Old West Downs Society – Memories of the Cornes Era, 1954-1988

From Simon Berthon 1959 to 1965

Dear Mr. Hichens,

Probably too late, but my memories are the disgustingly smelly loos (which were apparently just as bad at closure!); brilliant summers on the cricket field (I was 1st XI 1963, 1964); loathing Scouting, knots, damp, unlightable fires in Melbury; and having major philosophical disputes with poor Jeremy Fisher about the pointlessness of Scouting; starring at Latin Prose, while never once having the principles of mathematics explained to me (an omission I rather regret); and eating endless amounts of fried bread at breakfast, “begged” from other tables, which must have had terrible cholesterol consequences.

Yours Sincerely, Simon Berthon