The Library of Spanking Fiction: Wellred Weekly
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Articles
Items of interest regarding all things spanking
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In Praise of the Plimsoll  The plimsoll is a lightweight sports shoe which was first invented about 1830 by The Liverpool Rubber Company. It features a rubber sole attached to a canvas insoll and upper by a strip of thin rubber which, because it was considered to resemble the Plimsoll line on a ship, gave rise to its name.It has a number of nicknames, possibly the most popular in Northern England being pumps, and in Wales and the South-West, daps. DAP is supposed to have derived from the Dunlop Athletic Plimsoll, but this may not be the correct derivation. Internationally they are known as sand-shoes, sports shoes or tennis shoes. They could be either lace-ups or elasticated, the elasticated variety more often worn by young children or as a very casual beach shoe. The sole was thin and gave little cushioning to the foot, which led to its demise. It was initially replaced by the iconic Dunlop Green Flash which had a zig-zag patterned green cushioned sole, and later by trainers. If you ever had the pleasure of running a three to four mile cross-country in the original, you would have felt every stone and struggled for grip on slippery surfaces. Believe me the Green Flash was an incredible breakthrough in comfort and grip. In the early seventies more sophisticated trainers completely superseded them, until relatively recently when the canvas plimsoll made a comeback as a fashion item! They were compulsory for physical training in schools and the armed forces throughout the old British Empire and also became very widely used for corporal punishment in schools. Corporal Punishment It is probable that it was the most frequently and widely used implement, particularly for relatively minor and summary punishment in England and Wales. I would guess that slipperings outnumbered canings by many hundreds to one. However, they were little used for punishment in Scotland where the strap was the implement of choice. In many schools teachers would have one handy in their desk for summary punishment. Also it was very common until the sixties for prefects in grammar schools (schools with selective entrance by examination and having sixth-form pupils preparing for universities) to be allowed to use them, often with minimal supervision.  Such punishments were invariably given on a bent-over bottom and could vary from a fairly desultory, but very stingy one or two whacks, to a very painful three to six off a vigorous run-up. I have to admit to having sampled all varieties in my school career. While mainly used on boys, it was also infrequently used on girls as well, as confirmed by female acquaintances. One of these recalled her gym-mistress often carrying one and gently "assisting" girls to greater efforts and another, much to my astonishment, said that in her school girl prefects could plimsoll younger girls.The memory of the gym-teacher, plimsoll in hand, awaiting his bedraggled charges to return from a gruelling cross-country run, ready to give an encouraging whack to strugglers or admonishment to those deemed not to have tried, probably put many of my generation off running for life! The term 'slippering' within schools generally referred to a plimsoll, but as previously mentioned I have heard it described as a dapping and even as a coshing in a few schools where the slang for the plimsoll was 'the cosh'. I find this latter term extremely descriptive. Personal experiences Imagine a young boy who had attended a near idyllic primary school to the age of eleven, and who had just experinced one desultory and not very painful (although very embarrassing) experience with the plimsoll in front of a mixed class for talking too much, who then suddenly arrives in a massive grammar school with many arcane and often pointless rules, the breaking of which could all be dealt with by a dose of the plimsoll from a seemingly massive fit and strong eighteen-year-old prefect. For instance: untidy uniforms, being late, not wearing a cap on the way to and from school, rowdy or noisy behaviour in public or in school, not giving up a seat on a bus to a lady or elderly man, poor performance on house cross-country runs, and of course smoking. The list seemed endless and frightening. Perhaps the only surprise was that one didn't receive it more often. Although times were changing and detentions and lines were becoming more common, discipline was still upheld by the plimsoll! The modus operandi Whereas the cane was the instrument of last resort and canings were usually highly formal, the plimsoll was often used informally and summarily. For instance an offender would be called out in front of the class, ordered to bend over and given two or three whacks to restore order, and the class would carry on as normal. Woe betide anybody who was caught showing any schadenfreude at another boy - they would usually join him immediately afterwards.  If the prefects whacked you it was usually at break, morning or lunchtime. You would report to a chaotic prefects' room and usually be taken to a corner and plimsolled. Often little notice was taken of you by the others who would carry on enjoying their break. Sometimes it was a little more formal as on the occasion when my dinner table was beaten. All eight of us had to line up in alphabetical order while both prefects took turns at whacking us in front of an amused audience, who offered their friends much encouragement and advice. On this occasion I first noticed the rather amusing effect of a cloud of dust rising off school trousers and also discovered that good technique could impart far more pain and sting than brute force.Following building improvements to the school, the prefects were allotted a much larger room, with a large walk in storeroom at the back. Now one was taken into the back room where they kept their sports clothes and similar items. This was lit by a couple of bare bulbs and smelt strongly of stale sweat and wet clothes. On the floor were chalked two footprints on which one placed one's feet and grasped one's ankles. There were a number of initialled chalk marks, like a cricket bowler's run up, and the prefect would then take a run up and give the appropriate number of whacks. In some other schools this took place in the gym. Description of the sensation imparted The plimsoll can impart widely varying degrees of sensation, varying from the mildly stingy and warming and not unpleasant, to the very painful indeed, dependent on the force used. However, it doesn't usually lead to heavy or lasting bruising. In mild cases it results in just a temporary reddening whilst in severe cases, mild bruising with typical horseshoe-shaped welts where the toe dug in. The bruising around the horseshoe welts can last a few days. The pain and discomfort is temporary, and even after a severe beating diminishes to a not unpleasant warmth and sting in a fairly short time. Size Elementary physics tells us that a larger plimsoll spreads the load more evenly whilst a small one concentrates in a smaller area. I consider the optimum to be about a size nine, plenty large enough and easy to handle. The smaller plimsoll can bruise more so it should be avoided. Weight The traditional plimsoll is an ideal trade off between weight and flexibility and imparts a fearsome sting. More modern thicker-soled sports shoes are much heavier and stiffer and although they obviously hurt, it is more bruising and thuddy, and in my opinion far less desirable to both parties. At Home In the domestic environment the plimsoll offers all the advantages of the slipper with slightly greater severity. It can be given clothed or unclothed. The sound of the impact is satisfying, and after an initial thuddy pain a warming sting is imparted. It can be given OTK for intimacy or with the receiver bent over, or lying on a bed. Now designer plimsolls are readily available albeit at much higher prices than the original item. They don't need to be hidden away and are readily transportable without embarrassment. In conclusion an excellent implement and one of my favourites. 22 comments
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