We were all agreed at the meeting that it was essential to get Miss MacGrammar away somewhere to recuperate. The problem was how could we persuade her to go? Humphrey suggested we should just say to her that we “thought she’d lost her marbles and needed a holiday”, but fortunately no-one else supported him. Nick wondered if she might consent to a secondment at the Southern Area Training School, but I don’t suppose New Zealand trainees would be any better behaved. It was Grumbo who came up with the idea of sending her to learn Welsh. It is true that, though we get very few letters addressed to Siôn Corn, there is only Rhodri who can even read them, let alone reply in Welsh. Anyway, Nick explained to her that we really did need a Welsh speaker with more experience of the job than Rhodri and he knew she’d be the perfect choice, so, as a great favour to him, she has consented to go to Aberystwyth for the next few months.
Well, that left us with the problem of who was to take over from her here. I’m still not sure how it happened, but it seems I am now her replacement. It’s all very well for Nick to say I’ll be fine, but it’s a long time since I was at school! I’ve been taking her grammar books to bed with me, but it doesn’t get any better – I’m still very confused over fronted adverbials and subordinate clauses. I really can’t see why they need to learn the names of all these things?
Well, that left us with the problem of who was to take over from her here. I’m still not sure how it happened, but it seems I am now her replacement. It’s all very well for Nick to say I’ll be fine, but it’s a long time since I was at school! I’ve been taking her grammar books to bed with me, but it doesn’t get any better – I’m still very confused over fronted adverbials and subordinate clauses. I really can’t see why they need to learn the names of all these things?