Sir James Smith's Grammar School, located on the eastern edge of the town of Camelford in North Cornwall, offered quality education to pupils drawn from village Primary Schools scattered over a large rural catchment area. In the 1950s rural North Cornwall was marked by relative isolation and social deprivation, but right of attendance at Grammar School had come no longer to depend on class and social status, and was vested both in an annual cull of primary school pupils known as the "eleven-plus" examination and, more indispensably, in a little bit of luck. Many were called but few were chosen. Those who succeeded generally made decent academic material, but were raw in terms of worldliness. A grammar school road of seven years leading from the First through to the Sixth Form and ultimate examination at "A" Level beckoned the victors, only to have the wayside claim far too many prior to the Sixth being reached. This book tells the personal story of one who walked the full road, delighting in its wonders and humour, failing to avoid many of its pitfalls, scoring low marks on one occasion in manner and deportment, regretting things now and then, revelling in School traditions while pushing at the boundaries a bit, coping with the peculiarities, taking the rough with the smooth, and above all benefitting from, and all too often battling with, the foibles and attention of a Great Headmaster and his dedicated team of teachers.

The natural beauty in which the North Cornish village of Port Isaac is set incorporates grand skies and seascapes, a coastline of boldly rugged cliffs and tight coves, and deep valleys alive with green woods reaching back into rich and rolling farmland. These delights have provided inspiration to generations of artistic endeavour. They have been exuberantly painted and photographed in all their moods to create a glorious gallery of memories fit to excite all admirers of fine scenery blended with buoyant rural history and an appealing quaintness. The pieces of verse collected together between these covers celebrate such characteristic qualities of the village and its people as they were in the years after the end of the Second World War using written images that are intended to both complement and extend the visual. They deal with the taut canvas of life then as it was lived, for good or ill, for better or for verse.