He has been conscious for a while of a sense of dissatisfaction with his life. One day a boy in his class misbehaves and Mr Sermon snaps and hits him - and goes on hitting him. He walks out of the school, goes home, and decides, after scaring Sybil, his wife of twenty years, that he will go away for a time. He sets out with a small amount of money in his pocket and a rucksack on his back and ends up in Devon.