However, one boy elicited a degree of admiration from those who’d sampled the sandal by taking his whacks without any visible sign of distress. This was the early 1950s and he’d previously been a boarder at a local Prep School notorious for CP while his parents were abroad for a period. When asked the secret of his apparent immunity from pain he said that when you’d had six of the best on the bare with the cane the sandal didn’t hurt much.

In reality, he was a pretty tough customer. We both came from the coal mining area north of the city and spent a lot of time together out of school. He was not a lad you’d sensibly pick a fight with.