Today's (May 27) School memory of the day:

"...Mr Freeman's Slipper, Being called into the store room to receive the slipper for throwing clay, putting end of term paintings i had done down the back of my trousers to lessen the beating, walking back out to the class and holding paintings triuphantly in the air ... THEN, Mr Freeman seeing what I had done being called back into the store room for 6 more strokes ... without protection.... OUCH!!..."

Seeing ‘Tradsmens Entrance’ reminded me of a fairly super story concerning Old Tom, the stage-door keeper of a theatre on the South Coast where I had the pleasure of working.

In the 1960’s so-called ‘Traditional Jazz’ became popular and was played by untrained would-be music makers for whom the term ‘The Deep South’ extended only as far as Dorking. One Monday afternoon a group of unkempt individuals that performed this rubbish turned up at the stage door guarded by Old Tom. “I’m sorry, gents. You can’t come in here. It’s more than my job’s worth to let in the likes of you”, he said. “But we’re working here this week”, replied the band’s leader. “No you ain’t”, said Tom. “We’ve already got some people to sweep the floor.”
“But we are the trad jazz band”, said the leader. “In that case”, said Tom, “you’ll want the tradsmen’s entrance. Now piss off!”

Old Tom spent the next few hours telling this story to everyone he knew as they arrived at the theatre. The following day he was sacked.

From the Copland School site, a method of punishment not mentioned by Fran.


Added by Brenda Cobb on 01/04/2005 17:53 year: 1960 miss maguire

she was the senior girls teacher who you were sent to when you needed to be punished . she would hit you hit you on the back of the legs that happened to me a few times

Cressida Judd, who was a pupil at Linden Hall School for Girls writes:

I was once summoned from my bed for talking after lights out and told to "make a joyful noise unto the Lord in the common room" (i.e. learn that psalm in full and recite it to her, word perfect, before being allowed back to bed - a place I didn't reach till gone midnight). Another time, again for talking after lights out, I was made to stand in front of a circle of prefects, where I had to bend over, my pyjama trousers were unceremoniously pulled down and I received numerous slaps from her, with a slipper - I was mortified, I never got over that one until all the prefects who had witnessed my humiliation had left the school!

Here is the lovely Cressida photographed in 1965 and 2003.

1965

2003

Why does Cressida look younger now than she did 40 years ago?

Cressida was educated in Kent, the Garden of England and not too far away from Peacehaven, where the hop-picking, the application of humiliating corporal punishment and many thousand of pounds worth of plastic surgery can keep a girl looking as radiant as Joan Collins.

Will this do?

No, it won’t do.

It should read ‘many thousands of pounds’.