OT School reunions

[geoff]

What a bunch of old farts we are

[Grimly Curmudgeon]

We were somewhere around Barstow, on the edge of the desert, when the drugs began to take hold. I remember geoff saying something like:

Bren, wasn't it?

[djc]

When I was a boy all the great aunts etc would say "dosn't he look like his father". I didn't see the resemblance then, but now I look in the mirror of a morning and my father stares back at me.

[Grimly Curmudgeon]

We were somewhere around Barstow, on the edge of the desert, when the drugs began to take hold. I remember "ARWadsworth" saying something like:

No. The only one of my schools I'd be bothered going back to has been turned into a ladies' college. As for the others, they can go f*ck themselves.

[Zapp Brannigan]

+1

[Matty F]

I went to one (50 year) and there was nobody in my class there. I did enjoy meeting three of my teachers (metalwork, woodwork and art), one of whom remembered me. A 50 year reunion for another school was quite pleasant, and I will go to the next reunion.

[Nightjar]

My school was flattened years ago. I do get occasional invites to reunions, but I've never seen the point in going.

Colin Bignell

[The Natural Philosopher]

Mine doesn't. My nephew however..

*thought* perhaps my mum had a secret larva.

[Hugh - Was Invisible]

I was still at a minor public school at the time of "If..." and it just about summed it up.

I did think about going back but seems to start with prayers in the chapel. For me the world has moved on and I have no wish to go back.

[Mark]

Unfortunately they haven't flattened my old secondary school yet. It was falling down 30+ years ago and it's still exactly the same now.

I wouldn't go to a reunion. Hated the place.

[Hugh - Was Invisible]

Just looked it up in Wikipedia. Apparently at the time I was there it was a direct grant grammar school. Now has no boarders and does have girls. Still has silly class year names, and a latin school song.

[Nick]

In message , Mark writes

+1. I was forced to go back to Bexhill-on-Sea a few years ago. The high spot was seeing the far horizon where the grammar school used to be. Perhaps its been upgraded to a plague pit.

[John Williamson]

Not a reunion, but I occasionally jbex with the school on trips abroad, and I'm glad to report they're some of the best behaved kids I meet, without being repressed in any way.

Of course, my telling them I'm an Old Boy may help....

[Gib Bogle]

Grumpy old men.

[damduck-egg]

On Thu, 11 Aug 2011 10:03:09 +0100, Hugh - Was Invisible wrote:

Sounds very similar to mine, I attended because it was 3 miles away and bike ridable whereas the Grammar school I could have gone to was

18 miles away and I would still have to make my own way to the bus pick up 2 miles at about 7.30 . School was very split, locals like myself for whom it was a reasonable school but something to leave behind as other duties like feeding sheep or cutting fire wood were just as important. Then boarders who were probably the last remnants of the sons of empire for whom ,like their parents the school was part of life itself who could not understand our lack of enthusiasm for School House and Song. It was an uneasy mix at times and the teaching staff tended to be of the old style and lived on site in an enclosed world where watching the rugby team from a touchline in Pissing rain was deemed more important than working on the farm for the family. Fair to say we didn't really get on . On leaving a mate and I were the first ever to turn down Membership of the Old Boys association and handed the Ties back unopened,The head was a bit astounded but we said we had never been Hypocrites and weren't about to start by liking the place. Only went back once within a year or so of leaving at a speech/open Day as I was in the area and decided to pop in. One of the Inbred masters pointedly ignored me but welcomed an acquaintance accompanying me with Gusto shaking his hand "nice too see you again". This surprised my mate who never been to the County let alone that school before. Another expressed surprise at the work I was doing "I'm surprised you got the qualifications to do that" Well it wasn't with any help from you I replied. Nope no reason to want to go back. A couple of years later economic reality caught up with the place forcing it to move into the modern world,the supply of pupils dried up as the Civil servants were no longer posted to Africa with allowances to pay for Childrens education. The old guard of teachers suddenly found that their free accommodation and meals electric,laundry etc were withdrawn which prompeted a lot them to retire or move taking thier E type Jags and Astons with them. The new wave could actually teach,the place now takes pupils from a around the local area to a greater extent and seems to be reasonably good school now . Apart from the buildings it isn't really my old school.

G.Harman

[cynic]

to get back on topic - whos got a workshop to make one?

[Jules Richardson]

The only one that I might possibly want to go back to is a house these days :-(

cheers

Jules

[www.GymRatZ.co.uk]

Like

[Roger Mills]

My impression is these things are more likely to appeal to you as you get older - and you're far too young, Adam!

It's 50 years since I left school to go to university, and I've been going to reunions of my 'year' for several years. Someone had the idea of initiating a reunion in 2003 to celebrate the fact that we started at Grammar School, aged 11, 50 years earlier. Only a few people (not including me) knew about that one, but the circulation list has grown - and it has become an annual event with about 30 people attending. The school no longer exists so we have to meet elsewhere - usually at the local cricket club - and there's no question of begging for donations to support the school!

When you meet people after a 40+ year gap, some are instantly recognisable, some you can recognise once told who they are - and others look nothing like they used to! Of course, when you see people every year, you remember them from the previous year rather than from 50 years ago.

I don't see the point of 'general' reunions - attended by people much older and much younger than yourself whom you don't know from Adam (the one in the Bible, not Adam W) - but I do find an annual meeting with people with whom I was quite close at school to be quite enjoyable.

BTW, someone managed to track down our old French teacher, and got her to come to the last reunion. She must be at least 85 - but is still going strong, and claimed to remember quite a few of us!

[MuddyMike]

Or are you the only one telling the truth?

Mike