After leaving The Collegiate School, I attended another small private school known as the Wakefield Tutorial School situated at the bottom of Southgate. The Tutorial School was a branch of 'Brown's' academy, which had premises outside of Wakefield in an area known as Walton. On the curriculum were Elocution lessons and I eventually got a certificate, signed by actor Ian Carmichael, for passing the exam...which. basically, required me to read some poems, speaking in a very proper, rather posh, 'Queen's English.' But my accent was at odds with the other kids who were neigbours on our council house estate and I was looked upon as a bit of an outsider by some of them because of it.
My next step on the education ladder took me from private schools to a state run one, St John's Junior School at the end of Kilby Street. This wasn't a very large school but much larger than the private schools I'd been used to. It was a different kind of experience.
I wasn't particularly happy there, sometimes being bullied, but I developed a crush on a girl in the next class called Pamela Scarlett, a very pretty girl who commanded much attention from the boys. On mornings, when we were all seated at our desks ready for the first class to start, Pamela's own class would file in and walk through our classroom to get to their classroom which was situated in the room behind ours. As Pamela passed by my desk she would give me the sweetest smile and my junior school heart would melt. I've had an idea for a couple of years now to write a piece iof music titled 'Pavane For Pamela Scarlett.' I've never forgotten her. Wonder where she is now?
Here's a photograph of my class at St John's Junior School with myself on the left, indicated by the arrow.
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