Well, kind of you to say so, Zandonai! Not sure I could genuinely be accused of grasping too many opportunities, but enjoy the School I certainly did!

Talking of opportunities, I recall the great 1970s battle between CSEs and GCE O-Levels, with many teachers supporting CSEs and unwilling to even hear of anything as "elitist" as O-Levels. Even if you were in an upper stream, there would often be propaganda by teachers to do a CSE and cock a snook at the establishment. The fallacy that a top grade at CSE was equal to an O-Level pass was widely mooted (and totally false, as I was to find out to my cost). Having said that, once the School sensed Oxbridge material, they spared no effort honing it, as I witnessed with my compatriot Daynov.

Among the assorted characters, forgot to mention the lovely Cockney couple running the Tuck Shop located at the back of the gyms, on the way to the outdoor swimming pool. Oh, and the pool itself: it was a point of huge pride for the School that students had built it themselves from scratch sometime in the late 1960s. Buut... the pool was shaded by huge mature trees, meaning its water was always Arctic cold and often full of dead leaves and tree bark, not to mention assorted raucous amphibians. Needless to say, it saw little use.

Also forgot the nice ginger-bearded Chemistry master who doubled as RE teacher, and an amazingly intelligent, tall Physics master with an upper class accent and manner, who managed to demystify hugely difficult concepts. I regret I have forgotten both their names...