I never learned to skip or play hopscotch. I can read an electronic schematic but a knitting pattern leaves me baffled. As for needlework – forget it!!! My “toys” included a catapult (made from a forked branch off a tree and knicker elastic.); a bow made from a hefty piece of wood cut from a privet bush and a peashooter (actually a blowpipe constructed from six peashooters joined together and fitted inside a piece of metal tube – possibly a curtain rod). When I was a little older, I developed an interest in the properties of certain chemical mixtures and compounds. Filter paper cones containing a little Nitrogen Triiodide are quite impressive when struck by a pea from even a standard peashooter.

Log in with your credentials

Forgot your details?