I missed nearly a complete year's schooling due to a TB gland in my neck. The cause of the TB was put down to the school milk, which in those days we all drank at mid morning break.

I was not the only one in the school to suffer as Noel Goodman also had the same problem.

In those days there two classrooms, the little room was for children up to the age of, I think, seven and the big room for the older children before they went on to secondary education.

The little room teacher in my days was Mrs Allen; Miss Pearson was the headteacher when I first started, followed by Mrs Randall for a short period before Mrs Lillian Avery took over.

Mrs Randall was the wife of the woodwork master at the Eye Modern School and also Mrs Avery's sister-in-law.

Mrs Avery lived in Gislingham, and with her husband was a very keen grower of sweet peas and the pair won nearly all the top prizes at the Eye Flower Show.

My early education was mainly the three 'R's', writing in those early days with chalk on a small black-board was always a problem but we managed and I did okay.

Reading was not my best subject but I excelled at arithmetic, and learning my tables came, as second nature, which I will say, was a very great help in my professional career.

Under Mrs Allen's influence we learnt a lot about nature with the identification of wild flowers, birds and creatures.

We were encouraged to find wild flowers and try to be the first one in the class to bring them to school, charts were kept from year to year to establish the earliest date for different varieties as well as the discovery of birds nests.

Looking back now it makes me wonder how many wild flowers suffered and were lost due to our actions.

In Mrs Avery's class our work was geared to the 11-plus examinations, progressing from the chalk and blackboards to books, firstly with pencils and then pen and ink.

We all know what a problem the old ink wells were, with the old favourite of blotting paper, which would some how appear on the end of the nib and ruin your work.

Other subjects were also introduced such as art and projects, but it was arithmetic which still commanded my studies, reading still not to my liking nor was English or spelling.

However, when it came to the 11-plus I passed and was given an interview to go to The Eye Grammar School, but at the interview I told the board that I wanted to go to the Modern School.

I do not know whether Mrs Avery ever forgave me for that, as I was the first pupil from Mellis School to be given the opportunity under her guidance, and may I add the first for many years from the school itself.

The school itself was in a poor state with holes in the floorboards, one coal fire in each classroom so we had to wrap up well to keep warm, outside toilets which were quite a walk from the main building.

Our playground was on the Common outside the school so you can imagine that there wasn't a lot of playtime in the winter, especially when it rained.

Our school dinners were brought to the school by van from Stowmarket in metal containers which at times were not too hot, and of course some times did not arrive so we had to resort to emergency food which would consist of dry biscuits and tinned meat.

The menus were not great and some of the vegetables were inedible, especially the greens which at times had not been cleaned correctly, and the potatoes were I assume the forerunner of today's smash, it was like eating putty.

One of the best was semolina and jam. I wonder what the children of today would say, not to mention Jamie Oliver?