherry stones had a penchant for lodging in unsuspecting appendices) I may be less perturbed.

So, ladies, who remembers where the offending/sive pomegranates came from?

Hands up who knows what a pomegranate looks like? Are you also able to recognise a persimmon? Did you know that they are called kaki in Italy? Have you ever bitten into an unripe one? Aaaaarrgghhhhhhhhhhh.

I really do need to take some antipyretics ....................

xx
Fjgrogan
Button Grecian
Posts: 1427
Joined: Sat Feb 07, 2009 7:56 pm
Real Name: Frances Grogan (nee Haley)
Location: Surbiton, Surrey

Re: Up t'inf

Post by Fjgrogan »

Caroline, it sounds as though what you need is lots of vitamin C and echinacea - and to curl up in bed with a good book!
I remember that the first time I met a pomegranate was at Hertford, but don't remember the incident mentioned. Pomegranates have always seemed fairly pointless to me - very messy and a lot of hard work for comparatively little nutritional benefit, and not even much taste, so I have never bothered with them since. I did recently buy a carton of pomegranate juice and wasn't impressed - far too sweet - this from the woman who is addicted to carbohydrates!
Frances Grogan (Haley) 6's 1956 - 62

'A clean house is a sign of a broken computer.'
kerrensimmonds
Button Grecian
Posts: 9395
Joined: Mon Apr 11, 2005 8:34 pm
Real Name: Kerren Simmonds
Location: West Sussex

Re: Up t'inf

Post by kerrensimmonds »

As you'll see further up this thread, I DID have a pomegranate at Hertford, in my first or second year, when I was in Long Ward in the infirmary. I don't remember where it came from, but I do remember hiding it for fear of it being confiscated (maybe therefore there is credence in Katharine's memory that they were banned by DR - otherwise, why would I have been worried about confiscation?).
Kerren Simmonds
5's and 2's Hertford, 1957-1966
User avatar
J.R.
Forum Moderator
Posts: 15835
Joined: Wed Mar 09, 2005 4:53 pm
Real Name: John Rutley
Location: Dorking, Surrey

Re: Up t'inf

Post by J.R. »

Whenever I see or hear the word 'pomegranate ', it automatically brings to mind one line from a well known Ian Dury (and the Blockheads) song which has a double 'Essex' meaning.
John Rutley. Prep B & Coleridge B. 1958-1963.
User avatar
CHAZ
Grecian
Posts: 947
Joined: Wed Jul 16, 2008 1:15 pm
Real Name: Charles Ian Forster
Location: FRANCE

Re: Up t'inf

Post by CHAZ »

Wasn't Ian Drury down to goto CH at one time? I vaguely remember him slagging it off....
Charles Forster
PeB 1978-1984
Post Reply