After Catriona and I left our local convent school in Barnes, there was a real problem about where to send us: in the ‘60s it was obligatory for Roman Catholics to send their children to a Roman Catholic school; and after the closure of the local convent, there was nothing for us nearer than Notting Hill Gate, Interestingly, our mother might have caved in and sacrificed her religious scruples for something nearer and with fewer logistical constraints; but our father, a non-ca