Manchester Grammar School's a very, sort of, a traditional school – had clear objectives – and although the maths master himself was an Oxford man, he was regarded… the best students were sent to Trinity and the next best students were sent to St John's and there was a kind of clear pecking order. He more or less determined who would apply where and somebody wouldn't be sent to Oxford.

It was quite clear in the school's mind where you send your pupils to maximise their prospects of getting in and so on. So once I suppose I'd been at school for a while it was clear to the maths teacher that I was amongst the abler ones in the class, I was put in the group that were sent into Trinity. Decided for me. I wouldn't have known, you know, at that stage, which… what colleges were what, really. My father might have given a bit of advice, but he wasn't a Cambridge man. He'd heard about Trinity, I suppose, but it was the school that determined them, and the maths master knew his job and he sent his best pupils to Trinity and that was it.