My voice broke when I was about fourteen and a half and with the unpredictable sounds that came from my vocal chords then, I was banished from the choir to the Cross Guild, whereby you carried the Cross in the front of the procession.

At a little over sixteen I left school to look for work. And so ended my Chorister days.

At School - which I enjoyed, I was not particularly good academically, although interested. For example I got 5% for my last Latin exam, which I believe was awarded for no blots on the paper and spelling my name right!

After that I was given extra Art lessons instead of Latin. This suited me right down to the ground . I subsequently got a Distinction in Art in the Matriculation ( 'A' Levels today ).

I enjoyed all the physical aspects of school activities, in the gymnasium, the wall bars, parallel bars, ropes, the horse and the floor exercises. I was in the House football team and the House cricket team . I never made the school teams because of my Cathedral commitments .

It was during my school days that I had a cycling accident at the age of 14. I had borrowed a friend's fixed- wheel racing bicycle and when belting along Mulgrave Street with my toes firmly fixed into the toe-straps I decided to free-wheel ! The result was disastrous ! I was pitched into the air, the bike careering out of control and I finally crashed to the ground. When I got to my feet my first reaction was one of wonderment at how many pieces went to making up a bicycle lamp ! There was the body of the lamp, then the battery, then the thing that holds the bulb, then the reflector, then the bulb, then the glass and finally the threaded ring that holds the glass on . Each piece was spread about three feet apart down the road !

A lady, who had seen me come off the bike, came across the road and asked if I had hurt myself . On inspecting myself for injuries I discovered the little finger of my right hand resting curled up on the back of my hand!

The lady was very concerned and took me off to the local doctor - who incidentally was on holiday and a locum was standing in. He laid me on a stretcher, grabbed my hand and pulled my finger straight ! needless to say this caused me considerable pain. He then put it in splints, bandaged it, and then told me to come back in three weeks .

When I went back to the doctors he took off the bandage and splints and revealed a very distorted little finger, with no movement and obviously something
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