Settles

[Great Plum]

In the old un-refurbished dorms, they still had settles at the end of the beds...

The scout hut certainly had quite a supply of them and were used by patrols quite frequently...

[Eruresto]

Still do! Brilliant things.

[J.R.]

A little Story --- We were on our first Weapons instruction on the 25yds Rang.22s in a morris tube No 4 Rifle. The Sergeant demonstrates with 5 Rounds, in a Group of about 2 inches. Neill has School Shooting Colours, .22 and 303.-- so he produces a Group --- all cutting, in the bull. Sergeant : "Wots Yer Name ?" -- "Evans. Sergeant " Sergeant : "You done this before !"
Neill (Proudly ) "Yes Sergeant !" ---- Sergeant :"Well we can't teach you anything about Rifles ---- so you go down the Cookhouse, and peel potatoes for the rest of the afternoon ! !"
It taught me a lesson I never forgot, don't be too dam' clever ---- be the best Pupil !

That's a good one Neill.... I remember the Morris tube .22 rifles they had at CH and the 25 yard .303 range in the woods (somewhere).John

Down in 'The Lag', next to the CCF assault course.

[J.R.]

Re John Knight's cold baths, My wife is under the mistaken impression that we actually BATHED in them-- as I remember one hit the water and leaped out in about .5 of a second ! Water everywhere !
We were still doing it as senior Monitors, in 1946, I think I must have missed John as I left -- (For the Irish Guards ) in April.
You think you had a hard time at Housey--- Try the Guards Depot Caterham !
A little Story --- We were on our first Weapons instruction on the 25yds Rang.22s in a morris tube No 4 Rifle. The Sergeant demonstrates with 5 Rounds, in a Group of about 2 inches. Neill has School Shooting Colours, .22 and 303.-- so he produces a Group --- all cutting, in the bull. Sergeant : "Wots Yer Name ?" -- "Evans. Sergeant " Sergeant : "You done this before !"
Neill (Proudly ) "Yes Sergeant !" ---- Sergeant :"Well we can't teach you anything about Rifles ---- so you go down the Cookhouse, and peel potatoes for the rest of the afternoon ! !"
It taught me a lesson I never forgot, don't be too dam' clever ---- be the best Pupil !

Now a very posh gated private housing estate, I fear !

[AKAP]

I was also in Barnes B and used the settles next to the bed for a mass punishment.
I was dorm monitor and in the first few days they always tried to play up, crawling around under the beds etc.
Rather than getting involved finding the culprit and punishing him, I asked him to own up or the whole dorm, at least those there at the time, would be on a mass punishment on Saturday.
Naturally no-one came forward so I had them all sitting on their settles facing the wall for an hour after games on the Saturday.
Needless to say after that, there was the normal larking about but whenever it got out of hand and I threatened punishments, it all stopped. Never had another problem all year.

Arriving as a 2nd former in Barnes B in 1965, I must have been one of the recipiants of this punishment.

[John Knight]

That's a good one Neill.... I remember the Morris tube .22 rifles they had at CH and the 25 yard .303 range in the woods (somewhere).John

Down in 'The Lag', next to the CCF assault course.

Ah, Yes.... across a stream... I think!!
I am impressed with how some posters memories are much better than mine.... It must be something to do with the cold baths in the morning (for the good memory) and my liking for Scotch... (my not so good memory).
John.

[J.R.]

That's a good one Neill.... I remember the Morris tube .22 rifles they had at CH and the 25 yard .303 range in the woods (somewhere).John

Down in 'The Lag', next to the CCF assault course.

Ah, Yes.... across a stream... I think!!
I am impressed with how some posters memories are much better than mine.... It must be something to do with the cold baths in the morning (for the good memory) and my liking for Scotch... (my not so good memory).
John.

Surely the rich aroma of wild garlic crushed under army boots whilst making one way down into the Lag must evoke some memories ?

[Jude]

Wow - you boys really did get the good stuff!!! LOL !

We had nothing remotely like a settle - we had a little wooden tuck area/box in 5's sited on the wall near the cloakroom, where we could put our jam, sweets, and another place in the back of the house (dining room, next to the 5th form study) where we kept our fruit. Nothing like a settle to be seen. Mind you - having seen your dorms before the total restoration of taking them apart and putting them back "fire proofed" H&S, and Lord knows what else you had a fair bit of room from one side to the other - in our dorms we had good old iron bed frames, horsehair mattresses and a plastic washing basket under the bed (it had to be put up on the bed every morning for the cleaning), and a rather small bedside table with a cupboard. The oldest things at Hertford were the Chapel, the chapel's organ (oh yeah, power outage? No problem round the back was a hand pump thingy to puff the organ through the hymns!!) The rest seemed to be 1904 onwards - the radiators downstairs definately victorian - they were either on or off - either way it was never the "right" temperature, as my home made jam always turned fizzy and alcoholic within 3 weeks of term!

Hmm now a settle - that would be good for storage -! I wonder where they are now?

[Ajarn Philip]

Wow - you boys really did get the good stuff!!! LOL !

...and a rather small bedside table with a cupboard.

A bedside table and a cupboard?? Eeeeeeeeeeeh by 'eck, you were reet lucky, we were so poor we 'ad to store our tuck in our unwashed socks...

[Jude]

Wow - you boys really did get the good stuff!!! LOL !

...and a rather small bedside table with a cupboard.

A bedside table and a cupboard?? Eeeeeeeeeeeh by 'eck, you were reet lucky, we were so poor we 'ad to store our tuck in our unwashed socks...

I would have preffered a settle to the round plastic washing basket! Not to mention having it at the end of my bed!!! Cor blimey! How big was this thing anyhow? And when I said cupboard - it was so small we were told never to bring more than 1 change of clothes.... my father and step-mother did just as the letter said

Things got a lot better as a senior! I only had to share my desk with one other!

[Vonny]

we had a little wooden tuck area/box in 5's sited on the wall near the cloakroom, where we could put our jam, sweets, and another place in the back of the house

Yes, from where the seniors nicked everything you put in there

[NEILL THE NOTORIOUS]

Poor Jude ! Yes things at Hertford seem to have been worse !
I remember Cupboards in the Day Room for Books, etc. but ALSO a large metal arrangement of Green Cupboards into which we put our Tuck -- Each,about, as I remember, 12 inches cubed. I don't think they were locked, but perhaps somebody less senile than I, will correct me. Also, I think the Ethos in Ba B in the 40s was fairly strict "We don't DO that !" and if anybody did do anything which was frowned on ------and DID it -- woe betide him, - not from Seniors, or Staff but he would get Hell from his contemporaries. Is my Memory playing tricks (Senility again !) perhaps an OB of the period (Any left ? ) will comment.
Settles were about 2ft 6 inches long, by 15 inches wide and 2ft deep (Corrections please ? -- I was much smaller then )

[michael scuffil]

NEILL
I think you're right about the size of the settles.

Yes there were cupboards in the dayroom called lockers, doubtless because they didn't lock. It was a sign of increasing status as one moved from the bottom row (floor level) to the middle and then to the top.

The Tuck Cupboard was (as you say) a green thing in the passage between the changing room and dayroom. In ThB at least it was locked (centrally) except between the end of games and just after tea, ie app. 3.30-6.45 pm. As far as I remember, I always had the same partition in the Tuck Cupboard, so I suppose they were numbered. It was an offence to keep food anywhere else.

Once a year there was "settles out", "lockers out" and "Tuck Cupboard out", when the contents had to be removed so they could be scrubbed out by the maids.

[Jude]

NEILL
I think you're right about the size of the settles.

Yes there were cupboards in the dayroom called lockers, doubtless because they didn't lock. It was a sign of increasing status as one moved from the bottom row (floor level) to the middle and then to the top.

The Tuck Cupboard was (as you say) a green thing in the passage between the changing room and dayroom. In ThB at least it was locked (centrally) except between the end of games and just after tea, ie app. 3.30-6.45 pm. As far as I remember, I always had the same partition in the Tuck Cupboard, so I suppose they were numbered. It was an offence to keep food anywhere else.

Once a year there was "settles out", "lockers out" and "Tuck Cupboard out", when the contents had to be removed so they could be scrubbed out by the maids.

Oh my!!! YOU HAD MAIDS?????????????? We had to scrub everything from the baths to the brass work!! Not to mention some poor dude got the job of sweeping! So you in fact had 3 places to put your earthly possessions - with the fruit room locked except at handing out time, the small "tuck cupboard" in the dining hall no food was allowed anywhere else. Found to be eating upstairs and you had the brasses for the next month! I wonder if they are still there hiding under the new cupboards and boxed in places.... I managed to get a look in 5's earlier in the year, it had changed SO much - very sad, but at least it was being used - 3 of the other houses weren't and they looked very sad.

Now I wish I had a settle!
As I'd never need a kettle
for the things inside my settle
would be fine
as the items they would settle
inside my wooden settle
and all the things inside it would be mine!

[jhopgood]

NEILL
I think you're right about the size of the settles.

Yes there were cupboards in the dayroom called lockers, doubtless because they didn't lock. It was a sign of increasing status as one moved from the bottom row (floor level) to the middle and then to the top.

The Tuck Cupboard was (as you say) a green thing in the passage between the changing room and dayroom. In ThB at least it was locked (centrally) except between the end of games and just after tea, ie app. 3.30-6.45 pm. As far as I remember, I always had the same partition in the Tuck Cupboard, so I suppose they were numbered. It was an offence to keep food anywhere else.

Once a year there was "settles out", "lockers out" and "Tuck Cupboard out", when the contents had to be removed so they could be scrubbed out by the maids.

The description of lockers, tuck cupboard etc is the same as Barnes B with the exception that I think the tuck cupboard was a light blue. It was also kept locked.
Can't remember them being scrubbed out but one year we had a plague of mice. Not unusual, one might think, being in the country, but there seemed to be more than usual.
The source was traced to my brother's bottom row dayroom locker, into which he had just stuffed his blazer and anything else went on top. It being summer, he rarely used his blazer which is where the mice made their nest.
As second monitor with a study, I tried to ignore the problem and left it to the dayroom monitor (DR Fisher)to sort out.
(Apologies to AKAP who probably remembers the incident. I looked up my photo of Barnes B 1966 when Johnson was Housemaster, and apart from the monitors and some people from my brother's year, I can't remember the name of anyone else, but your name rings a small bell).