Quick questions and (maybe) answers Hertford Memories thread

[midget]

DR must have been starting to mellow a bit!

[englishangel]

3 BAs could go out, and Mons on their own.

[MaryB]

I'm sure I remember it being 2 BAs - and we were allowed our purses once a month. Mons definitely on their own and I can't remember how often we were allowed our purses in principle. But I bet in other houses mons at least kept their own purses.....

[Angela Woodford]

I don't even remember "not allowed your purse"! That would have been far too complicated for poor old Pot.

But if such a thing had been compulsory in 6's, I know quite well that I would have had an official monitored purse, and an unofficial purse-in-hiding. In fact I think I would have enjoyed that...

I was remembering that, in the UV1, I brought from home a little drip-filter coffee machine which I hid in that big corner cupboard in the Study. Poor Pot would often look a bit baffled at the smell of Lyons Continental Blend (supplied by my father) wafting out from time to time. Well - it did save using the chalky water from the kitchen kettle and that horrible skin-coated milk pan.

The Rule that we were never to use the Green Line bus that stopped outside the Gates... where did it go? As a junior, I would fantasise that its destination was to some wonderful Place - or to some Central Station from which a runner-away could easily buy a ticket home with cunningly secreted money and in a suitable disguise.

It probably chugged off somewhere like... Bengeo?

[J.R.]

The green Line bus may well have been a 712, 713 or 714 which started/terminated at Dorking and served London and diferent points North around the same distance from London.

I know one went up as far as Luton.

[Fjgrogan]

There was also a 715 Green Line bus which went via central London to Guildford - i once travelled home on it to Roehampton. Later the route was divided in two - Guildford to London and London to Hertford, which was a pain because it meant hauling luggage around Oxford Street to get from one bus to the other.

[Katharine]

Angela in my day we were definitely not allowed to keep our own purses, once we had reached the status of even having a legitimate purse. We had to request them from the Hag and then return them whenever we were allowed out shopping. I can't remember if/how we marked them with name or number.

[MaryB]

And there was a small notebook, like the ones we had for vocab, in which we were supposed to keep our accounts. I remember going over them once a week with Lil. Once we were allowed to go shopping it became quite hard to make them convincing - and of course I always found it hard to make them add up at all! Munch, I imagine 3s was one of the few houses where these rules were still applied.

[kerrensimmonds]

Back to snowy walks....
Just been reminiscing with a friend (who at the time was in Katharine's year). She remembers being in a group of 3 or 4 sent out along a prescribed route as long as they left school in one specified timeframe, and returned in another. Her group stood mesmerised by a gentleman - erm - pleasuring himself....who was standing in a window in a basement in the Ware Road. Something which was filed in her memory for use later, though she says that it did no lasting damage.
Need to go and lie down!

[icomefromalanddownunder]

That system sounds far far too close to the conditions over here which encourage Legionnaires Disease; has it not got to Australia yet?

We have Legionnaires in Oz. I seem to remember a few cases at The Royal Adelaide that were traced to the air con. Bags of potting mix carry warnings, although I'm not sure that they specifically mention Legionnaires any more - just be careful of random bugs that like to live in warm, moist spots.

[icomefromalanddownunder]

10 degrees C when I arrived in my office this morning (half an hour early). Yes I know it is illegal, it was 14 by the time I should have arrived (9am) and the requisite 16 degrees by 0910.

16 degrees: people here would be wearing coats and scarves. In lab reports we often refer to ambient temperature, which for us would probably be about 23. I recently had the temp dropped to 20 in my goldfish bowl as I was getting way too hot and grumpy in theatre gown, safety glasses and nitrile gloves. Fortunately I am currently the only person working in there, as the indigenous colleagues would be whingeing their heads off.

We had a Queenslander (who described herself as a frog) working in the path lab who would turn up the temp to 26 : in a lab where we were again gowned and gloved

[icomefromalanddownunder]

Back to walks in the snow.

I didn't have my BA long enough to go on any walks, so we must at some point have been allowed out in small groups led by more senior girls, which would explain why I remember being in the snow with Deb (possibly L or U VI and Jasmine in UV?)

[Angela Pratt 56-63]

Back to 63 walks, I was a mon in 8,s then. At first we had to do ordinary ward "croc" walks, but then DR had the bright idea of putting up a route, appointing Mons to lead the walk, and others their own wards behind. We were allocated times to leave, but were allowed to break ranks once we were off the roads, as long as we didn't overtake our own Mons! It actually worked quite well for a time. Except for the time we led the walk...We set off with our DR issued map, with a mass of 8's behind us, at a good pace so that the rear wards wouldn't moan and catch us up. Unfortunately a great storm and blizzard blew up. We collected the rest of 8's and waited but no-one else appeared. Visability was almost nil.Were they lost in the icy depths? Should we go back or go on? In the end we managed to short cutt back to school, arriving much later than scheduled. What would DR say? In fact, she was full of apologies and relief. She had cancelled the walk for the rest of the school, but too late to stop us!

Angela

[kerrensimmonds]

Love it, Angela!
Must definitely now check 'Half to Remember'

[fra828]

A friend had the very same experience as your friends , Kerren. In early 70's on the Meads coming back from a fair there, she won a goldfish and was in good spirits, carrying it home in a plastic bag when this 'incident' happened. It's a hazy memory now, she was ahead of the group and the only one, I think who saw it. Obviously very shocked at the time and I remember it being reported to the police. As I left school shortly after this, I really cannot say if S..... was affected by this, but I really really hope not.