Old Blues Day attendance list

[midget]

Only 2 that I know of from my era. One has only posted once and the other one not at all. Come on Audrey, give us the news from Canada!

Maggie

[icomefromalanddownunder]

I think we were being "primed" for something (not that I have a clue other than I don't think finding a husband and having children was the ideal we were meant to follow) I can remember Miss Morrisons face when I turned up 2 years later at Hertford heavily pregnant and married - it was a "what a waste of a good education look" We certainly weren't made to be "finishing school in Switzerland" types were we!? I think the idea was to make us make a mark in the world of what was then mens, and to remove us from the kitchen...... hang on must go and get something to eat!!!!!!!.........

Hi Jude (I did begin with Hey Jude, but ................. )

I only remember being told what I 'couldn't' be:
'women can't be Vets' - must remember to tell Sarah, who valiantly saved the life of our greyhound, and all her female colleagues

'You realise that you'll never make anything of yourself now that you are leaving to go to a day school' - phfffffffftttttttt

As for my Dad - he worked for a family owned company, quite Victorian in many ways, and recounted one day that the MD had asked him why he bothered spending money on educating his daughters. Dad's reply? 'Well, it's usually mothers who help the children with homework'. I was initially speechless, then furious. Neither he nor Mum have ever shown any interest in any of my jobs, although, being a Master Vintner himself, I may finally being doing something of interest to him.

Guess I've forgiven his narrow minded/disappointing attitude, as I intend to dedicate my thesis to him

[Jude]

not much one can say other than

old spinster teachers

AND




MEN!

[Angela Woodford]

I think we were being "primed" for something (not that I have a clue other than I don't think finding a husband and having children was the ideal we were meant to follow) I can remember Miss Morrisons face when I turned up 2 years later at Hertford heavily pregnant and married - it was a "what a waste of a good education look"

I went to an Old Blues Day about twenty years ago - I'd got a load of photos of my baby boy and two little girls in my bag - as you do have - and there was Miss Morrison. She was so interested to talk to me. Me - who'd never made much of a success at anything at CH! I was amazed. She went through every one of my children's photos, and wanted to know all about them.

Perhaps she was nice because nothing academic could ever been expected of me, but I'd always got on well with BJM. I was delighted to see her anyway!

Munch

[icomefromalanddownunder]

I wasn't ever (from memory) taught by Miss M, so my only memories of her are of the tightly coiled plait at the back of her head. I must also have thought that she was older than she actually was, or she would not have replaced DR and her successor as Head.

For me, Munch's recollection is an 'exception to prove the rule' that only the married teachers with families treated us with the humanity that we deserved and desperately needed (well, I did).

Mary Mc reminded me of how DR passed on a message from home that my brother had been born. DR was standing in her usual place as we filed out of chapel, called me over to her and blandly told me that Roger had been born. Well, except that I don't remember her using a name, telling me that Mum and baby were OK, smiling, congratulating me, or asking if I wanted to ring home. Although, now I come to think about it, I don't believe that we had a phone at home at the time, but I could have rung Dad at work, or one of the neighbours, or, or.

Hmmm, think I'm being a little unfair here, but my point started out as being that baby brothers are pretty important, and our own children even more so, and it's really nice when someone else shows (feigns?) an interest

On a slightly different tack. Munch and Jude, I know many people who are 'academic successes', but seriously lack social and humanitarian skills. Guess who I'd rather be stuck on a desert island with, or have as my friends?

xx

[Angela Woodford]

Caroline, you're right, BJM must have been considerably younger than she looked - when L1Va met her sitting huge and resolute on the dais of our form room in August 1965, we thought she was absolutely ancient!

What age was she on arrival I wonder? She was Headmistress during the move to Horsham in 1985 - then retired? I'm not good at working out this sort of thing -

I have posted before about BJM's strict immaculate plait wound around her head and the cutting off thereof for the creation of a cauliflower perm!

Here's a little tune for you to hum, Caroline; think Music School, think Aural Training, think poor dear well-meaning Miss Cordery thumping away at the piano as we rasped out -

Oh, my Babby
My curly headed Babby
We'll sit below the stars and sing a song to the moon
hoo-hoo oon, hoo-hoo oon!

Revenge!

Catchy little tune wasn't it?

Love, Munch

[englishangel]

I don't think that was a perm, I think it was her natural curl coming out because she still had it at OB Day in 1994 or 97 when alex sue and Imet her. If she was 60 in'85 she must have only been 40 in 65 and already very grey.

[icomefromalanddownunder]

I have absolutely no recollection of that ditty (thank goodness).

You'll have to try harder Munch (C-)

Changing tack (again), I was working at the path lab last night. Strange place. managed by strange people with very strange attitudes. However, the path lab that I worked at when we first arrived in Adelaide (Gribbles Pathology), although no longer owned by him at that time, had been founded by Dr Michael (I think) Gribble - an OB.

Anyway, back to Clinpath. I had decided against bleaching the workbench (saving it for later), had entered all the results from a little trial I am conducting on tumour makers, and got bored waiting for samples to come across from my colleague Sally. This colleague opened the card activated door for me on my first day, and as I observed her walking in front of me I began to ponder what disability it was that she suffers from. Still don't know, but the idiosyncratic walk is accompanied by an inability to prioritise, a refusal to accept that there is any way but her way to perform any task, and a complete lack of trust in any abilities I may be hiding under my lackadaisical appearance and attitude. Oh, and an immature, almost childlike (think spoilt child) attitude and occasional fearsome temper.

So, searched for Solitaire on Supervisor's computer - have to search because he has deleted the programme from it's original home so that we can't access it, but he didn't do a particularly good job - and had a couple of games in a vain attempt to relieve my boredom.

Alas! I was spotted by Sally when she snuck past me to enter some QC data, and reported to the Lab Supervisor.

Oh the shame! Oh the ignominy (which I can't even spell) - what dismal heights I have reached on the ladder of my career

I can't wait for the telling off from my direct Supervisor - he and I worked together at Gribbles years ago, and he knows me too well to hope that I might actually take what he will say on board, but the poor guy will feel obliged to reprimand me. Sadly, and this is probably why I do not aspire to being a Supervisor, I would prefer to kick Sally's arse for being a snitch

[Katharine]

If she was 60 in'85 she must have only been 40 in 65 and already very grey.

Was it just our unability to age our teachers? Something not unique to CH, but common amongst all teenagers.

I could not believe it when I saw about DR's death how close she was in age to my mother. When I was at school she was far, far older than Mother!!

[englishangel]

If she was 60 in'85 she must have only been 40 in 65 and already very grey.

Was it just our unability to age our teachers? Something not unique to CH, but common amongst all teenagers.

I could not believe it when I saw about DR's death how close she was in age to my mother. When I was at school she was far, far older than Mother!!

I put it down to corsets.

My mother-in-law was just a year older than my mother but she wore a corset and consequently appeared far older. The tight grey perm didn't help either, (DR and Ma-in-law). My Mum didn't go grey until she was nearly 60 and although she would have perms her hair would revert to hippy birdsnest within a couple of weeks. Mine is just the same.

[sejintenej]

Mary Mc reminded me of how DR passed on a message from home that my brother had been born. DR was standing in her usual place as we filed out of chapel, called me over to her and blandly told me that Roger had been born. Well, except that I don't remember her using a name, telling me that Mum and baby were OK, smiling, congratulating me, or asking if I wanted to ring home.

As trades mon it was my job to supervise clearing up after lunch one Saturday; there was an incident and I had to escort a boy to the sicker. Getting back to the house there was a message that Kit (Aitken) wanted to see me immediately and sooner. Obviously I was in trouble (which meant a sore behind before I got out of his study).
He wouldn't even allow me to explain where I had been or what had happened; "Your mother died this morning". You can have 5 minutes in here by yourself - and by the way, you are due to play rugger this afternoon but you don't have to if you wish. Let me know".

I don't suppose he even knew (or cared) that the woman who died was an adopted mother to whom I was not close.

If he was callous I have to pay tribute to the Chaplain in 1959 who did go out of his way to try to help. Unfortunately one had to get permission to go and speak to him out of class hours - permission which one did not readily apply for under the circumstances.

[icomefromalanddownunder]

As trades mon it was my job to supervise clearing up after lunch one Saturday; there was an incident and I had to escort a boy to the sicker. Getting back to the house there was a message that Kit (Aitken) wanted to see me immediately and sooner. Obviously I was in trouble (which meant a sore behind before I got out of his study).
He wouldn't even allow me to explain where I had been or what had happened; "Your mother died this morning". You can have 5 minutes in here by yourself - and by the way, you are due to play rugger this afternoon but you don't have to if you wish. Let me know".

Oh my - this puts my memory into perspective, plus we were never physically abused.

My first reaction was to ask what such inhumane and emotionally inept people were doing caring for young children and adolescents, but I guess that this was not confined to the staff of CH. No exam to pass before you are allowed to become a parent, a medic or a teacher.

What saddens me most is that we didn't open up to each other (as per Alex's post from today on, um, maybe The Hertford Memories thread) - I thought that I was alone in my misery and that everyone else was having a wonderful time. Again, this was not restricted to CH

[englishangel]

Carnaby Street and swinging London was going on and the nearest I ever got to that was having my hair cut at Vidal Sassoon School of Hairdressing (mentioned elsewhere) but they do say that if you remember the 60's you were not there.

[J.R.]

If he was callous I have to pay tribute to the Chaplain in 1959 who did go out of his way to try to help. Unfortunately one had to get permission to go and speak to him out of class hours - permission which one did not readily apply for under the circumstances.

The Rev. Pullen, perchance, David ?

A strange but rather likeable character.

He and I never did agree on the 'Virgin Birth' theory, though I thought his preperation for Confirmation very interesting !

[sejintenej]

If he was callous I have to pay tribute to the Chaplain in 1959 who did go out of his way to try to help. Unfortunately one had to get permission to go and speak to him out of class hours - permission which one did not readily apply for under the circumstances.

The Rev. Pullen, perchance, David ?

A strange but rather likeable character.

He and I never did agree on the 'Virgin Birth' theory, though I thought his preperation for Confirmation very interesting !

Yes, that was him. Not too sure about the "virgin birth" concept that I saw in here some time ago which seemed to state that Mary's mother was a virgin when she was born. I had always thought that it was Mary who was supposed to be that way but the latest suggests that Jesus might have been the result of a normal conception.
I can't remember the confirmation classes - just one of those many things like puberty that one had to go through.