The world has rallied to the cause of Martha Payne, the 9-year old schoolgirl whose blog, Never Seconds, where she posted photographs of, and commentary on, her school lunches, has attracted so much attention today. Argyll & Bute council have stepped back from their attempt to stop her blogging, a thoroughly sensible decision.
I was reminded of the incident of the boarding house sardine from my schooldays, which ended less happily. A boy sent to the local newspaper a photograph of a single sardine on a plate, claiming that it was his breakfast. The newspaper printed it, but the headmaster, a man whose name was painted on walls around Cambridge as 'Pig M…..[surname redacted]' started an investigation, and expelled the boy. We were outraged at this and a group of us, the nucleus of the Cambridge branch of the Schools Action Union, started a magazine under the title Black Sardine, printing the photograph on the front of the first issue. I no longer have a copy, and I doubt if we were aware of our legal deposit responsibilities, so I fear none survive.