Part 3 ranges far and wide in the life of Geoff as he grows up to secondary school age at Bolton Grammar School, and with a nod to his future in both the teaching and acting professions.
The Raymond Street gang, playground fights, the vagaries of corporal punishment, and his interview for 'big' school are some of the boyhood delights, along with the scarily bewhiskered, one-armed caretaker Mr Hammond. He attends the 'soap church' (in honour of its benefactor, the future Lord Leverhulme), learns the facts of life, and proceeds to pass them on to a decidedly unappreciative spinster, his Auntie Nora.
Meeting A.D. Walsh at Bolton Grammar introduces him to an influential teacher, future colleague, and fellow theatrical thespian, famed for his unwitting star turn as a loudly vociferous, deaf mute.