Robert Makins (FS 56-61) remembers two incidents from his schooldays.

“Some times, two of us went fishing (with the necessary local licence) on the river Ehen by cycling to Braystones on ¾ days (you had to go by bike or other means at least ‘x’ miles from school for the day), leaving our bikes in Braystones by the bridge that goes over the Ehen and fishing down stream from there.
On one occasion there had been heavy rain and the river was swollen and muddy and we got bored. So we went down stream with our bikes to just before Sellafield, where the railway line crosses the river, and saw on the bridge some sleepers beside the track, ready to replace the old ones.
Seeing what a splash they might cause seemed like a good idea, so we hauled them near to the centre of the bridge and managed to roll over three sleepers, greatly appreciating the effect! Unfortunately we did not notice an old gentleman walking his dog along the path!
The man obviously recognized our ‘sax blue’ socks and navy blue uniform (you had to wear the complete uniform even on ¾ days) and walked past our drop - handle bikes having a good look! We immediately realized that we would be in for trouble!
Once back on Foundation, a prefect advised us that a gentleman had phoned the Headmaster (J.C. Wykes) to report our activities and that his description of the cycles agreed with ours! “Be prepared”, said the prefect!
Sure enough, we were called to the Headmaster’s study in School House and were given the expected telling off, about disgracing the school name etc. But we were just anxious to get the caning over and done with!
To our amazement he said, “I know you are expecting six of the best, but I shall not cane you. You are going back to that bridge on as many Saturdays as necessary and you will fish the three sleepers out of the river, and this will be supervised by my daughter”. We thought the world had come to an end...supervised by his daughter! I cannot recall her name, but she was about our age or older and was on holiday from her school. So we went on various Saturdays with a rope, towel and trunks until we got them back onto the bridge and all supervised by a girl, Miss Wykes! Looking back, I raise my hat to the memory of our Headmaster.
On another occasion, two of us (in a fifth form of 59 pupils) had the happy idea
one evening to smoke half a Woodbine each (we could obtain them illegally, as they were sold as ‘single units’ in pubs in the Lake District) between two battlements by the War Memorial on the edge of the Crease. We would have a good view of the ‘law enforcers’ from either the Library or Foundation directions. After a few puffs on our valuable Woodbine, we heard a cough coming from the middle of the Crease. This was unbelievable, so we hurriedly put the fag out by rubbing it against the sandstone battlement. What a fireworks display it caused! We then rushed back to Foundation. A house prefect, who was kissing a village lass on the Crease, had seen us! We did not escape the standard prefects’ beating of four strokes of the cane, which followed after evening prayers. And this despite a law forbidding prefects’ trespassing on the Crease! We respected the unwritten law of not ‘telling tales’ and just gritted our teeth, thinking that one day we might be on the other side!”