Readers remember those curious moments when an old-fashioned smack, slipper or school punishment unexpectedly became part of everyday life...
Not every recollection comes from the distant past. One contributor’s wife trained as a nurse in Leeds during the...
Restaurant work provides another example of how informal some workplaces could once be. One contributor, who had spent more...
The discussion inevitably brought back school memories too. One reader recalled hearing stories of teachers waiting near school entrances...
Perhaps the most fascinating recollection comes from the summer of 1967. One reader had just finished his A-level examinations....
What stayed most clearly in the reader’s memory, however, was the reaction of one of the girls. She became...
These recollections are interesting because they sit somewhere between social history and everyday memory. They are not necessarily dramatic...
The humble gym shoe — universally known as “the slipper” — presents historians with a particular difficulty. Although remembered...
What those dusty old registers can tell us about school life in another age There was a time when...
A traditional punishment book was a decidedly official-looking affair. Depending upon the school and education authority, it might record...
There is, however, a considerable problem with using punishment books as historical evidence. They don’t necessarily tell the whole...