This is a part of the school I attended from 1928 (when I was five years old) to 1933, when my family left Harringay and moved to Surrey. Memories of two teachers of that period still remain lodged in my (85-year old) noddle. Miss Clayton, who took the induction class for infants. She was a blonde ‘princess’ in my eyes, not least because she had a tall glass jar of boiled sweets on her desk. At going-home time, those who had been ‘good’ got a sweetie. Her colleague (Miss Osmonde) was a different type. Red-haired and with a very short fuse, she taught us arithmetic. A hard task-mistress, who could wield an ebony ruler to great effect. As a result, I can still recite all my tables (up to 12 times 12) to this day. Other memories of that school include Empire Day parades in the playground, and rigid observance of the two minutes silence on Armistice Days. If I can find them, I have two photos of the school in the 1928-33 period. One shows my class, most of the boys dressed in mishapen jumpers and the girls in pretty frocks, and the entire cast of the school’s 1930 (?) Christmas ‘play.

Arthur Astrop, Kenilworth