Pat Dawson attended Alfred Sutton Primary School in Reading, Berkshire. Like many recalling their primary history, the school trip stands out and hers was to Carisbrooke Castle on the Isle of Wight. At Abbey School (grammar), also in Reading, she remembers soaking paper in tea to produce her own 'copy' of the Magna Carta, but again it was the trips that caught her attention. Her history lessons were dominated by certainty - if one memorised the facts, one could pass the examination. Pat went on to do maths and sciences in the sixth form and had a career in engineering. History fitted in with these subjects well - 'it was facts; it was very safe'. Interviewed by Nicola Sheldon