A bright boy!

Whit Friday procession

My father was a small (5ft1in approx!), rotund, roguish man. To my great regret I never questioned him closely about his childhood. The story goes, though, that he was a bright boy who passed the "scholarship" (later known as the 11 plus) exam and so could have gone on to study at the secondary school. However, as the eldest boy in a large and growing family, with his father away serving the Army during the First World War, it was not financially possible. So at the age of eleven he became a half-timer, i.e. going to work in a factory from 6 a.m. till 12-30 a.m. during one week, and from 1-30 p.m. to 5-30 p.m. in the following week, attending school for half-days only.