Chapter Two. Part One.

Is this REALLY your best argument?

The Best Days of Our Lives

Matthew James Fletcher, with the exception of possibly Mr. Lloyd, had never been liked much by any of the primary school teachers. It could be attributed to the fact, not always willing to accept anything as read, Fletcher wanted verifiable evidence of everything being presented in class. It’s an academic environment.

Teach us something we didn’t know but teach only verifiable truths was Fletcher’s persistent attitude all through his primary school days.

It has been suggested on more than one occasion, noting the way the now late Mr. Lloyd treated Fletcher, the then Jackfield School headmaster saw in his pupil something special. Mr. Lloyd appreciated Fletcher’s desire to learn and that, the headmaster’s eyes, was an important aspect of school life.

Jackfield School closed in the early. There had been in attendance, when the school was finally shuttered, approximately 40 pupils. Calling it a tiny school is the understatement of the year.

Fletcher, with fond memories of the school, recalled how the pupils were marched across the nearby Iron Bridge in protest of the planned closure. That move accomplished nothing. It was still closed and the attending pupils were sent to nearby…