For many people, the schooldays of the 1980s bring back memories of blackboards, exercise books, PE kits, school dinners and perhaps the first computers appearing in classrooms. But for pupils attending certain British schools during the early and mid-1980s, there was another reminder of an earlier age that had not quite disappeared: corporal punishment.
The cane, slipper, ruler and plimsoll were becoming increasingly uncommon, but they were not yet history.
In state schools in Britain, corporal punishment survived until its abolition in 1987. By the beginning of the 1980s, however, attitudes were changing rapidly. Some schools had abandoned it completely, while others kept it in reserve for serious offences. A smaller number continued using it as part of everyday school discipline.
The following memories provide a fascinating glimpse into those final years.
