 He received his later education at a preparatory school in Sussex, Repton School in Derbyshire, and Magdalene College, Cambridge.In his early years at Repton, Watkins' quiet, gentle character provoked regular bullying from older boys, though in his last years he attained more popularity as he was able to show capacity in tennis and cricket.After he died, in 1968, the school wrote that he was "perhaps the best poet Repton has had".