School Desks To hide behind

School desks had a round hole for the ink well and ink monitors were appointed for each class. They had to keep the ink wells filled - a messy job for those who didn't have a very steady hand. From about standard 4 (present year 6) pupils worked in ink instead of pencil, and it was very hard for some of us to keep our work free of blots and smudges. Blotting paper was an absolute necessity! Girls with long plaits sometimes had the ends dunked in the inkwells of the desks behind!