Happy Schooldays with a Towel and a Love of Nature

Hi Everyone

Last weekend I went back to school. Fortunately, there were no teachers or head teacher there, so I managed to escape the cane, a detention or, worse still, having to write one hundred lines. On this occasion, it was a day long event with about 150 of us, with many approaching middle age, and with some even older than me. The school was a new, modern building with all the modern technologies, a lecture theatre, toilets for disabled students and lifts to the second floor classrooms. I am telling you all this Rubbish as I wondered whether the students of today fully appreciate the facilities they have to further their education. I remember my first school was in a cold Victorian building with a coal fire in the classrooms, wooden desks for two, no dining area and with the toilets a separate brick structure with no roof in the middle of the playground. My second school was a little better in that we had radiators instead of open fires. When I then progressed to the local high school, we were in a new, modern building, but because it was built just before and during WW2, some of it was unfinished, as we tripped over the metal clips on the rough concrete floor in the assembly hall, as the timber needed to complete the floor was subject to rationing. In every school, we sat in rows, and I quickly learned that the back row was the place to be to escape from being picked out by the teacher. I obviously perfected that technique, as after 8 years at the high school, the head teacher had no idea who I was. I don’t know about you, but the best part of the day was when the bell rang at the end of the lesson. 

Our second holiday abroad in 1970 took us to the Algarve in Portugal. We were never sun worshippers, as we were much more interested in exploring the country we were visiting, rather than lazing on a beach or by the hotel pool. On the third day of our holiday, however, we decided to spend some time on the beach. We parked our towels by a large rock, and after about half an hour soaking up the sun, we decided to go to a nearby beach bar for lunch. On our return, we found that our towels had been removed by two German tourists who were now sitting in our spot. When we asked why they removed our towels, they informed us that they had used the spot earlier in the day and as far as they were concerned it was theirs for the day. The following year we went to the Greek island Rhodes. On arrival, we found that there were 6 Brits in the hotel, including us, surrounded by about 400 Germans. As our room overlooked the pool, we could see that by six in the morning, all the poolside loungers had a towel on them, all German, of course. This week, a couple of tourists have successfully sued a travel company and the hotel after complaining about the practice. They won their case and were awarded about £800 in compensation, and yes, you have guessed it, they were German tourists.

Just occasionally, along comes someone who is respected, admired and liked by millions of people around the world. No, not a politician or world leader, but someone who has spent his life persuading us of the importance of preserving the natural world, and the dangers of pollution and climate change. This week, he received his congratulations card from King Charles on reaching his one hundredth birthday. Thank you David Attenborough, for your contribution and for at last reaching middle age, with hopefully more to come.

Just a Thought:

My maths teacher taught me quadratic equations. Eighty years on, I am still waiting to use that skill. 

A German watch is the only thing more accurate than a German towel placement. 

The amount of good things in your life depends on your ability to notice them.

Brian