ABSTRACT
This chapter provides the early experiences of the author. Brighton had attraction for the author's father, a Jewish school that had invested in good language teachers, and this had made it a centre for teaching foreign children English. Since the school had establishment pretensions, the style chosen for its buildings was risky – to put it mildly. The architect, A. V. Pilichovsky, built it on a pinwheel plan with a glazed staircase at the centre. The construction was in situ cast concrete with cork insulation. Windows were horizontal strips, metal-framed – and there was a large glazed hall-cum-gymnasium that served as a synagogue on Saturdays. It was called Whittingeham College. The seemingly bogus 'Olde English' name was that of Lord Balfour's house in East Lothian where he signed the declaration in favour of a Jewish National Home in 1917. He suspects that his father was also persuaded to invest in the enterprise.
