The school in those days was a bit like Gaul - divided into three parts. These were the choir, the special choir and the non-singers. To be a non-singer was a fate worse than death! Happy days singing in the City Hall, a notoriously difficult place to fill with sound. Speaking of singing, did you know that Spike, who we all remember with affection, ran a scout choir which sang at Nether Chapel on the Sunday before Christmas every year? During the early war years we met in the houses of various members of staff for rehearsals.

Also during the early war years, the sixth form were recruited for fire watching. This happened in all public buildings which were empty at night during the raids. Our job was to be on the alert for fire bombs and put them out before a major fire broke out. The two members of staff who did duty with my group were R.B.Bailey (Billy Bags because he wore plus fours) who taught me Latin and Julius Eker (Joe Plug  -  smoked a pipe) who taught me French.