Unofficial Christ's Hospital Forum

Taking my 12 year old granddaughter to a gym class and watching the class at work, I naturally thought about the annual house (fortnight long?) gym competitions at Horsham. It was taken very seriously and the points every member of the house gained were entered in a prominent list in the dayroom. I remember only a very few of the exercises, presumably those I could do. These included the handstand (freestanding, not against a wall or the bars) for a count of 5 (2 points?) and a handstand for 5 sec (5 points?). Also the headstand with legs first horizontal, then slowly moving to the vertical position and ending with a gentle movement to the ground, without any collapse. There must have been lots more such exercises, which I have forgotten. In the 50s there were some ‘gym swots’ who easily obtained the maximum number of points, but I never came close. I do remember that Peele A often won the Gym Competition Cup. Were they particularly keen, did they train more than others, was there a housemaster who encouraged them more than in other houses, or was it just a question of chance, with many naturally inclined ‘gym swots’ just happening to be in that house?

During the whole time I was there, gym was almost universally loathed, and unlike almost every other cup, no one wanted to win the Gym Cup, and while people who were good at sports were generally admired, people who liked and were good at gym were not. None of this applied to Lamb B, where gym was a fetish. They won the cup every year, but that was because no one else wanted it.

What I remember of gym was general indifference and it being considered a sort of necessary evil. Those gifted in that direction were exceptions. But there was some fun, with “sea pirates”. For our last session of the term we had a modicum of ordinary gym, then “sea pirates”. This was a game where 2 or 3 of the class were selected as “pirates” who could move anywhere. The rest were not allowed to touch the floor, but could use the wall bars and swing on the ropes, mount the jumping horses, etc. As they touched the floor or were caught by the “pirates” they were “out”. It was fun indeed. So if you don’t know that game, find some friends and a gym and then try it. You’ll find it worthwhile.

Martin wrote:What I remember of gym was general indifference and it being considered a sort of necessary evil. Those gifted in that direction were exceptions. But there was some fun, with “sea pirates”. For our last session of the term we had a modicum of ordinary gym, then “sea pirates”. This was a game where 2 or 3 of the class were selected as “pirates” who could move anywhere. The rest were not allowed to touch the floor, but could use the wall bars and swing on the ropes, mount the jumping horses, etc. As they touched the floor or were caught by the “pirates” they were “out”. It was fun indeed. So if you don’t know that game, find some friends and a gym and then try it. You’ll find it worthwhile.

You've just bought back the memory !

Regretably, my age and knees would prevent re-living the experience today !

When I started (1946) the gym comp consisted of a set of 10 exercises (possibly graduated according to age) and I was hopeless at them.
About 2-3 years later (c 1950) the system was changed to a points system, with more points given for what were reckoned to be the harder exercises. I found to my surprise that I could do backsprings and head springs quite easily, and made a good showing in the Col A points table (also to every one else's surprise).

I can't remember a gym competition at all (1954-1961). I have a few memories of gym - handstands, a series of fitness exercises carried out against the clock and a painful exercise when I slipped off a horizontal bar at well over head hight, landing flat on my back.

I can't remember an actual competition but we certainly won the cup one year (1964/5?) as we (BaB) had three members of the school gym team, Guy Shorey, Dennis Child's and Howland! whose Christian name escapes me.
Possibly after that, it was complicated by the fact that their were Junior and Senior Houses.