Well, yes, wonderful friends there. And these are friendships forged under duress, as it were. And harsh conditions, which were meant to be like that. But what a wonderful place. There's the Wiltshire Downs, there's Savernake Forest, you have a bicycle. You ride a bicycle. If you get a moment, you know, out you can go. And when I worked out the way that... you know, in cricket, if you're the captain, you go in and field first, and then you get bowled out with the first ball, then you've got a lot of time. You can piss off.

That, but the real point... I mean, later, in the sixth form, of course you don't see it like that. You don't realise how bloody lucky you are. You have no distractions, no home to go home to, no girlfriends allowed, much. I mean, one in the town, but you're completely isolated, monastic life, and even if you do get nicked on your motorbike, bringing in all the things that the upper classes aren't allowed, or middle classes, like beer and chewing gum and so on.

And anyway, you get beaten for that sort of thing, and having a motorbike. But you have a key to the labs. You, a boy, have a key to the labs. Trusted completely. Go out for that prep, as it were, for your biology A-levels, S-levels, and immerse yourself. And you might be alone in this vast lab. And you put the lights on and there are all the microscopes lined up. You can do... repeat any experiment you want to. It is just fucking magical. I couldn't believe it. And then you're a bit carried away.

And it feels wicked, which is always essential, because you shouldn't really be up that late. So you put all the lights out and you do all the right things, and you put your specimens back, and then you can't go into your house by the normal door, it's two in the morning.

So you go up the fire escape and in through the window you left open. And that just seemed... well, I'm 61 and I've never fucking forgotten that. Just wonderful. Such a privilege somehow. So big change once you are in the sixth form.