Interviewer: So we’ll move on to High Lane.
Interviewee: So what happened in High Lane? So the High Lane, I would have been, what, I’d have been about 11 by that time, cycling and I got caned by Mr. Anning, the headmaster. For we were not allowed to cycle down the very steep road, I did one day and he was standing at the end. “Boy, my study, morning.”
Interviewer: This was Woolmer Hill?
Interviewee: This Woolmer Hill. And so I was taken in, put my hand out, had a lash across my hand and that was it, didn’t do me any harm. It was quite good fun, had a lot of friends there. I became captain of Dwinicks(?) there, at the end of the day, because I held the long jump record for the under 14s and I held the record for the 440 yard, which is now 400 metres, and temporarily I think I was editor of the school magazine. I was particularly pleased that I played in every team that there was. The only thing that used to cheese me off I was a very good cross country runner but I always came second to somebody called Berry. And just when I was thinking I might beat him along came someone called Andy Brine who beat me as well, so I always came second out of 300 kids, which always annoyed me. But we did win the Surrey Schools, and I remember I was captain. I came 19th and some of the other lads did rather better and we came back with the Surrey Schools Cup, which was good. So I got into every team, I got thrown off the hockey one for wielding my stick to enthusiastically. I remember being taken off field there.