I was 5 years old in October of 1944 but, as far as I remember, I didn't start at the Infants School until sometime in 1945. On my first tearful day I was given a picture book to look at and I remember thinking that I must spend a long time looking at each page so that the teacher would think that I could read. I must have had a devious mind even then. The name of the teacher was Mrs Palmer and she is standing at the back of the Class1 photograph which was taken in 1945. The photo was taken by the light of a magnesium flare. This was set off by the photographer hiding behind the camera with a black cloth over his head. No wonder we all looked scared to death! The next class I remember was that of the Headmistress, Miss Bunkall. She claimed to have "eyes at the back of her head" when she unfailingly caught someone misbehaving. I was quite prepared to believe the "eyes" story but I never understood how she managed to see through her hair. Miss Bunkall was firm and fair. At the end of each day we each had to place our chair on our desk and then sing a prayer together with eyes tight shut. One evening I remember some foolish child (who's name I forget) called out at the end of prayers "Please Miss, Keith Drinkwater had his eyes open". He got his legs smacked and I got away with a stern look. After the war finished, many things were scarce including sweets. From time to time, Miss Bunkall brought sweets to school which she told us came from a Canadian food parcel. The sweets were similar to "Spangles" and were reserved for those who did the best handwriting. One of the great horrors was a visit by the nurse from the town clinic. These visits were kept secret until the last minute and so were unavoidable. These "stripped to the waist" examinations were very embarrassing to us young lads, especially when there was a possibility of being seen by a girl.

I was interested to read about the lightening strike in 1948. I must have been there but I remember nothing of it. However, I do remember being paraded in the infants playground some time before then because we were told that a thunderbolt had hit the infants school. At the time my tiny mind boggled at what a thunderbolt might look like.

The class teachers I remember were Mrs Rawcliffe, Miss Sutcliffe and Miss Hindle. We marched into the central hall each morning to the strains of "Country Gardens" played on the piano by Miss Sutcliffe. Mr Spencer, the Headmaster, would lead the assembly in the hymn of the day, the words of which were written on a large board on the wall. I remember listening to BBC radio broadcasts for schools when I was in Miss Hindle's class. The main receiver was located in Mr Spencers office and a large loudspeaker was moved around the various classrooms on a tea trolley. Each child was given a book of pictures to accompany the various broadcasts. We had radio talks on Spiders, Stoats and Weasels, Moving Air and Cloud Formations. Two or three months before we were due to take the 11+ exam, Mr Spencer came into the classroom on Friday mornings for one hour's worth of quickfire questions designed to prepare us for the big event. I think it was a very good lesson in "keeping your head down" although woe betide anyone who didn't know an answer when picked upon.

The Headmasters desk was at the top of the Hall although not used by him in my day. Behind the desk on the wall was a clock and the penalty for misbehaviour was to stand before the clock for ten minutes at normal going home time. One boy took this quite literally and stared hard at the clock until he fainted. We were given a talk at next day's assembly by Mr Spencer on the difference between clock watching and clock staring. The outside toilets in the boy's yard were something rather special and the open aspect to the sky certainly discouraged any tendency to linger out there.

I always found school work hard. Looking back, I got a very good grounding in the skills necessary to enjoy a full life. I'm very grateful to those who put up with me.