I had a very brief stint as a smoker – it started when I was 13 and ended around a week later. I went to a mixed grammar school in the early 1960s and corporal punishment, though pretty rare, was certainly on the menu, as you might say.
It was Marina who started what became briefly known as the Smoking Club. Her parents ran a newsagents in the centre of town and she managed to steal two packets of Embassy cigarettes when they weren’t looking. Marina was a nice girl and decided to share her hoard with her mates – on condition that next time, it would be up to one of us others to get the cigs. But there never was a next time.