sleepers hill mining and technical college was its full title , though there was n't that much mining studied there any more , not with most of the collieries closed and the industry in decline ; mainly the place was full of plasterers and bricklayers , beefy lads who thought that the art that i did was for sluts and ponces , and with the art school being at the top of the building there were three floors of such boneheads to get past before i reached the studios .