Winder House, Sedbergh
I woke early, my bed a mess, feeling tired but steady enough. I pulled on a clean slipover with my jacket and trousers and went down to breakfast. Two eggs. Simple, solid, and welcome.
I had a good wash. There’s more time for that now that I’m no longer fagging for a prefect. No rushing about doing chores for someone else. I even had time to make my bed properly before break.
We had a test on Silas Marner. I’d done the reading but it didn’t seem to help much. I did badly. One of those flat, disappointing moments where you know you could have done better but no one has told you how. I was yet to learn to take notes on everything I read. I hadn’t found or been taught a way to make information stick; especially stuff that didn’t interest me.
French was in the language lab. Galas booths and headphones. It was all right, though I found doing comparisons difficult the first time through.
Maths was more straightforward. We finished work on transformations and were given some O’ level questions to get on with. We use School Maths, project table 3TC metric C.U.P.
At break I had chocolate spread on toast and Marmite on toast. Bate O.Y on losing his batteries. He seemed genuinely put out by it.
German was about West and East Germany, still very much separate worlds.
In Latin we went over previous work and participles, steady and methodical.
Lunch back at the House.
After that I ran up Winder, since I’m off rugger for two weeks (no idea why. I was meant to be off rugger for a uear having badly broken my leg the year before). I did it in thirty-two minutes. Not bad. It left me breathless but pleased with myself. I loved to run alone, as an escape. I could chase a time – but not if I was being chased to post a good time.
Later I practised the piano. Then I worked on projects, and then settled into hard prep. A long stretch of it.
The day ended with hymns in the hall. A familiar close to an ordinary, full school day.
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