âYou was robbedâ - the only two classes I actually enjoyed in school were Geology and Metalwork, and if that makes it sound like a posh school, it was the exact opposite: the local sink school for all the gyppos and hopeless scumbags (like me).
The only Grade A I got was metalwork. Being the genius I am, I studiously avoided any higher ed or career where I might have continued to develop the very basic sills it endowed me withâŚ
It is fucking madness that pre-vocational courses like it have been dropped: their value goes far beyond the knowledge - they can be the one-and-only lifeline for alienated or hopeless pupils. Was for me.
I loved woodwork and metalwork at school and never failed to get A grades. However when it came to decide which O levels to take I was told in no uncertain terms that if I had wanted to join the âtradesâ then I should have gone to the comprehensive down the road instead
Apparently the school saw themselves as producing the next generation of barristers, chartered accountants, doctors and journalists, but clearly felt designers and engineers were working class pursuits to be shunned and avoided.
To quote my headmaster at the time âYouâll find dear boy that Oxford are not in the business of handing out degrees in woodwork and joineryâŚâ. Twat.
Crimson, my school was very much the same. Latin, Greek and Ancient Greek were never going to help me working in theatre and corporate events.
Then there was âGeneral ScienceââŚ
This is a lot to do with why the country is so divided.
I had a GT when I was travelling back and forth between Plymouth and Newcastle a lot. Eventually sold it toa local taxi driver when it got to 140k. He ran it for a couple years after that.
Cracking engines.
I had bog-basic versions of both generations, and loved them both - incredibly mundane to look at, but two of the nicest cars to drive Iâve ever owned, brilliant fuel eco, too, FWIW.
Tend to agree with pbg that the earlier of the two was the best - it was lighter which helped. I went so far as to get a test drive of the dolphin-shaped version developed with Renault that replaced them - what a stack of fucking garbage that was: drove like a bloody van!
Would have loved to have owned one of the go-faster variants, but no chance back then.
