'The training for Wimbledon was quite intense. 'Obviously, the fitter you were, the more you got selected for things like Wimbledon. They had their own swimming pool, cricket pitch and tennis courts,' Hill, 76, says. 'Barnardo's had a very strict regime of keeping boys healthy and fit.

They all knew of the school's links to Wimbledon and many were keen to be selected as ball boys, so threw themselves into the training.

The only chance he and his classmates had to see the outside world - beyond twice yearly trips back to see their parents - was a shopping or cinema trip to nearby Hertford for a few hours on a Saturday afternoon.

The boys were known by numbers Norton was 217. His father was a black American GI who went back to the United States after World War Two. He was put into care at the age of three when his mother - who was 14 when she fell pregnant - 'could not cope with the level of abuse she was getting' from her family and others because she had a mixed race baby. Norton, who opted for printing, described it as a 'melting pot' of children from all walks of life, with plenty of fights and bad language, but an overwhelmingly happy environment. They all learned a trade - carpentry, painting and decorating, sheet metal work, shoe mending, printing and gardening - so that they could then get an apprenticeship. Goldings in Hertfordshire - or, officially, William Baker Technical School - was home to 240 boys at a time. But for others, it was elation and an experience that would broaden their horizons in ways they could never have expected. With this year's edition of the prestigious grass-court Grand Slam just days away, the pair have been recalling what happened, each year, when a list of 60 names was posted on a wall at their Barnardo's home.Īfter three gruelling months of training, a mob of boys would crowd round, straining to see if they had made the cut.įor some, it was devastation. Hacked out by a friend at the children's home, Norton begrudgingly paid a local barber to put it right and ensure he was smart enough for the All England Club.īut the memories have stayed and been recorded by the Museum of London, external-link alongside those of his friend and fellow 1960s ball boy Sam Hill. Also long gone is the dodgy amateur haircut.

Greg smith boy genius today