A boy from the same year also gives an account of this particular teacher in a direct reply to the above post:
‘Mandy, in 1972, that “board” was part of the crate that a new Kettle drum was delivered in. Having placed it aside for future disciplinary action, one of my class mates (Tiller) foolishly stated the obvious “I bet that would hurt sir!” Well Stowell-Smith being the man he was, christened the plank on Tiller’s bum, Forever being called the “Tiller Stick” ‘
The picture is not totally complete but from the above three accounts it looks likely that there were occasions when this male teacher took girl pupils into a cupboard within the classromm and beat their bottoms with a board as their male classmates listened from outside the cupboard. It sounds like something from a Benny Hill sketch, doesn’t it?