The cloak room, bursting with colour from everybody’s personalised gym bag, and darkened by damp snorkel jackets. Discovering that by the time we’d got to J4, the infants toilets were really titchy and then reminiscing about how little we were when we were young.

Friday morning TV in the hall, with the fold out sun-shield. Queueing at the dinner hatch. The light streaming in and catching dust particles in assembly. The kid who always added an extra “of kings” at the end of “sing hosanna”. When we first learned we had to do a class play for the whole school and really bricking it. Billy Beacon (which scared the smaller kids).

Friday lunchtime, when Mr. Pascoe would retrieve all our balls that we’d kicked onto the roof throughout the week. Rugby on the top field in the winter, frozen to the core and smothered in linament. Mrs. Davies spraying her perfume around the room because the boys smelled so bad when we came back into class. Winning the Div-4 West football league. The Summer Fete. The bloke that mowed the grassy slopes with a flymo on a rope. Walking home down the lane towards Wimmerfield with an ice-cream from Brian, who stopped outside most summer afternoons.

Small glass bottles of milk with blue straws. School Sports day. School attendance being so low that the green team was dissolved. School trips to St. Helens swimming baths; Brynmill Park; Fairwood Lake. The Alton Towers Trip. The Christmas Carol Service in St. Hilarys. Watching a film at the end of term, in the hall, on a reel to reel projector. Helpers. Mr. Smith’s delicate use of “Six of one, half a dozen of the other.” when investigating the cause of a disagreement between 8 year olds. The awful, terrible, fashion mistakes of the early 80′s. The “art” areas. SMP. The installation of the water fountains.

School letters, hand written, and copied on the purple photostat machine. Sitting all day in the quiet room to watch the first shuttle launch.

The school getting it’s first ever computer, which we were allowed to use in breaktime, on a strict rota, with the older kids having priority time. Learning to type CH."" and dutifully responding to the "PRESS PLAY ON TAPE" message.

Most of all, when the sun was shining, it was a good day for a fire drill. We’d evacuate the building quickly and clamly. Then as a reward for our swift and safe exit someone would be sent into the hall for the brown plastic box on wheels that contained the hoops and bats and balls that meant a game of crazy cricket was upon us. I still remember the sound that thing made as it was wheeled out over the paving and tarmac; that’s that sound of summer.