height..."we're going to call him TITCH" michael richardson was to say of 'baby mcgowan'....see previous notes upon 'baby-faced finlayson' out of THE BEANO etc etc....see previous notes upon brenda and "how can somebody so small, grow so tall" etc etc....the 'dwarf star' according to michael richardson/andrew marr....see previous notes upon the 60s in blackheath, greenwich....

FREAKING NEWS and that 'SHORTIES' number....little colin as a 'short grey engine'...

...what else? this morning, i was to remember the 'top table boys' of 4U being put in charge of 'weights and measurements' by mrs elliott....they were instructed to measure and weigh the rest of the class....and for some reason...even though they were supposed to be the cleverest boys in the class...they were to give the whole class' height as a foot taller....than we all really were...i.e. they were to make a mark upon the wall...for 5 foot...which was really 4 foot...and most of the class were between 1-5 inches above it....and that is why i was to remember my height at age 10 as 5 foot 5...when it had really been about 4 foot 5....

now why would they have done that....because they certainly weren't stupid boys....good at maths etc etc....there will be a reason...'method in their madness'...i can remember mrs elliott noting down each height upon her 'register'....nearly all above 5 foot....which wasn't true...the only pupils above 5 foot....were judith sheridan and ann gray....as far as i can recall...the tallest in the class.

mrs elliott noting down all of those heights....let me guess...another 'nazi list'...if that list had made its way back to whitehall...they must have thought that we were a class of 'giants' at that age...was that the idea?

"it had been caroline stokes..." replies BI ONLINE...who had told them to do so....i see - that doesn't sound good, does it? what about mrs elliott then?...why had she recorded the wrong heights?

"a magician's trick"....well it was hardly that....anyway, what was the point?

did it save certain pupils from being classified as 'dwarf stars'?

"andrew street"

...not that we had a nativity play at junior school...as far as i can recall....see previous notes.

oh and another thing...i can remember watching the boys, as they 'fudged it'...the mark on the wall...with their tape measure...debbie mcdonough then complained about it....and told mrs elliot to put down her real height - which was 4 foot 4 as far as I can recall...go figure....

"an anomaly"

i can remember my mother laughing about it, afterwards - i had forgotten the above, by the time i got home...anyway, my mother was to tell me that i definitely wasn't 5 foot 5....4 foot 5...she then proved it against the wall....go figure.