Unofficial Christ's Hospital Forum

J.R. wrote:We gave Stewart a great send off yesterday evening when Dorking entertained a Crystal Palace XI,

200 ballons, each signed with a wish by members of the local youth footbal teams were released after a minutes silence.

Needless to say, plenty of ale and Irish whisky consumed in his honour.

And I got to meet and talk to Peter Taylor, (ex England Manager and manager of Crystal Palace.)

I didn't fall out of bed until mid-day today. It was a long day yesterday !

Don't like Palace but Peter Taylor deserves credit for always being very supportive of grassroots football.

I believe I'm correct in saying that he is the only player to have represented England at both professional and semi professional level.

Mid A 15 wrote:

J.R. wrote:We gave Stewart a great send off yesterday evening when Dorking entertained a Crystal Palace XI,

200 ballons, each signed with a wish by members of the local youth footbal teams were released after a minutes silence.

Needless to say, plenty of ale and Irish whisky consumed in his honour.

And I got to meet and talk to Peter Taylor, (ex England Manager and manager of Crystal Palace.)

I didn't fall out of bed until mid-day today. It was a long day yesterday !

Don't like Palace but Peter Taylor deserves credit for always being very supportive of grassroots football.

I believe I'm correct in saying that he is the only player to have represented England at both professional and semi professional level.

I think you're right, Mid A.

Absolutely no 'airs and graces' with him either. Signing for the kids and talking to all the players in the dressing rooms before the off.

Another CH desk...... http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/Original-Antique- ... dZViewItem

How the photo of that desk brings back memories !

How do they end up on e-bay? You can't stuff one up your jumper and saunter out of school grounds after the retreat at the end of term.

Where's there's a 'will', there's a 'way' !!

There must have been some sort of sale. This seller says he (is it a he?) is a former pupil - but I do know that the (very similar) desks from Hertford were sold off at auction in 1984 or 1985. I just don't remember, however, if our desks at Hertford had those wrought iron frames with the embedded 'CH'. But I do remember that in terms of the wooden desk, lid, bench seat, etc., that they were very, very similar....

Something for Mrs C to look into.

There must have been almost hundreds of those desks around when C.H. upgraded.

I think every classroom in the education blocks off the main quad had that type when I was there !

I think our desks were all wood and the seat didn't tip as far as I remember. However I do think that we also didn't have lifting lids and had to slide our books in.

I remember the seat of the desk tipping.. especially on one occasion when I was in the Second Form (aged 10?) when in Miss King's class I had an 'accident'. The punishment was to polish, polish, polish........

I thought we had lifting lids, Mary. I think we had a section at the front where we kept our extra large books - Maths rough book and atlas (anything else?).

I certainly don't remember the ornate metalwork.

I can't remember that the desk was open at both ends. Nor do I believe the suggestion of the seller that the lid could not be raised so that pupils could hide behind them. More likely that the hinges were too expensive and fiddly to be wasted on boys.
Could these desks have come from London?

jhopgood wrote:I can't remember that the desk was open at both ends. Nor do I believe the suggestion of the seller that the lid could not be raised so that pupils could hide behind them. More likely that the hinges were too expensive and fiddly to be wasted on boys.
Could these desks have come from London?

Agreed, I think that if the desk tops were screwed down it was because the Masters did not like the noise of twenty + desk tops being dropped shut at the end of each period.
(I don't think they were screwed down in my day)
John.

Katharine wrote:I thought we had lifting lids, Mary.

We definitely had lifting lids in the 80's. We had to use the old desks for a term as well (in the museum) and as far as I can remember they all had lifting lids.

Hi John and John.

I'm sure that SOME if not the majority of those desks had lifting lids. I seem to remember that if you lifted the lid and dropped it when the ink well was full, the ink went everywhere !

Oh, those inkwells and scratch-pens, but that's another story. I await questions from our younger viewers.

Blotting-paper balls, soaked in ink, then propelled at high speed across the classromm with the aid of a wooden ruler !