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HOT THREADS !
These are the threads that have attracted at least 10 replies. Some of them go back as far as 2004, but that doesn't mean you can't keep them going (or revive them) - that's one of the ways in which this site differs from other discussion sites. Also, you should have a look at some of the less popular threads over the years - the ones that are not listed here. It's a shame that some of them haven't attracted many (or any) replies, but it's not too late !
ALL threads are listed in the thread number list but without the descriptions of content
| THREAD 6 Subject: School houses, house colours and housemasters in the '60s. Replies: 18 |
| THREAD 9 Subject: Quality and ethos of QE, in the past and now, which much later develops into a tribute to 'Gabby' Hayes before we are suddenly given 100 lines by two current pupils. We are then back on track, with present or recent pupils arguing about the merits and demerits of the place. Replies: 60 |
| THREAD 12 Subject: Remembering some of the 1940s / 50s / 60s masters: Lant, Shearly, Strickland, Bailey, Osborne, Harrison, Upton, Wingfield, Woodland and Headmaster Jenkins. Replies: 26 |
| THREAD 16 Subject: Ongoing reminiscences about Eric Shearly, following his death in 2005. Replies: 11 |
| THREAD 28 Subject: Reminiscing about some of the 1950s - 70s masters, incl. Barnett, Guthrie, Hayes, Patrick, Pinnock & Gould, Curzon, Terry, with circumspect references to a dark episode involving a member of staff in the '60s. Replies: 20 |
| THREAD 31 Subject: A very slow starter, this one - it took 6 years to reach 'hot threads' status. It began with reminiscences about 1950s pupils, including Ferd Pitt and it it was the sad news that Ferd had died (in 2013) that revived the thread. Mention by Ferd's sons of where the grave is has, perhaps strangely, sparked a discussion on war graves and memorials and preparations to mark the centenary of the start of the First World War. Replies: 21 |
| THREAD 32 Subject: The mighty general reminiscing thread for the 1950s & 60s, started as a quiz by Chris Mungovan. Dominated in the early stages by Sam C0cks anecdotes (and he's just made a comeback) but most masters and some pupils of that era are discussed in various parts of the thread. Use you browser search facility to find them. I made the difficult decision to close this thread because the management of it was becoming rather complicated, but you can still reply (see explanation of this at the bottom of each Thread 32 page). Replies: 160 |
| THREAD 36 Subject: Tributes to DB Fry, on the news of his death. Replies: 20 |
| THREAD 37 Subject: A sort of club, this, for the 1957 intake, reminiscing entertainingly about each other. Replies: 14 |
| THREAD 39 Subject: Reminiscing thread for the 1940s, with contributions from our most senior contributors. Replies: 15 |
| THREAD 48 Subject: Starts with a call from Robin Dare (where are you these days Robin?) for more OEs from the late '60 & early '70s to contribute. This quickly becomes a discussion of notable OEs from that period, the headmasters and the fact that Jeremy Corbyn's son attended the school. For an obvious reason, it briefly became concerned with the 2015 Labour leadership race but then returned (in 2016) to QE in the late '60s. However, we are currently back to Labour woes via OE Kelvin Hopkins MP. Replies: 14 |
| THREAD 52 Subject: Does QE prepare you for adult life? The question was asked by a pupil of the '90s but has so far been answered by those who should know the answer - pupils of the '50s & '60s. Digresses into discussions about Wingfield, Alford, school dinners and cross-country running. Replies: 18 |
| THREAD 56 Subject: Starts as a beef about discipline at the school in the '50s & '60s but after a discussion about the Cadet Force (which ended around 1953), strays into the territory of academic achievement and teaching standards. Later discussion centres on the political atmosphere of the school. Has it shifted from extreme right a few decades ago to extreme left now? After a 4-year silence the thread has sprung back to life via the Cadet Force strand. Replies: 34 |
| THREAD 65 Subject: The school swimming-pool, including reminiscences of spying on visiting girls from QEGS (including Stephanie Beecham) through peep-holes in the walls of their changing hut ! Believe it or not, we progress from that to the current Chairman of Governors, interwoven with some discussion about the School Chronicle and former heads of Osidge school Replies: 34 |
| THREAD 75 Subject: Various masters of the 50s-70s, but mostly 'Tiger' Timson. Also mentioned are Bannerman, Evans, Lowe, Postle, Wakelin, C0cks, and Mr & Mrs Alford, as well as Miss Strongman, the bursar. It then turns into a bit of a Latin contest ! Replies: 35 |
| THREAD 78 Subject: A thread started by our oldest member, who was at the school in the 1930s. Some reminiscing about those days, including mention of Bill Storey, Mr Briault and Herr Jung, but with some digression into the '50s by some slightly younger Old Boys. Replies: 14 |
| THREAD 90 Subject: Reminiscences from '50s & '60s Old Boys about Gerry Reid, Oliphant (English grammar textbook) and the school pound. Replies: 15 |
| THREAD 93 Subject: John Finnett, who taught Latin & Greek at the school in the 1950s and 60s, and a brief mention of his successor John Lewis. This has more recently led to a discussion about whether or not certain activities (such as bellringing) should be regarded as sport. Replies: 26 |
| THREAD 94 Subject: Sam C0cks and censorship by filters in public libraries. It's Thread 32 that the ghost of Sam C0cks mainly inhabits, but 32 was apparently blocked by the porn filter in Jas Cowen's local library, so he started this thread instead. Unfortunately, 94 was also blocked until I realised that Sam's surname was to blame and replaced the 'o' with a zero. More recently, Thread 128 has been set up as a 'restricted topic' thread, dedicated solely to Sam and prefaced with a large number of extracts from messages about him from all over the site. Replies: 11 |
| THREAD 96 Subject: General reminiscing about the school, covering the period 1956-72 (so far). Replies: 19 |
| THREAD 98 Subject: Ralph McTell and his appearance at the school, leading to reminiscing about the Black Bull, Whetstone. This in turn has now led to General reminiscing about Whetstone. Replies: 11 |
| THREAD 99 Subject: Starts as a discussion of the musical life of the school in the 1950s and early '60s and slides into reminiscences of two science masters of the time - Fairbairn and Ambidge. Later, it returns to the musical theme, with a discussion of QE boys' rock bands in those days. Replies: 26 |
| THREAD 102 Subject: EH Jenkins, Headmaster 1931 - 60: his life, books and obituary. Turns into a discussion about the prefect system and the high but narrow aims of QE in the '50s & '60s Replies: 22 |
| THREAD 103 Subject: Recent QE exam and league table results, what they imply and whether they matter. Replies: 24 |
| THREAD 104 Subject: Begins as a discussion about privacy (sparked by pics of the houses of former masters appearing on this site then wanders via Sam C0cks (as usual) into the QE / Oxbridge relationship. Later, 'Bop' Wakelin becomes a main topic. Replies: 25 |
| THREAD 106 Subject: Begins with 1950s/60s pupil CR Brand, with surprise, then horror expressed about his website. Progresses via Brand to the school Christian Union in the '50s, then a Cliff Richard concert at the school. This sparks musical reminiscences (as in other threads) but then we are back to Brand. Replies: 19 |
| THREAD 107 Subject: Reminiscences of Councillor Woodruff and School Captains Davernall, Spence, Daffern, Dixon, Whittaker and Shagool. More anticipated! Replies: 10 |
| THREAD 108 Subject: The annual dinner Debate and Speech Day, past and present, developing into a discussion about OE Wilfred de Ath. Later discussion is about the proportion of State school pupils getting into Oxbridge and the merits/demerits of Borehamwood and the Barnets - oh, and Bury St.Edmunds! National Trust houses began to form a new focus of attention, but I shifted that topic to Thread W8 and we returned to the dinner debates etc, with controversy concerning the 'black tie' rule. However, we then revisted W. de Ath, whose anti-Cambridge remarks sparked a discussion of cities and cathedrals. OE Sir Leslie Fielding KPMG also features (and the question is asked as to why the QE newsletter mention only the 'worthies' among us OEs). Carol Vorderman has made an appearance and the death of Asa Briggs and Cliff Michelmore prompteded a discussion about those two. The 2018 University Challenge final was briefly discussed, leading us back into the subject of Oxbridge rivalry. But but after a peice of Guiness cake in the Music Hall café, Shrewsbury, it's that University Challenge final again in relation to Hannah Rose Woods for PM. Come mon Hannah, let's have your thoughts on that or anything else in this wonderfully tangled thread. Replies: 136 |
| THREAD 109 Subject: Initially a discussion about the house photos on the site (in the 'museum') - mainly the challenge of trying to name everyone in them - which morphed into reminiscences about products popular in those days. It then evolved into a discussion about shops, 'divi' methods of the era and the Lamson Paragon system. This in turn led to a discussion about 'U' & 'non-U' and obsolete expressions in the English language, but we seem to be back to products now ! Replies: 56 |
| THREAD 110 Subject: Music masters of the '60, with an excursion latterly into Old Rockers and the Links Club, Borehamwood. Replies: 18 |
| THREAD 111 Subject: School uniform and, more recently, the school pound. Replies: 11 |
| THREAD 112 Subject: The modern practice of closing schools in bad weather, especially snow. The hard winter of '63 and short trousers. Replies: 21 |
| THREAD 114 Subject: The the story of the dead cat in the tree in the '50s & 60s, interweaved with discussion about the availability of EH Jenkins' book An Elizabethan Headmaster. There's also a mention of Mr Mayes, caretaker during the era of the dead cat. Replies: 12 |
| THREAD 116 Subject: Started by a current pupil intrigued by a piece of work he found by a '60s pupil called AJ Britten. Developed into a discussion about the system, past & present, for numbering the forms (classes), but has returned to the question of AJ Britten. Replies: 11 |
| THREAD 120 Subject: Started as a plea from me for reminders of expressions specific to QE boys at various times in the past, but the discussion soon broadened to include more generally popular expressions from the '50s & '60s. However, the thread is now veering towards a discussion of current usage of certain words and phrases. Replies: 29 |
| THREAD 125 Subject: Basically about staff in the '60s, including Apple, Perry, Wimpress, Fairclough, Gould, Boot(e), Jordan, Kobish and (inevitably) C0cks, but also features the 'alternative' mag Jackpot and later, by a rather tenuous connection, the number of boys coming to QE from Underhill school is discussed. Replies: 26 |
| THREAD 127 Subject: Eric Croft and school music, interweaved with a discussion about the merits and de-merits of the Comprehensive system. Has recently veered towards comments about antisocial behaviour. Replies: 11 |
| THREAD 128 Subject: Restricted to anecdotes about geography master RM 'Sam' C0cks (spelt with a zero to fool porn filters in libraries). It's to be read in conjunction with the collection of Sam anecdotes extracted from threads throughout the site. Replies: 30 |
| THREAD 129 Subject: What were you doing when ...? General reminiscences of Old Boys about where they were and what they were doing when they heard about various world-shaking events. Replies: 14 |
| THREAD 133 Subject: News of the death of Rex Moore 'Winkie' Wingfield (classics master 1949-62), sparking reminiscences about him. This thread is restricted to comments about Wingfield. Replies: 15 |
| THREAD 135 Subject: This thread is restricted to discussion of former staff members who are otherwise poorly represented (if at all) on the site. Replies: 29 |
| THREAD 147 Subject: Started by Ken Pegden as reminiscences of the school in the mid-50s, but has branched out into various subjects, including the Essenden Cricket team and the English Electric Lightning. Replies: 17 |
| THREAD 149 Subject: Would it be true to say that QE has produced few people of "real distinction" and if it hasn't, why not? Later morphs into a discussion about Union Street in Barnet, and the associated topics of the workhouse, the Assembly Rooms and Screaming Lord Such. Replies: 55 |
| THREAD 150 Subject: An article about QE in The Independent triggered this thread. However, my rejection of a reply (from CR Brand) led to a discussion along the lines of freedom of speech versus PC. From there the topic somehow evolved into Founders Day, valve amplifiers and the split infinitive! The latter topic brought Sir Lancelot Oliphant into the discussion. We were briefly back to the topic of Chris Brand and his views before returning to Founders Day. Replies: 53 |
| THREAD 152 Subject: Starts with a discussion of some of the school play pics in the 'Museum', then drifts into Founders Day 2014 and school library appointments in the 1960s. Via the recollection of an MP's visit to the school the thread later becomes concerned with contributors' MPs before returning to the library theme. Replies: 34 |
| THREAD 155 Subject: Gigs at QE in the 1960s & 70s and the fascinating story of Franz Stampfl, PE master at QE for a few months in 1940. Replies: 16 |
| THREAD 163 Subject: Memories of interviews for getting into QE (or in some cases, for persuading boys to choose QE). Replies: 16 |
| THREAD 165 Subject: Restricted to tributes to and memories of Hew Purchas (1932-2016). Replies: 11 |
| THREAD W1 Subject: Steam railways is the subject of this restricted topic thread. This first 'Wider World' thread made it into Hot Threads only 3 months after the new board was started. Replies: 112 |
| THREAD W4 Subject: Getting out and about to various attractions has been the main theme of this thread so for. Recently the emphasis has been on Cardiff. Unlike Thread W8, on the territory of which it tends to trespass, it is not restricted. Replies: 10 |
| THREAD W6 Subject: Television! But not a restricted thread, so may well wander in time. Replies: 10 |
| THREAD W7 Subject: Restricted to branded products, being an extension of that theme in Thread 109 (see above). Replies: 21 |
| THREAD W8 Subject: Resticted to discussion of National Trust, English Heritage and Cadw properties or other such places open to the public. Replies: 24 |
| THREAD W9 Subject: A restricted thread specifically for reminiscing about Barnet, Borehamwood, Southgate or anywhere else where contributors lived while at the school. Bus routes are a strong element in this thread, although shops in Borehamwood in the 1950s and Second World War bomb sites in the area have recently featured strongly. Replies: 83 |
| THREAD W10 Subject: Restricted to aviation. Took off very quickly! Replies: 21 |
| THREAD W11 Subject: Restricted to sport. Replies: 33 |
| THREAD W12 Subject: Restricted to motoring, this thread began with a moan about MOTs but quickly settled into reminiscing about cars and motorbikes of the past. Replies: 14 |
| THREAD W13 Subject: Magna Carta was oiginally the main theme but, unlike most other Wider World threads, this one is not resticted to the topic of the original message and has recently moved on to the Battle of Barnet and the British Library. Replies: 34 |
| THREAD W14 Subject: Started by Jas Cowen as an "is it me or ..." thread, it soon branched out in all sorts of directions, including the schoolgirls lost in Syria, the 'William' books of Richmal Crompton and school reports! Our tastes in TV drama, the menace of compulsory music and Liam Byrne's 2010 Treasury joke were later developments. Recently, the discussion is about whether or not we are morally obliged to watch the adverts when watching commercial TV. Replies: 35 |
| THREAD W16 Subject: Restricted to discussion of the English language as regards points of grammar, vocabulary, usage etc. Clearly, what are necessary corrections for some constitute irritating pedantry for others. The name 'Tuppence' sparked some discussion and now it's 'brexit'. Replies: 123 |
| THREAD W20 Subject: Restricted to discussion of tv, radio and film. Replies: 26 |
| THREAD W21 Subject: Restricted to politics. The June 23 referendum is the latest topic. Replies: 17 |
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