Charlie being escorted round the complex by Miss Eccles, drinking it in. Savouring it, the relatively wide open spaces of being able to see. There were two wings of sleeping places; rooms either side of corridors and dormitory at each end. Newcomers slept in the dorms, till they did enough to earn themselves their own room. The passageway connecting the two wings was the laundry, which, Charlie was informed by the kindly Miss Eccles, served as the canteen on a Friday night. “Canteen? Like at school?”“Yes, similar. But not the range of goodies to purchase.” Sweets the main items, and even then not a lot to choose from. Every boy got a wage — except those on punishment for the duration of however many days they were given — and it varied; from the kitchen workers, who did six-day weeks and started very early, they got nearly a pound, to the Home-confined boys, usually the newcomers like Charlie, who did cleaning duties and got taught the ropes, as well as assessed for schooling, they got three shillings a week.
