THE NORTH RIDING PROJECT

Then there will be, as I said, the school: the smell of ink and leather from a satchel, the weekly inspection of tidy drawers, Priscilla’s hair, the favourite seat in the window where she can watch the blossom blowing across the lawns in Spring, and the dead leaves in Autumn, and the whirling snow in Winter.  There will be thick white towels on bath night, the different-coloured pyjamas, the jealous, indignant crushes, and the incredible manoeuvrings for seats and beds.  There will be the terrible quarrels, and touching, shy reconciliations in the music room, the night of anguish in the same bed, before the match.  And finally, towards the end, there will appear hints and suggestions of the richness of all the years that have been lived through.

Larkin/Willow Gables