The discussion inevitably brought back school memories too.
One reader recalled hearing stories of teachers waiting near school entrances for latecomers, although he did not personally remember this happening at his own Scottish school.
He certainly remembered the belt itself.
His first experience of school corporal punishment came when he was only seven.
Looking back decades later, he finds the idea startling. At the time, however, it was treated as routine.
That contrast is perhaps one of the most striking features of recollections from this period.
People frequently describe practices that seem severe today and then add the same observation:
“Nobody thought it particularly unusual at the time.”
