…for a lad from the back streets of Halifax who spent half his childhood (as did his sister) in a children’s home/orphanage, as I’ve touched on elsewhere. Their mum was a seamstress and in the Depression years work was hard to come by and money incredibly tight, so she did what she thought best for the children and placed them at the William Smith home in Brighouse.

When David passed his 11+ they asked my Gran’s permission to send him to the Grammar School, which she did – on condition that his sister had the same opportunity, which she did.This is his School Certificate; a lover of learning, he went on to University after his military service, qualified as a teacher and did a Master’s in later years.

It must have been very hard for the children and their mum to be separated (the children even lived separately within the orphanage) but the youngsters did get a chance that might not otherwise have been there for them and made the most of it. I loved and admire all of them for their resilience and determination.