There was a classic obituary in the Daily Telegraph some weeks ago of Colonel Michael Singleton, “infantryman, spin-bowler and pipe-smoker who ran a prep school with disregard for normal procedure.” In England, a ‘prep school’ is a private school for children aged between 8-13. Traditionally these were boarding schools, and traditionally they could be highly eccentric. Colonel Singleton’s establishment (which he ran between 1948 and 1973) was obviously no exception.

Here’s an extract too good not to repeat:

“What central heating there existed was not always effective, or even switched on. Boys were permitted to capture owls and keep them in the fives court, provided they caught enough sparrows to feed them. One boy recalls being given the task of rearing a lamb to which he developed some emotional attachment [note that marvelous ‘some’ – this was pre-Diana, the old England now lost]. The animal, called Lottie, disappeared shortly before the school’s Christmas feast, and the boy realized what had happened only when he was the first to be summoned for second helpings.”

Old school, indeed.