At the age of nine I attended Ivy lane junior school in Chippenham. There were flick knives in the playground, quite a contrast to the private PNEU school I previously attended in Derbyshire. I had a crush on Beverley Roberts though I never kissed her.
At the time I was the ringleader of a syndicate that visited Woolworth’s on a regular basis. The operation was highly successful, that is until I fell in love with Beverley. For her eighth birthday I ‘acquired’ an imitation crocodile skin purse worth seven shillings and sixpence. Pocket money at that time was about three old pennies per week so this was a generous gesture for my little sweetheart. So generous in fact that Beverley`s mother paid father a visit. In turn father paid a visit to the headmaster and a rapid chain of events resulted in me instantly confessing to my crimes in the headmaster`s study with father in attendance and then to the manager of Woolworths, who mentioned the word 'Police' if it happened again.
Our syndicate was perfectly organized. Two or three of us would go into the store with raincoats on. One boy would draw the attention of the shop assistant whilst the other would drop dinky toys or penny calendars down the sleeve of his raincoat and then leave the store scratching his head so the bounty did not fall out.
At the time I was the ringleader of a syndicate that visited Woolworth’s on a regular basis. The operation was highly successful, that is until I fell in love with Beverley. For her eighth birthday I ‘acquired’ an imitation crocodile skin purse worth seven shillings and sixpence. Pocket money at that time was about three old pennies per week so this was a generous gesture for my little sweetheart. So generous in fact that Beverley`s mother paid father a visit. In turn father paid a visit to the headmaster and a rapid chain of events resulted in me instantly confessing to my crimes in the headmaster`s study with father in attendance and then to the manager of Woolworths, who mentioned the word 'Police' if it happened again.
Our syndicate was perfectly organized. Two or three of us would go into the store with raincoats on. One boy would draw the attention of the shop assistant whilst the other would drop dinky toys or penny calendars down the sleeve of his raincoat and then leave the store scratching his head so the bounty did not fall out.
The chest of drawers in my bedroom was neatly stashed with penny calendars and other merchandise. The calendars were glued to old Christmas cards I had received from relations and landed up as presents for all the family and nobody seemed to notice but the crocodile skin purse for my sweetheart was way over the top and I suppose illustrated clearly again how a woman can lead to a man`s downfall !
A short extract from 'Missing Jean' by Jeremy Broun
A short extract from 'Missing Jean' by Jeremy Broun
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