Hi Phil; thanks for the welcome!
As did many schools in 'the old days', Central had its share of pretty violent teachers! Having said that, no teacher was allowed to use a cane. The 'standard' corporal punishment was the 'slipper' (which was actually a gym shoe, or pump).
Anyway, we had this particularly short-tempered French teacher (that was his subject, not his nationality) who went by the name of Mr May. He was known to us as 'Jimmy' - whether or not that was his real name I have no idea! Jimmy would give any kid a whack as soon as look at him.
Well one day, I was about 12, we had an English lesson and the designated teacher didn't turn up. So as you can imagine, the whole form were engaged in polite conversation whilst sitting in our seats waiting patiently for the teacher. I'm sure you can picture the scene. I was sitting right next to the door. Suddenly, the door burst open, hit the wall and who should be standing in the doorway but Jimmy May; hands on hips and screaming (literally) "BEEEE QUIET!!!" He looked at me and yelled "WHY AREN'T YOUR FRENCH BOOKS OUT?"
"Because it's an English lesson, sir", I replied. Well, the whole form erupted in laughter and I caught a clip around the ear. But not happy enough with that, our friend Jimmy gave every boy in the form 2 strokes of the slipper! Poor bloke must have been knackered!