Christmas Traditions at Hertford
As we make our preparations for this Christmas we look back at the seasonal festivities at “Hertford First School” over fifty years ago…..
The celebration of Christmas at Hertford after the War had its own traditions and treats. A large Christmas tree would be decorated on a Sunday afternoon in December by the Headteacher, Caretaker and several parents, ready for the children’s parties. Rehearsals for a Carol Service would begin with the older children practising their spoken scripture and solos. The Carol service was held at St. Matthias (or later Stanford Avenue Methodist church and St. Richards) and the whole school attended, with parents also invited. In 1953 with a school of over 370 pupils St. Matthias was “so packed that the children had to sit on hassocks and adults stood in the doorway.”
The class Christmas parties were held in the evenings and the children were allowed to wear fancy dress - a great treat! Mrs. Doreen Blake remembers the excitement of making her children’s costumes - a clown suit made of old bedspreads, a brown paper parcel outfit complete with stamps and string, a “Walkie talkie” doll, a Red Indian with full headdress of feathers. For days beforehand parents brought the party food into school, including jellies and blancmanges, cakes and biscuits, as excitement mounted. At each party the children would sit in the Hall with the lights out, to listen out for sleigh bells getting nearer, then a light would be seen bobbing along the veranda outside and suddenly there was Father Christmas in the doorway, greeted by such excitement and screams of delight, to distribute a named present to every child (provided, wrapped and labelled by their parents).
The 1954 Christmas parties had a special significance for highlighting one teacher’s commitment to the school. The Argus carried the poignant story of Miss Gladys Bradby, a dedicated Assistant Teacher for 23 years who, on her retirement due to ill health, as a gift to the children had planned a Christmas party for 21st December with entertainment by a ventriloquist and sugar sticks to take home. Sadly Miss Bradby died on 12th December but it was reported that her last words were “The Christmas party must go on,” which indeed it did. After the parties, before the end of term came Christmas dinner in the school Canteen, with fancy hats for each child made by the kitchen staff and special table decorations. Despite the cold in the Canteen building and the need for sacking to make the concrete floor bearable “much jollification was had by all.”!
Later in the 50’s, when the school numbers became overflowing, Christmas included a Nativity play for the Reception classes, by this time based in St. Richard’s church hall, and performances by the upper school classes in their annexe of the Davey Drive (later St. Joseph’s) school, to which they had been relocated. These arrangements stood for several years, and the Head spent much of their time travelling between the various parts of the school!
There were even Christmas parties held after the holiday for all those children who had missed theirs due to illness – presumably some years in significant numbers.
After Christmas, the Winter weather made the open air veranda at the main school hard work. The cisterns to the toilets regularly froze and needed constant flushing throughout the day with buckets of hot water by the Caretaker to keep them working. However cold and ice also brought the popular Hertford tradition of sliding in the playground – for which perilous activity classes were officially given extra time before school started. Miss Young Headmistress noted on 19th Jan 1954 “as playground conditions were favourable for sliding extra time was given to those children wishing to do so before school began - Class 7 continued sliding until 9.20am.” Enthusiasm for sliding was not restricted only to the children, teacher Mr. Hickman, (later Head teacher!) would be outside in his long dark overcoat and scarf, and tow lines of screaming children along the ice slide. Children even came in early on those days - presumably access to the school for visitors and parents did not involve crossing the icy playground!