Although school life was very disciplined and controlled, the boys frequently found ways to express themselves or engage in pranks. Malcolm not only witnessed many but also engaged in some as well. Some of the more elaborate instances have been described elsewhere in this biography, moving the new field gun, midnight swims, ringing the chapel bell at night and the like. However, some other things remained in Malcolm's memory.

Probably the most remarkable such event, and the one that stands out in Malcolm's memory, was when the school was awakened by explosions during the early hours one night. There were moments of confusion as people ran around trying to understand what was happening but the source was traced to the quadrangle. A wire had be strung diagonally across the quadrangle and some thunderflashes suspended from it. They were set off at short intervals, echoing loudly in the courtyard. Next morning there was only one topic of conversation, and some people were even saying "well done" to Malcolm, knowing that he frequently went out at night. However, he knew nothing about it and only found out the truth 50 years later from a conversation at a school reunion.

A typical thing in the chemistry laboratory would be to let some sulphur dioxide escape so the awful smell of rotten eggs would pervade. Some boys would put dabs of nitric acid on their fingers to leave a smokers stain. One particular brainy boy was working towards making something explosive.

On the subject of explosives, boys walking in Clumber Park discovered old army ammunition caches and started bringing stuff back to school. Gradually more and more boys were acquiring things like live .303 blank cartridges and carrying them round in their pockets and swapping items. Other were hiding the cartridges in the sand filled fire buckets so imagine what would have happened if there had been a fire. One summer's afternnon some boys set off an explosion in Clumber Park.

There was a fad at one time of blowing pellets from a blowpipe. The pipe was glass tube from the science labaratory and a short length was carried in a boy's jacket pocket. The pellets usually were made by chewing bits of paper and moulding them into a very small ball. There was credence in having the most efficient tube and pellets. The objective was to irritate other boys or maybe ping them in class so that they might react and get caught by the teacher. Malcolm participated in this fad and being caught by a master led to his being caned for the one and only time. On the occasion that he was caught he actually was not guilty but accepted the punishment bearing in mind the previous occasions when he got away with it.

Lighting farts was an occasional pastime and one such event was recalled by Malcolm. At bedtime one day a boy was selected to produce a fart so duly instructed to lie face down on his bed and do what was required whilst another stood by with a box of matches. The victim said that there was one coming so a match was lit in readiness but the required fart did not manifest as quickly as expected. The boy with the lit match held onto it as long as he could but when the flame reached his fingers he dropped it causing a squeal of surprise and pain from the victim whilst a wisp of blue smoke drifted up from the extinguishing match on his bottom.

Something rather stupid was done by a boy in one of the lecture rooms. The seats were permanent benches on a tiered floor and, during a class, a thread of model aeroplane control line was strung across the gangway and tied each end to a bench support. The idea seemed to be that as the wire was very hard to see, the master would walk into it and trip thus embarrasing himself. However, he spotted it but said nothing, then walking up to it and assuming it was normal thread, snatched it in his hand and yanked it to break it. The wire did not yield and consequently cut into his hand. The outcome was not recalled by Malcolm, but it is not hard to imagine that it would have been severe.

On Sundays, all pupils had to wear a grey suit. Malcolm's first suit was a herringbone pattern of light and dark grey. Sometime he managed to tear a flap into one of the trouer legs so it was sent away for 'invisible' repair. It was duly returned but the repair was anything but invisible and probably looked worse that if left alone. His next suit, which was purchased in 1957 in the school shop, was light grey and much more comfortable but that also suffered damage. He was out with his girlfriend's family in their car one Sunday and was smoking. He threw the still light end out of the window but it bounced back in and dropped into his jacket pocket. Before he could remove it, a hole had been burned through the nylon material leaving clear evidence for everyone to see.

Malcolm was always up for a quirky challenge and the opportunity to join the Fire Squad was one such. It comprised a group of about eight boys under the direction of a master whose name is forgotten. The squad was properly trained to run out the camvass hoses and connect them then train the nossle onto the fire. At the sounding of the alarm, Malcolm's immediate duty was to run to the car park and shut off the water valve to isolate the swimming pool thus maintain pressure. However, that pressure was sadly lacking anyway and, at practice, water from the hose barely reached the first floor level.

There was an occasion when the Fire Brigade came to the school, either to attend a small fire or to make a safety check of the buildings. The fire engine was left unattended outside the South front doors and started to attract the attention of some boys. They became more inquisitive and were tempted to climb inside and fiddle with the knobs and levers. More boys arrived and some climbed onto the engine until it seemed to be swarming. Suddenly the fire engine bell started to ring and the whole location was instantly desserted.