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Re: Coleridge House Photos

Posted: Fri Feb 15, 2008 8:42 am
by Angela Woodford
I think he's the tall guy at the left end of Row 2!

Re: Coleridge House Photos

Posted: Fri Feb 15, 2008 11:17 am
by J.R.
You're probably right Michael.

For the record, I 'swabbed'for Nick !

Re: Coleridge House Photos

Posted: Fri Feb 15, 2008 11:56 am
by jhopgood
J.R. wrote:You're probably right Michael.

For the record, I 'fagged' for Nick !
I hope you meant, "Swabbed".

Fags had two different meanings when I was there, neither related to swabs..

I was a swab for 5 of the 6 possible terms. Once you got to LE, you were not allowed to swab.

Re: Coleridge House Photos

Posted: Fri Feb 15, 2008 11:59 am
by J.R.
jhopgood wrote:
J.R. wrote:You're probably right Michael.

For the record, I 'fagged' for Nick !
I hope you meant, "Swabbed".

Fags had two different meanings when I was there, neither related to swabs..

I was a swab for 5 of the 6 possible terms. Once you got to LE, you were not allowed to swab.
Thanks John.

I've edited my post. For some reason, it didn't look right when I wrote it.

I now realise the term I used refers to the same thing, but at a school one of my cousins attended.

Re: Coleridge House Photos

Posted: Fri Feb 15, 2008 7:46 pm
by sejintenej
jhopgood wrote:
J.R. wrote:You're probably right Michael.

For the record, I 'fagged' for Nick !
I was a swab for 5 of the 6 possible terms. Once you got to LE, you were not allowed to swab.
In Col A the entire second year were swabs by tradition so everyone did just three terms. The statement on radio that somebody got £1 -10/ (150p in new money) surprised me - 5/- (25p) a term seemed to be the norm in Col A. In those days that was 10 weeks pocket money

Re: Coleridge House Photos

Posted: Sat Feb 16, 2008 12:43 pm
by J.R.
I seem to remember it was 5 bob a week - a few coppers extracted once a week for use at Mrs Tickner's tuck-shop.

Re: Coleridge House Photos

Posted: Sat Feb 16, 2008 5:41 pm
by MKM
We had 25s a term (£1.25). Most of it went on a compulsory subscription for sports (presumably to replace the lost balls from the pavilion). :wink:

Re: Coleridge House Photos

Posted: Sat Feb 16, 2008 9:46 pm
by sejintenej
J.R. wrote:I seem to remember it was 5 bob a week - a few coppers extracted once a week for use at Mrs Tickner's tuck-shop.
Ouch! After train fares to and from school, compulsory pocket money and other compulsory payments I had about £2 left out of my annual allowance of £25 which also had to cover all out-of-school clothes, books, xmas presents ..... . That would mean a swab should pay me 5/- - no way could I pay him that huge sum.
After leaving school I got a (once-off) fiver but my allowance went to zero and housing no longer existed.

Re: Coleridge House Photos

Posted: Sun Feb 17, 2008 6:59 pm
by michael scuffil
I was never a swab (it was voluntary).

When I was a monitor, I paid my swab 12/6 a term, and 18/- when I had a study. That represents about 10 pounds and 15 pounds in today's money.

Once I had my buttons, I paid it out of my Q-shott, the school's largesse to button grecians.

Re: Coleridge House Photos

Posted: Mon Feb 18, 2008 10:28 am
by J.R.
I don't re-call swabbing being 'voluntary', unles you mean in the army style....


"I want three volunteers ! YOU, YOU, AND YOU !!!"

Re: Coleridge House Photos

Posted: Mon Feb 18, 2008 11:58 am
by jhopgood
J.R. wrote:I don't re-call swabbing being 'voluntary', unles you mean in the army style....


"I want three volunteers ! YOU, YOU, AND YOU !!!"
I certainly remember it being voluntary and apart from the money, which wasn't much, you got off trades and any house activities, such as chair shifting..

For a dayroom monitor it meant cleaning shoes on a daily basis, which, as we had to do ours anyway, an extra pair made little difference, and the coat about once a term or for visits, run errands, which really meant going to the tuck shop once or twice a week, and making his bed. Can't remember much else. I did that for 2 terms.
For a monitor with a study, it also meant making the fire and occasionally toast, and cleaning the study. Carefully planned, it meant you could stay in his study if he was otherwise occupied, which was worth it as he had a comfortable chair compared to the benches in the dayroom. More money and hot toast.
By the time I got to those heights, there were senior and junior houses and swabbing was no more.

Re: Coleridge House Photos

Posted: Mon Feb 18, 2008 10:04 pm
by sejintenej
jhopgood wrote:
J.R. wrote:I don't re-call swabbing being 'voluntary', unles you mean in the army style....


"I want three volunteers ! YOU, YOU, AND YOU !!!"
I certainly remember it being voluntary and apart from the money, which wasn't much, you got off trades and any house activities, such as chair shifting..

For a dayroom monitor it meant cleaning shoes on a daily basis, which, as we had to do ours anyway, an extra pair made little difference, and the coat about once a term or for visits, run errands, which really meant going to the tuck shop once or twice a week, and making his bed. Can't remember much else. I did that for 2 terms.
In Col A everyone up to but excluding about 4 house monitors had a trade/job, of these being a swab was one. The first year would clean the house ground floor every evening, 2nd year were swabs, 3rd year would serve food (ladled out by the two junior monitors and sometimes the Trades Monitor) and so on. I reckon the Trades Monitor had the worst job because not only was he responsible for assigning all the jobs but he had to supervise and ensure that they were properly carried out (no dust on the tops of doors, shoes polished under the insole .......), calling the roll, and usually got it in the neck if the serving monitors ran out of food before they ran out of boys, if the swab did not meet the monitor's requirements etc. etc . Uniquely when I was Trades Monitor I ot a swab on Kit's instructions - the first time that had happened apparently; very expensive for me. ISTR that my swab had it relatively easy because of all the time I had away (though he might contest that)

Out swabs had it harder; even though each was assigned to a specified monitor, if they were otherwise unengaged any monitor could send them to the tuck shop, tell them to make the afternoon tea and toast. Coats were not cleaned termly; they had to be kept clean at all times so the swab had to inspect his monitor's coat and breeches frequently though normaly monitors would tell their swab. CCF uniforms and especially boots were also the swab's responsibility and boots had to reflect better than a mirror. Brasses had to gleam and blanco on webbing had to be perfect; every Friday. Relationships between swab and monitor varied - some were good and the swab had a fairly cushy number, some were more "difficult".

Re: Coleridge House Photos

Posted: Tue Feb 19, 2008 2:08 pm
by michael scuffil
sejintenej wrote:CCF uniforms and especially boots were also the swab's responsibility and boots had to reflect better than a mirror. Brasses had to gleam and blanco on webbing had to be perfect; every Friday.
Kit was not in the CCF. In Thornton B, where our housemaster was Major Page, monitors were strictly forbidden to get swabs to clean CCF uniforms or polish brasses or boots. As the Major said: You get a batman when you're an officer, not before.

Re: Coleridge House Photos

Posted: Thu Aug 12, 2010 9:23 am
by DavidRawlins
Image

Re: Coleridge House Photos

Posted: Thu Aug 12, 2010 11:19 am
by DavidRawlins
Above photograph (I have not got the skills to add this to the photograph, maybe someone else can).

Back Row Bailie, ?, Bateson, Stephenson, Joanes, Brown, ?, ? Bartlett,
Second Row Whipp A, Bate, ?Platfoot, Woon, Blakeston, ?Dines, Bulman, Jewell, ?, Fiddy, ?, Challen,
Third Row ?, ?, ?, ?Hayhurst France, ?, McClean, Waller, Whitehead, Perry, Harrison, ?,
Fourth Row ?, Murray, ?Turnbell, Houlder, Miss Meek, Kit, Corks, Davidson, Gunton, ? Green
Front Row Evans, McKie, Cockburn, Allcorn, Thomson, Chubb, Barnard, Bartlett, Rawlins, Stanger, Edsall.

My apologies for omissions and errors.