School Part 2 before the pre- head injury part 2

School Part 2 before the pre- head injury part 2

2^nd year (year 8)

In the start of the 2^nd year, it was a bit different from the first year as we formed our friendship groups  there were the class groups and break time football friends.

I recall one of the fixed fixtures at school was  Ron’s ice cream van at lunch time. If you were not having ice-cream, some people (cannot name who publicly ) would  pop the  bonnet of the van open and would mess  with the engine recall Ron in his heavy set west country accent saying  ‘DON’T ROCK THE VAN!! Or some time the occasional school bag would chucked under the van.

 

In school we were divided into attainment sets. Some students were in  top set, second set or third set for math ,German and French.

The top set was for students who think that they are very clever and would do anything for the teachers. Second set students we were too clever to be in the top set and did not want to be in the top set.  The third set did not need to be in the class because their IQ was so high, they did their math in the shop or went home for 45 mins or didn’t come back and stay at home once registration was done, about 30 years ahead of their time the third set were mastering the  “stay home and work at home” long before 2020 .

I was in the top set for German which was a bit easy for me because I could speech German a bit when I was younger due to my grandparents and mum (I was not thinking I was clever or wanting to impress teacher , I was just naturally talented at the language ).

 Everything was going well at School until after Christmas. The students who were in the top set who did German had got the bonus privilege of doing French on Wednesdays after school for 45 mins. When the lower sets got to go home. That why it was a bit shit being in a top set for languages.

My nickname when I was at school was Granny (I still to this day do not know why) it started when I was 7 years old. My dad told me that they will forget calling me granny in the morning, 36 years later I am still waiting for that morning. When I started secondary school, I thought it would stop but I was so wrong, by then I was so use to it I barely noticed not being called Daniel .  When the Games teacher started calling me Granny, I knew that I would be stuck for life as being called Granny. I think that I have been called my nickname much more then my real name in my whole life. Also just imagine how confused my son was when he was younger when people called me Granny (more on that later).

 I loved games throughout my school years with the exception of  cross country (do they still do that as part of PE ?) .We would have to run in the winter imagine the fashion Daley Thomson era  with the 80s short shorts on in the  freezing cold and the rain uphill pass a restaurant and back. We would  see the Games teacher car driving pass us  he was in the warmth with his music on going really slowly to rub it in. I can remember two guys had a very good idea that they would do a shortcut. That would be a great idea apart from  they got lost and the teachers had gone and found them. The teachers were not happy at all with them especially as they has to find them by foot .

I can't remember any of the other lessons apart CDT. My friend and I found one of those small knives. The knives (whittling knife I think ) were very sharp, and he said that he would like to be  Blood Brothers, so I said that's sounds cool. First he cut his thumb a little bit  ,  So, I did the same, but I cut myself too deep .My finger  EXPLODE , the blood did not stop ,  I needed to go to the nurse, and We may have shortened the CDT teacher life a bit that day .That was not a very good idea because our teacher looked about 80 and looked like he was going to have a small heart attack. 

I give up playing tennis on Saturdays  as to not  disturb my new Football career. I got a transfer from Shire Colts  to Stoke Lane an undisclosed fee. It was a good move for both the club and me as I was player of the year in 1991.

 I worked out quickly that having a girlfriend would be a distraction for my football career.  So, I had to say no to all the girls who wanted me. At the end of the year, after upsetting so many girls, we went on a trip for five days with our year group to Wales .It might have  been Weston-Super-Mare I can’t really remember. What I do  recall is that it was great fun doing different things each day.

 We had a do at  go-kart or buggy racing I think. It looked fun and easy but of course it was not. When it was my go, I went too fast and hit the hay ( a bit like my son on his first adventure into racing more on that later) . I got out of the go-kart with a bump my head which  really  hurt at the time  without knowing in a month or so, I would have a bit more than just a bump on my head. Also not knowing I was never be going to have a real school year ever again in my life after that summer  .

Before  I go into what happened that summer  lets go back on my great football career.

Two of my friends and me went to a football camp for a week. The  football camp was where the England national  team did the training (not now). It was great I got new skills from the trainers  and I met new people who were slightly  better than me. They were a small kid who was year below, but he was very fast and very good skills, and all the coaches were talking about him, and he was called Michael cant remember his surname. It might have  been Michael Owen, I doubt it, but I can say that I was friends with Michael Owen!!

 A Few days before the mum and dads came, we went to Spurs the football club. We had the choice to have a tour around the ground or have a match inside the ground. I choice the football match inside but I went to the wrong group, so I had to have the tour round the ground. It turned out that going the wrong way was the right decision because spurs won the FA Cup that year, and we could hold the FA Cup and have photos taken.  To  this day I still got that picture in my bedroom. Not because the picture was taken 2 or 3 weeks before my head-injury, But knowing that if I didn’t go on that tour, I would be signing for Spurs!! 

 

 

my mum and dad pick me up after I got my award, we went to see my Grandad and Gran and my sister. I show them my new skills and my award. After we had our cup of English tea and the English home-made cake. The next few days where spent getting ready for our holiday to France. Lots of excitement Summer was here

All what I can remember from 1991 apart school was if you want to see a film, you would do to a  video shop no DVD then just videos like blockbuster. We had a top-class in the 80s computer, a Amstrad. For a game we would have wait for about 2 or 3 mins to load it was so fast then and using tapes and buy the games would be about £3 or £4. I had a game called player of the year. I would play with the game for ages, the only thing is the I couldn’t save anything of games.  A friend of mine had a Spectrum or a commodore. And each Wednesday morning I would get Roy of the rover’s comics.  

If you want to phone up a friend, they were no mobile phones, You needed to use the land line. If you wanted to see live football matches on tv. It was one game each Sunday on ITV the programme was called The Big Match. We would watch it after the Sunday football when I played for stoke lane. We would be wet and cold and very muddy and just want to go home but the dads would stay and watch the game. That was the days when you got the first, second, Third and Fourth Division. You got teams like Luton, Coventry or the old Wimbledon being in the top flight.

 

After school most of the people would watch Home and Away on HTV at 5.10. Then after straight to BBC to watch Neighbors 5.35. The great era of the sunskissed soaps

Its time before the  Internet and mobiles phones if you want to tell someone that you like them. Give them a note by pen and paper at school not texting. (More on my adventure in paper messages later too)

And a 99-ice cream with a flake would be 80p not like now £3.50 or a 45 minutes walk to the local shop and back like where I live today again that’s a tale for another day !

Thank you for taking the time to read my ramblings – I do appreciate all the feedback given . I am on a learning curve . Have to say I am enjoying the process a bright side of Living

 

Merry Christmas

Dan