Item courtesy of Phil Perkins - 1958 to '60

My memories are – that around 1958, for two years - involuntary banned from the Royal Grammar School (so called) by a headmaster, Mr Tucker, who had no regard for health and safety. My single mother negotiated with Mr Ward, to accept me, and I was a "good boy" until I left after getting an "O" level pass on "A" level maths, to going to work for “ElectronicTubes”, in Loudwater.

I remember Jim Crowther (Close friend), and Bert Seaman (who, for some reason didn't like me a lot). I can remember helping Jim with motorbike repairs, in the open, under the old bike shed. There was oil everywhere, and we were very black handed; I just hope we cleared up the oil properly. Jim later bought a blue Austin Atlantic.

Besides realising that it was a great school, where you were treated as human beings, I discovered that I should never have gone to RGS. I have another ex-RGS friend who rates RGS as the worst school ever.

Our form room was up the top, a bit to the left of centre, at the front ,and had the little room where you could puff on a cigarette, out of the window. That little room was possibly only in the region of less that 6 feet square.

Remembering Dave Roberts is also leaking back; I took over his paper round from Des Lunn's shop, nearer to the railway, and just below the same railway footpath that took the top little entrance to The Tech, along to the top of Crendon Street. - my lunchtime walk home for lunch. I'm sure Dave lived about 1/3 of the way down Totteridge Avenue, on the right hand side, well before the (no longer) Ernest Turners. I used to bring in "spare" papers to school, every day, and I remember there was some special occasion when, just one day, I brought in every paper that Des could obtain.

Someone was so kind to me, by "helping" in Physics questions, with questions on “Light”.

Not all schools were in sync, so I never did Light as a subject; conversely, I took my Chemistry exam in the building near the top gate, as Chemistry wasn't a Tech subject for examination a the time..

All Tech boys were distinctive, as they all carried T Squares, to and from home. Coming in late, I missed all of the drawing teaching but, ironically, I had to take it, as an extra subject, on my day release course from my first job. I really enjoyed it and it has helped so much with PCB and CAD work that I did as a full-time job, running Pervisell Ltd, in Temple End, from 1981.

Finally - I was a REAL Tech boy, complete with T Square, although a few years late.