Back row: Miss Nicholls; French kid; David Basson;Robert Woodcock; Glen something; Michael Harris; David Burne; Max Newsom; Patrick O'Connor; Mark Scott. Middle: Tony something; A girl; Helen Wasson; Jackie Webb; A Girl; A Bradley;Karina Wilson!, A Girl; A Girl; Ewan something? Lower Middle: Ruth Lloyd?; Sarah Wiggins; A Girl; Sheila O'Riordan(???); Georgina Fox; Julie Judd?; Tracy????; Kay????? Front Row: Colin French?; Douglas Gaines; David Ellis; a kid; David Zachs; Tim Streamer; Neville Tanner. Thirty-four kids in one class! Ridiculous. Still, no artificial government targets to reach in those days,thank goodness. No mobile phones in the classroom. And the teachers could still beat you with a broken bottle whenever the whim happened upon them. Ah,the good old days. Here's a bit I wrote for the school's website guestbook, which failed to appear despite repeated attempts to post it : "I attended Fawbert's from 1969 to 1975. My teachers were Mrs Gribble, MS White, Mrs Farr, Mrs Perrin (the BEST teacher ever), Mrs Bowker, and Miss Nicholls (I can't recall her married name). The headmaster was Mr Buckley. I recall my school years with mixed feelings, but there were some great times at the school, especially in the summer when we were let loose on the enormous school field. Back then F & B had its own outdoor swimming pool, which must have been incredibly unusual. I was sad to see that the pool has been removed since then. I imagine the upkeep proved too much to justify retaining it. In those days I walked to school, sometimes with my brothers, but often on my own or with friends. We walked through woods and we were utterly without fear. I suspect that kids these days are probably taken to school by their parents, either in giant 4x4s or wearing electrified suits of armour...by which I mean that parents are now way too overprotective of their kids. After F & B I went to Mark Hall for a couple of years, and then my family picked up sticks and moved to Leeds, where I was sent to a dismal Catholic high school. Despite this still managed to get decent A levels and go to university. After wandering around blindly fora few years in the 1980s I landed in the video game industry. I moved to the south west of England, and then came to California in 1994. I've worked on successful titles such as the LucasArts X-Wing series, Tony Hawk's Pro Skater series and currently I am working on the Guitar Hero franchise as a 3D modeler. I can't say how much of this was influenced by my time at F & B, but every so often I'll have a fond memory of the school whilst I'm working."

Two of the Western Region's doomed diesel-hydraulics waiting to be released from the "stop blocks" at Paddington. The locomotive on the left has arrived with the 1025 from Birmingham; that on the right has brought in the 0635 from Penzance. Both will have been detached from their trains and, once these have departed on their next "down" journeys, will go for fuel and minor servicing at Ranelagh Bridge ...the little yard on the north side of the line about half a mile out of the great terminus. It is now early afternoon. These locomotives will probably return to take out trains during the evening rush hour. It was an inefficient arrangement, but it generated a lot of interesting engine movements. I always thought that the man who devised the "diagrams" for locomotives and rolling stock, i.e. the schedule of work for each individual locomotive and set of carriages, had the world's most fascinating job. I suppose it is all done by computers now ...and in any case today's amphisb?nic multiple-unit trains, which can be driven from either end, have made locomotives obsolete on passenger trains. The yard at Ranelagh Bridge is now given over to car parking I see. This was taken on a gloomy winter's day, Monday 3rd February 1975, using a tripod and an exposure of four seconds. The chemist on Platform 1 ...handy if you ran out of film... is no longer there. Come to think of it I didn't notice the John Menzies newspaper kiosk on the "lawn" when I made a rare visit to London by train last week. Real shops have given way to Tie Rack franchises and modish eating places.