Pelham House Approved School 1967

By Martin Collins

I arrived at Pelham House Approved School in 1967. I was 13 years old, 4 foot 10. A wisp of a kid with the black eye on day one because I was crying. Frightened. Alone sent there because no one knew what else to do with me. Pelham didn't mollycoddle me. It drilled me.
Boots up at the door. Line up straight. No running on the ice. "There's no coming back from broken hip in Pelham house". Corridors scrubbed until they shone. Bed packs made square. Voice is low in dining room. Seven Hours back from Kendal in January snow. Then straight into Solway for soup and strong tea. You ate it. You shut up. You got on with the job. Then came my workout. A hundred press ups every day for two and a half years in secret. Rain or shine. A 40-inch chest-built Rep by Rep. In the workshop: measured twice, cut once. Tools cleaned and put back. "Let the tools do the work, Collins". I left they're a highly skilled Craftsman. A good hand writer. Able to turn my hand to any job and do it properly.
It was Mr Fletcher who kept us human. Ullswater. Grisdale. Out in the Bedford van fixing gates, Repairing dry stone walls, walking fells in the pouring down rain. He never asked us about home. He just told me to be quiet to drink tea slow to look at the hill.
I went in soft and scared. I came out articulate. Skilled. Head up. A short fuse, but my own man. Today 57 years later, I still miss Pelham House Approved School, 1967. And the bloody good job they've made of me aswell.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: B0HFK5PDGX
• ISBN13: 9798193155003
• Release Date: August 2026
• Publisher: Independently Published
• Length: 154 Pages
• Weight: 0.43 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.4" x 6.0" x 9.0"