English school straps

The straps in this picture were used in an English school. Of course, the cane was the standard instrument of chastisement in most English schools, but some establishments, often located in the north of the country and thus closer to Scotland (the home of the tawse) employed a leather punishment strap in preference to the cane.

The owner of the straps recalls that the smallest model is identical to one that was in use at his own school:

'It is fourteen inches long, one and a half inches wide, and three eighths of an inch thick. However, it hurt just as much as straps that were much longer and thicker. At my school a strap like this was shared by the PT teachers and used on boys for bad behaviour in that lesson. The most common offence was forgetting your kit or not taking a shower after games. Boys were strapped across the hands or bottom, depending on which teacher was in charge.

'Normal punishment was one on each hand and most boys could just about take two hard strokes without crying out. When given on the bottom, you had to touch your toes, although if you where punished in the PT teacher's room you bent over his desk. Two to four strokes was the normal ration, depending upon the offence. Some boys would dance about all over the place following a hard leathering across their PT shorts.

'During my five years at school I saw dozens of boys whacked with this strap. Indeed, whenever I think back to PT lessons I always see that chocolate brown leather strap in my mind's eye.'