Nightingale's Boys

I like kids, but now I have a problem. The old alchemy is gone. I just tick tock away there… 1949 was my best year. The class was brilliant. Bill Nightingale, radical, fighter in the Spanish civil war, and distinguished sixth form master, recalls 35 years as a teacher. Now aware that his gifts are fading, he plans a reunion of his star class. But should fond memories of the past be invoked?

Life for Cyril has become complicated after he left the haven of sixth form. Now he has two wives, two houses to keep, four children, and a mother who’s trying to steer him onto the straight and narrow.

Sid Tylor aged 42 has been a professional cricketer all his life. Now, as his last match approaches, his future looks barren. Then, the offer to present the prize at his old school gives him a chance to say exactly what he thinks about his plight in public. It is a speech like no other given on a school platform.

David Fryer was the gentle sensitive member of Nightingale’s class. Now his wife Lucy and his oldest friend, Hal Crowther - the former golden boy of the form – watch in disbelief as old and buried passions resurface.

Harry Selby surprises his wife Claire and their two sons with a weekend in a moorland cottage. Gradually, the tension between Harry and his older son, Trevor, comes to the surface, and a showdown becomes inevitable.

AJ was his nickname in Nightingale’s class, a shy withdrawn type. Now he is Major Alistair James Cartwright. For 22 years as a regular soldier, who comes across his old schoolmaster during a spell of leave. For Nightingale it’s an awkward time, but AJ thinks he can help his old teacher.

The last of Nightingale’s boys, Bill’s own son David, has returned after voluntary service overseas. His arrival draws bill into a web of almost forgotten family relationships and a meeting with his estranged wife, Agnes. His mistress, Margaret, has made up her own mind about the future, and it’s time for Bill himself to make his own decision.