It was as a six-year-old in 1958 at Denbigh Road Infants’ School in Luton. The wielder was the rather aptly named headmistress, Mrs. Chillington, a grey-haired lady with a complexion and disposition to match.
I cannot recall with any certainty the reason for the display, but personal guilt over the misty ruins of time reminds me that some new whitewood furniture had recently been installed in classroom (this was a time when post-war austerity still reigned and the school was considered rather fortunate to have received this new furniture). It was, of course, forbidden to eat sweets during lessons. Rebelling against authority I sucked a Murray Mint during a lesson, but my conscience and fear of reprisal overwhelmed me and with a guilt-ridden heart I hid the half-eaten sweet in one of the drawers of the new furniture.