Look what Cath gave me for Christmas:


The caption at the foot of the print reveals that the staircase in question is the entrance to the Birching Tower at Rugby school.

They had a birching tower?

Now my imagination’s working overtime to conjure up an image of the room to which the stairs would lead. I’m picturing   something old, large, with wood panelling adorning the walls – empty save for a small table and chair in the corner and the whipping block in the centre. How those girls who’ve misbehaved since the school went co-ed must have trembled as they nervously made their way up those stairs and cried as they came back down after their punishment…