Cromford canal certainly sounds like Arkwright society - I had zero confidence, thought younger kids were an alien species & hated every minute of it. Must have used it on my CV after all that suffering!
i loved the French lit especially Voltaire, Corneille & Anouilh but hated Pagnol.
The parties were in Mapperley - strange I don't remember other teachers being there.
We had a brilliant English trainee teacher who was really into Tennyson - he organised trips into Lincolnshire & read poems to us in the cathedral - a really inspiring teacher just sorry I didn't tell