Tears came to my eyes over the weekend watching Hard Spell (I’m quite easily moved by the telly, I don’t watch enough of it to be deconditioned) The programme was of children of around 11 or 12 in a nationwide spelling bee. What was so, well, quaint about it, was that the children were so normal (well, OK, they were freakishly good at spelling). In the media generally we get so used to children being portrayed as precocious couch potatoes, it was really quite a surprise to see these children doing really well at something, whilst also remaining so inherently childish. They grinned uncontrollably when they won a round, they cried when they lost, their parents tried so hard to support them. Interestingly, it was an Asian girl who won the competition, which reflects the national trend of Asian girls thriving most in our education system (black boys thrive the least, hence Diane Abbott). Ah, endearing telly.
PS. Went to the first meeting of the Local History Society last night. Seems I am wrong, history is not cool. The age profile made the allotment look like a youth group. Sigh.
