Sedbergh School
Field Day cancelled. Rain overnight and still falling. Rugger fields flooded or sodden, white touchlines blurred into mud. Flu about as well — masters and boys off. But mostly I was miffed. A Field Day would have meant a break from the usual routine. Instead it was another ordinary school day, with some teachers and younger boys in my year group kidding around.
Up early and revised French — Le Petit Nicolas. I wanted to understand the story properly this time. Worked carefully through it. Test got 23/24. Very good. Proof that effort works.
Geography. No master. I tried to get on with my Eden Valley project — glacial floodwaters carving the valley, meltwater reshaping the land in violent surges. I enjoyed that. But the class was restless. Kicking about. B especially babyish. Hard to think about Ice Age forces when boys won’t settle.
Break: three scones (provided from the kitchen) and coffee. Rain against the windows.
Maths with Mr Hedges. Clear and ordered. He knew exactly where each of us stood. I was good at Maths — straight As at Common Entrance and later at O-Level. It was a dependable subject. If you worked, you were rewarded.
Physics experiment. We were working steadily through O-Level practicals. I liked the precision of it. Measuring, calculating, arriving at something definite. The teacher didn’t come near me. Perhaps I didn’t need help. I noticed anyway.
Prep: the head of house gave me a map as punishment for some misdemeanour. Japan, as usual — convenient outline, manageable coastline. Towns, rivers, coloured-in sea border. Presented for approval. Probably destroyed.
Lunch.
Because the rugger fields were off limits, runs instead. I don’t understand why I wasn’t swimming. Too low priority. I went out keen. Along the Dent road, over Danny Bridge and up by Dovecot Farm before turning back. The River Rawthey running full. Fields full of wet sheep. Fells low in cloud.
Grubber: Mars Bar, crisps, Coke, Fruit Pastilles, Hobnobs. 50p. Ate the lot.
Headache by evening.
English: review Silas Marner. Our set book.
Inhalation before bed — a bowl of hot water, with a smear of Vicks, towel over head.
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