Went to the bank around the time that school ends for the day and as always happens, felt like I was swimming against a tide of school uniforms - mostly the crimson red of the local girls school but there were clusters of women in black burkas with black veils. Where I live it's only older women who wear veils and it's not that common so I was struck by these groups of younger women and of course, I wondered who they were and why there were so many of them. I assumed there must be an ultra-religious (or should I say, fundamentalist?) school somewhere in the vicinity. I could feel stereotypes of old entering my mind about women who wear burkas - they seemd so conspicuous.