Timothy Hughes (BGS staff 1966-1970)

The year would have been 1968 or '69, the form was 1S or 2A and my Nemesis was Tim Hughes, instructor of religion. Tim was recounting a ditty from the Bible about a guy with a damaged or deformed hand. My sketchiness now reflects accurately the attention I was paying then. Tim set the homework, and surprise, surprise, it was to retell, in our own words, the day's story. He even gave us the title. In the next lesson, our masterpieces had been marked and Tim wandered round handing the exercise books back, until he came to me…

"Where did you get your title?" he asked. "Everyone else has the same one except you."

"It's what you said." I replied. "What has everyone called it?"

"The man with a withered hand".

My title, which had seemed silly to me as I had done my homework, "The man with a red hand", suddenly turned me into the boy with a very red face.

I burst out laughing and picked up the inevitable detention.

John Simpson (BGS 1968-1970)