Читать книгу Lost Voices of the Edwardians: 1901–1910 in Their Own Words - Max Arthur, Max Arthur - Страница 114

In September 1908, I went to a boarding school in Lytham run by an old family friend. He was determined that his boys should see life from as many angles as possible, so we had expeditions of all kinds. We took a cruise on the ‘mud-hopper’ up the Ribble to Preston and we watched Preston North End, the premier football team. The most exciting event was the first Air Display in 1909, where we watched Paul Chan sailing serenely above us in his Voisin biplane. The following year, Blériot arrived in his biplane, having just made the first crossing of the Channel.

We concentrated a lot on sport, which is common, I suppose, to all boarding schools. I think I fancied myself as a future county cricketer. On wet days, the headmaster would spend hours with us in the gym, bowling a tennis ball to the batsman or wielding a cricket stump – excellent practice for playing a straight bat. At soccer I played left back. We won many games against bigger schools, possibly due to the headmaster's dubious advice – ‘Go for the man, never mind the ball!’