With a dash through their respective school exits, John and Paul would arrive together on the same stretch of street at the same moment and were truants for the afternoon - "sagging off". John would have his guitar ready.
From a stop on Catharine Street, they boarded the 86 bus, a green double-decker like those driven by Harry Harrison, father of Paul's young schoolfriend George. They found their way upstairs and had a smoke, strumming strings while the bus bounced them out to the southern sub...