Rallcad

One other name of an old school-mate that comes to mind - a month after I first wrote (the wheels turns painfully slow these days!!) - was that of Grenville Brookfield. All this was 62 years ago, mind, so the memory banks might be a little flaky!! I often wonder what became of us all . . . . Chris A

Yes - when we graduated to "joined-up writing" Mr Cross used to get us buy an Osmiroid pen with an italic nib. Italics looked very stylish if you ever got it right but, I suspect, became another reason to give the kids a hard time if you didn't. I thought Vernon was OK though - fair. Other kids I remember (I was there from Sept 52 til Dec 56 when we moved to Nottingham) were David Margerison ( I seem to remember going to a birthday party where David's older sister had a record player and played "Zambezi" over and over - as you did in those days) , Royston Bulmer, John Mountain. Gleadless Common was a playground and we sometime strayed as far as Myrtle Springs. There was a posh house near us called Knowle House which had a sunken lawn!. Sunday School in Gleadless was followed by mucking about in the old allotments on the right as you walked up to Hurlfield Avenue. It had chicken coops and an old lorry parked up by the fence (the smell of the oil in the cab still hangs in my nostrils to this day!!) We had such freedom as kids back then - no phones, no telly, dad at work and mum at home looking after the younger ones . . . .

When we graduated to "joined-up writing" in Junior School, Mr Cross used to get us buy an Osmiroid pen - cost 5/- - with an italic nib. Italics looked very stylish if you ever got it right but, I suspect, became another reason to give the kids a hard time if you didn't. I thought Vernon was OK though - fair. Other kids I remember (I was there from Sept 52 til Dec 56 when we moved to Nottingham) were David Margerison ( I seem to remember going to a birthday party where David's older sister had a record player and played "Zambezi" over and over - as you did in those days) , Royston Bulmer, John Mountain. Gleadless Common was a playground and we sometime strayed as far as Myrtle Springs. There was a posh house near us called Knowle House which had a sunken lawn!. Sunday School in Gleadless was followed by mucking about in the old allotments on the right as you walked up to Hurlfield Avenue. It had chicken coops and an old lorry parked up by the fence (the smell of the oil in the cab still hangs in my nostrils to this day!!) We had such freedom as kids back then - no phones, no telly, dad at work and mum at home looking after the younger ones . . . .