When I was eight, life took a big turn

We moved from Harrow in London to a tiny village on the edge of the Cotswolds called Upton Snodsbury (it's mentioned in of P. G. Wodehouse, “Jeeves and Wooster” series of books)

My dad had just been promoted at the BBC, moving from the BBC London TV Centre to the BBC Midlands in Birmingham

Pebble Mill, as it was known, was a state-of-the-art broadcasting hub back then

He even took me there once and showed me the sound mixing deck with its automated levers, magic to a young boy, even if I didn’t really understand what any of it did

Moving meant changing schools too, from Marlborough Hill in Harrow, where there were hundreds of kids, to Upton Snodsbury village school, which had a grand total of 80

From city life to country living, quite the culture shock

In Harrow, school uniforms were more of a suggestion than a rule: any white, grey, or blue shirt with grey or black trousers would do

But Upton Snodsbury? They had rules. A blue or white shirt, grey trousers… and a tie

Now, here’s the thing, I’d never tied a tie in my life

(My dad was known for his bow ties, so the regular kind wasn’t exactly part of my upbringing)

On my first day, I was marched to meet the headmaster, Mr. Pitts (you’ll hear more about him later, no spoilers)

The school secretary (Mrs Turgouse) took one look at me and said, “That won’t do,” before introducing me to my new teacher, Mrs. Tilt (another story for another day)

She showed me once how to tie a tie, a single demonstration and sent me off to class

That was the only lesson I ever had

Funny thing is, nobody wears ties now

But when I started work at ICL (International Computers Limited) as a graduate, everyone wore suits and ties

I remember a few of the new starters asking if I could show them how to tie one

Their schools hadn’t enforced it, so they’d never learned

Of course, I was happy to help

After all, I had Mrs. Turgoose to thank for that one timeless lesson all those years ago

Conclusion:
It’s funny how small moments shape who we become

A single act of kindness, a one-minute lesson, can echo decades later

I learned that day not just how to tie a tie, but that knowledge, once shared, never really goes out of fashion