In my junior school in the late 50s, corporal punishment was in use for various offences, by all the teachers, but the most feared punishment was to be sent to the Headmistress, whose reputation and right arm were renowned far and wide.

One of the clearest memories I have of her is the day that I fell off the wall. In a secluded part of the playground was a low wall, only about 18in high, and a favourite game was for one person to stand on the wall with his or her back to a post, and for others to try to come along the wall and dislodge the defender. Naturally, this game was forbidden but we played it anyway.

On this day, a girl called Julia was defending and I was next in line to try. Somehow Julia overbalanced me and I fell face down onto the tarmac floor. Although I put out my hands, my face struck the floor as well as my hands and I grazed a good part of my cheek and both palms. As I cried out, a teacher came around the corner (what happened to the lookout, I don’t know) and saw what had occurred.