May I take this opportunity to share a few boyhood memories with you?
 
1.  David and I were the form milk monitors.  (Milk was given out after the morning break between the second and third periods.)  That meant taking a signed note from the form teacher of the second morning period indicating the form and the number of (quarter 
pint/third of a pint?) bottles required.  The sheet of paper was made out by us showing at the top the form name and the number of bottles required e.g. 30.  We would then get the form master to sign the bottom of the sheet and thus authorise this at the end of the second period.  We ensured that there was plenty of space between the form details at the top and the master’s signature at the bottom.
 
However, before taking the signed sheet down to the basement to collect the milk, we would carefully tear off the upper part of the sheet.  Then we would rewrite the form name but this time with, say, 34 bottles of milk!  We would then present this note, collect the milk but, prior to taking it up to the classroom, we would then drink the extra ill-gotten bottles of milk!  
 
I cannot recall where we got this idea, and don’t know whether any other boys were using this ploy - but we were never found out!  Talk about enterprising.
 
2. There were seven lesson periods in the day, four in the morning and three in the afternoon, each of 40 minutes, with an hour for lunch.  The Institute was a large building with several floors and sixty odd classrooms, and it was sometimes quite a trek going from one period to the next.  Whilst travelling through the corridors to the next lesson Dave and I often used to sing popular songs - the Everley Brothers were a particular favourite - and oh how we would harmonise!


3.  One day when school finished David took me across to the Cathedral and we went up the tower (via a very narrow circular stone stairway) through the belfry and out on the very top. The Cathedral was built on top of high slope coming up from the River Mersey and so gave a wonderful view - if memory serves the tower was about 350 feet high. You could all the docks, across the river to the Wirral and even the hills of North Wales.
 
I could also fill several pages with memories of our cycling and hosteling holidays!
 
God bless you, Dave.
 
Your dear pal, Arthur. X