BRING BACK THE CANE

I’ve heard the refrain “Bring back the cane!” more than once from colleagues at our school during the Friday afternoon debrief, after yet another arduous week of attempting to impart our collective wisdom to the current generation. However, should you be outraged at the prospect of bringing back the cane, rest assured that is not the sort of cane that is the focus of this article.

Brought up on a diet of black-and-white television showing the exploits of Robin Hood and his band of merry men, I developed an early appreciation of the tall walking stick (staff) so deftly deployed by Friar Tuck at the expense of the Sheriff of Nottingham and his evil henchmen.

During my teenage years my entertainment tastes expanded to include the TV series The Avengers. Who can ever forget the incomparable John Steed stepping down from his three-litre 1928 Bentley, complete with bowler hat and folded brolly, to come to the rescue of the delectable Emma Peel?

I developed an early appreciation of the tall walking stick (staff) so deftly deployed by Friar Tuck

Varied uses

In the intervening years, walking sticks, hiking sticks, and the like have continued to draw my interest. At first glance it is tempting