I went on a hugely memorable school trip when I was at Moselely Hall Grammar in Cheadle, near Manchester, says the manager of the Anti-Bullying Network. It was 1966 and we set out on the day England won the World Cup.
We drove through France, Spain and Morocco, and I think it cost pound;38 for 21 days. It was the first time I’d ever been out of the country.
We couldn’t figure out the layout of one place we stayed in, where there seemed to be lots of cubicles. We saw lots of sailors going upstairs, then the madam appeared in a diaphanous nightgown. Basically, we were staying in a Spanish brothel.
It was the time of Franco, and two boys went into a bar in Madrid and were laughing about something. The police thought they were laughing at them; the boys spent the night in jail.
Then we travelled across the Straits of Gibraltar, the only time I ever went fourth class. We were actually below the waterline. The one tape we had was a recording of Top of the Pops made by the coach driver. I remember hearing “Yellow Submarine” (below) for about the 50th time. But the coach got broken into in Granada and someone stole the tape, so it was silence on the way back. But it was a tremendous trip.
