Although my parents rarely used corporal punishment much, I did have an Aunt Brenda who used it with vigour. She had one daughter, Sarah, who was of a similar age to me.Sarah and I were great friends and quite often pushed her mum’s boundaries. Aunt Brenda’s rules were simple: if you were in her house and misbehaved, she dealt with you – or you went home and did not return.One of my most embarrassing punishments was in 1968 , when Sarah and I went out for the evening. We found a pub and managed to get a drink even though we were under-age.
We were rather late home and found Aunt Brenda waiting for us. She was obviously furious and Sarah realised what was coming. It had been a few years since I had been over Aunt Brenda’s knee and I was not aware of her latest punishment regime.
Aunt Brenda told us we were both in big trouble and she was going to deal with us severely. She lectured us about our offences – under-age drinking, getting drunk (I thought it was quite funny but I was not going to argue), being late home and bringing disgrace on the family. She told Sarah that she was getting the strap and took it out of the drawer. It looked fearsome, and Sarah was certainly very frightened.
Aunt Brenda told her to ‘prepare yourself’ and put a chair in the middle of the room.
Aunt Brenda told Sarah to bend over the chair and the first whack soon followed. I watched as Aunt Brenda brought the strap down another nine times. Sarah was crying loudly by now and thankfully her mum stopped at that.
Sarah was told to stand.
Aunt Brenda then turned to me. She told me I could either accept the same or I would no longer be welcome at her house. I had no hesitation in making my decision – I liked being with Sarah and was equally to blame.
I was ordered over the chair and immediately obeyed.
Aunt Brenda brought the strap down hard. Even though I was an ‘old hand’ when it came to being caned, the intense sting of the strap still surprised me. Aunt Brenda brought it down on my backside a further nine times and boy, did it hurt! I was so relieved when my aunt told me to stand back up.
Aunt Brenda lectured us once more before sending us to bed. I followed Sarah upstairs
As we got to the landing Sarah gave me a quick kiss. “I’m sorry I got us whacked,” she said. I replied: “It wasn’t your fault – I should have known better too
The next morning, we were both on best behaviour and Aunt Brenda acted as though nothing had happened the previous night. That was the last time Sarah and I got punished together. Sadly, our lives drifted apart as we both got boyfriends and girlfriends, but I will never forget that night.