Unofficial Christ's Hospital Forum

Richard Ruck wrote:I don't recall staff eating in Dining Hall with their families in the '70s.

I don't suppose there would have been enough room for them, anyway. I think (although I might be wrong) that staff who were on duty only ate with their Houses at lunchtime. The rest of the time they must have eaten in the common room or stayed at home for some proper food.

Surely, many of the staff ate on the dais alongside what was the Coleridge B table ? I distinctly remember C.M.E. Seaman taking the head of the table on many occasions.

In the 50s staff lunched on the dais with Rainbow hovering about them with a large enamel jug of beer. The most elect boys lunched with Flecker at the centre table (without the beer!). A housemaster sat at the head of each house table, senior monitors athis end, junior mons (who also served the food out) at the foot. Boys who had given offence ate standing up at the serving tables either end. Boys with good coordination could slip a spoonful of custard into a bluecoat pocket without the owner even noticing (until later). Some used the envelope of their letter from home to smuggle out some portion they didn't want to eat. At other meals there was sometimes a great hum passing from table to table but never where Man Sargent was patrolling around trying to trace its source.

J.R. wrote:

Richard Ruck wrote:I don't recall staff eating in Dining Hall with their families in the '70s.

I don't suppose there would have been enough room for them, anyway. I think (although I might be wrong) that staff who were on duty only ate with their Houses at lunchtime. The rest of the time they must have eaten in the common room or stayed at home for some proper food.

Surely, many of the staff ate on the dais alongside what was the Coleridge B table ? I distinctly remember C.M.E. Seaman taking the head of the table on many occasions.

Staff yes, but I don't think their families joined them.

its a far more recent thing, dad has notcied huge jump in the 9 years he has been there