What a wellington boot can teach you

Colin Ogilvie

The mixture of half melted ice and mud was at the ambient temperature for freezing the welly clad toes of the pupils. I'll never forget a mental picture I had of them encased in a pair of Marks and Spencer navy socks; and within each sock individual toes contained in a block of ice.

It was lunch time and the boys participated in the ritualistic football match. I say football using the loosest possible sense of the word. In reality it consisted of anywhere up to thirty rampaging 8 year olds in a playground. It was a heady mixture of water, slush, sweat and somewhere in the midst of the melee a ball. To be honest I was rotten at football, still am, but very occasionally an opportunity presents itself to me to shine at the beautiful game. ... (continues)