Howard and I sat on the roof of the primary school in Godmanchester, looking at the village in the dusk. We were seventeen years old.
I had been taught how to climb the building by some older boys a few years earlier - the boys that I mention in the entry 'Curly Hair.' I was walking with them from the pub where I would go called 'The Waterloo' in Huntingdon town centre to the village of Godmanchester. Everyone looked like they were members of the Sarah Records band 'The Sea Urchins,' wearing drainpipe jeans and pointy Chelsea boots. The Waterloo has since been completely redeveloped but then it was quite a dark, dangerous and, to me, magical place
They decided to climb the primary school. They had done it many times before but I thought they were joking at first and I felt unprepared when I realised that they were not. I was drunk and I wasn't that used to drinking, I was only fifteen. I remember at one point wondering if I'd make a particular jump. You see, it involved climbing one structure, jumping to another, climbing a drainpipe, swinging around, dropping, climbing. It was very involved, it seemed dangerous. They guided me but still it felt a little out of control.
I took part in a climb two weeks later. I felt more at ease this time. Gary fell through a sky light. It was a great shame to vandalise a primary school and it took a lot of effort for them to retrieve him.
Anyway, on this occasion that I am recounting I was sober, as was Howard who had never climbed the school. He questioned the need to but admitted, once we had scaled the building, that it was worth it and the view was beautiful.
This was during the two or three months when I was staying at Patrick's house and at this time, as I have mentioned before in this collection of reminiscences, I was taking LSD every few days. Howard and I had each taken a 'purple om' acid tab a short while earlier at Patrick's house and we sat there in the dusk, enjoying the view until we thought it best to climb down while we could without difficulty. This was the first and only time that Howard took acid. I tried to persuade him not to but he insisted on returning home before the LSD began to really take effect and he would spend an unpleasant night lying in bed at the house that he shared with his parents, tripping.
I have a pleasant and strong memory of sitting with Howard on the roof of the school as dusk fell.
I had been taught how to climb the building by some older boys a few years earlier - the boys that I mention in the entry 'Curly Hair.' I was walking with them from the pub where I would go called 'The Waterloo' in Huntingdon town centre to the village of Godmanchester. Everyone looked like they were members of the Sarah Records band 'The Sea Urchins,' wearing drainpipe jeans and pointy Chelsea boots. The Waterloo has since been completely redeveloped but then it was quite a dark, dangerous and, to me, magical place
They decided to climb the primary school. They had done it many times before but I thought they were joking at first and I felt unprepared when I realised that they were not. I was drunk and I wasn't that used to drinking, I was only fifteen. I remember at one point wondering if I'd make a particular jump. You see, it involved climbing one structure, jumping to another, climbing a drainpipe, swinging around, dropping, climbing. It was very involved, it seemed dangerous. They guided me but still it felt a little out of control.
I took part in a climb two weeks later. I felt more at ease this time. Gary fell through a sky light. It was a great shame to vandalise a primary school and it took a lot of effort for them to retrieve him.
Anyway, on this occasion that I am recounting I was sober, as was Howard who had never climbed the school. He questioned the need to but admitted, once we had scaled the building, that it was worth it and the view was beautiful.
This was during the two or three months when I was staying at Patrick's house and at this time, as I have mentioned before in this collection of reminiscences, I was taking LSD every few days. Howard and I had each taken a 'purple om' acid tab a short while earlier at Patrick's house and we sat there in the dusk, enjoying the view until we thought it best to climb down while we could without difficulty. This was the first and only time that Howard took acid. I tried to persuade him not to but he insisted on returning home before the LSD began to really take effect and he would spend an unpleasant night lying in bed at the house that he shared with his parents, tripping.
I have a pleasant and strong memory of sitting with Howard on the roof of the school as dusk fell.
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