I did not for a couple of weeks but then one afternoon the temptation became too much: I pressed the button and immediately the door opened – the lady grabbed my shoulder and marched me straight down the road to my home. She lifted my school skirt, tucked the hem into the waistband then started pulling down my knickers. Mum assured me that what she had done earlier would happen again if there was further naughtiness or misbehaviour and that I would be spanked in front of anyone present. When I entered my room and closed the door behind me I was greeted for the first time by a cane hanging behind the door. Mum said she felt it when younger and I would soon feel it if there was any more misbehaviour adding that it should not be removed from where it hung.

My parents were very religious and strict Christians whose child-rearing principles were founded upon “Spare the rod, spoil the child,” and “A child should be seen and not heard. I wanted to know as time went by and you were spanked for disobedience, misbehavior or other things that were dealt with in this manner, what different implements were used? I also wanted to know if you had actually been spanked by another person that was not in your family?

We entered the lounge as Mum listened to the lady’s detailed account of my offence and her ensuing annoyance. Then Mum’s hand came down with a sting far worse than anything before and now for the first time on my bare bottom. The cane was on show for everyone to see including friends when they visited to play music or do homework, workmen, window cleaners and neighbours from across the road. To close the matter, she would meet me from school the following day to visit the neighbour where I would say sorry and promise never do it again.

Mum became furious, grabbed my wrist and led me to the drawing room where she sat down and proceeded to pull me across her lap. As someone who endured many over the knee spankings from both parents, I can honestly say it is the most used style of punishment in the UK when I was growing up. A young girl recounts her first bare bottom spanking as administered by her strict mother: “Protest became clearly pointless as my knickers were removed completely.This was the first time I had pleaded with my mother not to spank me, especially with the lady present. I was a timid youngster and soon learned that any tantrums or misbehaviour meant a slap on the legs or on the seat of my knickers in my very early years. I was trembling: My nose almost touching the carpet, feet dangling just off the floor and legs shaking – the position was inescapable.

Mum did punish me again over the years sometimes with others present but fortunately or unfortunately, depending on how you view, never used the cane.