Rochdale Grammar School for Boys reunion

Rochdale Grammar School for Boys reunion
Garry Hargreaves, Geoff Kindon and Andy Sutcliffe

A reunion of former pupils at Rochdale Grammar School for Boys was held at The Healey Hotel on the evening of Wednesday 11 December.

Fourteen of the remaining 39 form mates attended, nine have passed away, many not having met for nigh on 60 years, and all took the opportunity to exchange memories of their school days and their subsequent life/career paths since leaving the School.

Long distance travellers came from Calcutta, Latvia and West Vancouver. Apologies for absence were received from a number of non-attendees. Appropriately a toast was made to ‘Absent Friends.’

In October 2012 an Old Boy of the School, Paul Stott now resident in West Vancouver, Canada, was re-visiting Rochdale. Local resident and fellow Old Boy Geoff Kindon met up with Paul for the first time since 1959.

As a result they decided to try and find fellow form mates, who had joined the school in 1954, and who in 1959 were members of Form 5A and the Lower 6th. Using school photographs it was thought that there should be 48 names on the list.

The project commenced on New Year’s Eve 2012 and through research on the internet by mid-October last all 48 had been located in places as diverse as India, Australia, Canada and South Africa, with the majority having spread out across the U.K. by this time .

Grammar School Old Boy Geoff Kindon said: "It is hoped that a more formal reunion may be undertaken in the late Summer/Autumn of 2014 in Rochdale, to coincide with the 60th Anniversary of our entry into the School."