'I don't mind having a go,' replied the Mayor, Councillor John Edwards when I asked him if he would grab hold of the Van der Graaf generator whilst I took his photo. 'After all, there would be little point in you trying it, would there?' He joked, looking at my follically challenged scalp. We know one another well enough to exchange banter on a personal level.

The occasion was an open day at John Kyrle High School during which the school opens its doors so that the next generation of students can view the school before applying to attend. I went along to take some photos for 'Wyenot News' and, being interested in science myself, I headed straight for the physics and chemistry department. All I can say is that I wish that my old school, many years ago, in Barking, Essex had been even half well equipped and interesting!