Unofficial Christ's Hospital Forum

soc wrote:These dances you ladies mention, were they formal affairs?
I remember Miss Gracie, our house matron, offering to teach me to dance, I was the fastest lad in school that day!

Yes indeed, very formal. A programme was produced (don't know who perpetrated it) and then we each made our own copy and tried to get it filled up PDQ so as not to leave too many spaces for staff, as VI form had to do the staff programmes as well. I can remember having to have about 6 dances with Miss Pye-Smith (biology) as i could only manage to persuade/threaten a few people to dance with her. Not that she was particularly horrible, but she was so Boring.

As far as I can remember there was no 'last waltz' but we finished with "Sir Roger de Coverley". I remember the name but the execution of it is mercifully shrouded in the mists of time. A more embarrassing way to spend an evening would be hard to find.

Talking of dancing .... I went to a co-ed grammar in the Midlands - we girls had "country dancing " lessons when it was too wet to go out for sport , and so did the boys - but never together!! I could never understand why half the girls had to pretend to be boys, and , no doubt, half the boys had to pretend to be girls, when we were being "taught " at the same time!!
We hated those "lessons" - how different it could have been!!!

midget wrote:As far as I can remember there was no 'last waltz' but we finished with "Sir Roger de Coverley". I remember the name but the execution of it is mercifully shrouded in the mists of time. A more embarrassing way to spend an evening would be hard to find.

Some things did not change - it was still Sir Roger to end the dance in my time. As far as I recall it was a dance with two long lines forming a set rather than danced in couples.

I don't recall any Founder's Day dances or much at all - other than we probably went to chapel 4 times instead of 2...... I didn't have many clothes - either - my step mother kept ridgedly to the list, and bought me HUGE (size 16 when I was a 12) jeans that she then did MASSIVE V tucks in the back - stating "oh well you will grow into them......"! I was SO embarrassed by them I hardly Dare wear them... school uniform was better!

Jude wrote:my step mother kept ridgedly to the list, and bought me HUGE (size 16 when I was a 12) jeans that she then did MASSIVE V tucks in the back - stating "oh well you will grow into them......"!

You sound almost as disaster prone as me Jude

Mrs C. wrote:Talking of dancing .... I went to a co-ed grammar in the Midlands - we girls had "country dancing " lessons when it was too wet to go out for sport , and so did the boys - but never together!! I could never understand why half the girls had to pretend to be boys, and , no doubt, half the boys had to pretend to be girls, when we were being "taught " at the same time!!
We hated those "lessons" - how different it could have been!!!

My last two years we had Scottish Dancing instruction in the Col A senior dorm. On top of that there was more formal dancing instruction in (from memory) a room close to the Prep end of dining hall. How many here know how to do the Valeta and so forth. We did have current stuff like the waltz and foxtrot but not this modern cha cha type stuff.

Of course there were no females around

Vonny wrote:

Jude wrote:my step mother kept ridgedly to the list, and bought me HUGE (size 16 when I was a 12) jeans that she then did MASSIVE V tucks in the back - stating "oh well you will grow into them......"!

RAT BAG!!!!!!!!!!!!

So if there had been females around, wouldn`t it have made sense to dance with them????

I never could see the logic in the fact that we weren`t allowed to dance together and assume our "correct" role!

Jude wrote:

Vonny wrote:

Jude wrote:my step mother kept ridgedly to the list, and bought me HUGE (size 16 when I was a 12) jeans that she then did MASSIVE V tucks in the back - stating "oh well you will grow into them......"!

RAT BAG!!!!!!!!!!!!

I shouldn't laugh really. My parents decided Iwould wear school knickers instead of bringing my own like 99% of the school

Vonny wrote:

Jude wrote:

Vonny wrote:

RAT BAG!!!!!!!!!!!!

I shouldn't laugh really. My parents decided Iwould wear school knickers instead of bringing my own like 99% of the school

Oh you poor thing!!! But how come - we had all our own underwear when I was there - and you are younger than me!???????

Jude wrote:

Vonny wrote:

Jude wrote:
RAT BAG!!!!!!!!!!!!

I shouldn't laugh really. My parents decided Iwould wear school knickers instead of bringing my own like 99% of the school

Oh you poor thing!!! But how come - we had all our own underwear when I was there - and you are younger than me!???????

I think my parents must have read somewhere in all the literature that the school COULD provide underwear and took this as meaning I wouldn't need to take my own knickers. By the end of the first year I was wearing my own

Jude wrote:Oh you poor thing!!! But how come - we had all our own underwear when I was there - and you are younger than me!???????

When did that come in, I wonder? We had no choice about the matter - underwear was provided.

Katharine wrote:

Jude wrote:Oh you poor thing!!! But how come - we had all our own underwear when I was there - and you are younger than me!???????

When did that come in, I wonder? We had no choice about the matter - underwear was provided.

It used to be before my time - bras, knickers etc.... then we were told to bring our own - perhaps your mum got an old copy, as everyone as far as I know wore their own undies! This should be in the dodgy higiene section!!! Perhaps I never knew if others worse school ones as I never asked - we were alsways told never to ask about funding, bursaries, scholarships etc....

Jude wrote:perhaps your mum got an old copy, as everyone as far as I know wore their own undies!

Probably - think I'll regret talking about this in the morning!