'It was not an easy period of time for any one in the country with families being parted, some permanently, shortages of everything - food, fuel, clothing and much more. They were dark days, not only because of the terrible news items broadcast on the radios every few hours ... but also the lack of lighting in the streets at night, in shop windows, on railway stations and ... the black-out curtains.

Perhaps these conditions were a contrast to the lives we lived at school where, over a period of five to seven years, most pupils experienced a sound, organised and rounded education in a pleasant atmosphere achieved by a fair but firm understanding between staff and pupils'.