Neston School is heart of village community (From Wiltshire Times)

Neston School is heart of village community

8:40am Friday 1st July 2011 in Down Memory Lane

Memories came flooding back when former pupils and staff joined in the 150th anniversary celebrations at Neston Primary School.

Patricia Romang, 85, one of several generations of her family who attended the school, said: “I had a very sentimental feeling looking around.

“One of the big differences is obviously all the mod cons – we never had computers.”

Mrs Romang, who still lives near the school, originally a church school before it came under council control, said one of her favourite memories was of planting a tree to mark the coronation of King George VI on May 12, 1937.

She said: “There were some major milestones when I here, like the coronation and the outbreak of war in 1939.”

Mrs Romang, a retired piano teacher, said: “It was lovely to go through all the old pictures and news cuttings to see old friends.”

Another former pupil, Lee Booth, 41, who attended the school between 1975-1980, said: “This is such an excellent school and always has been.

“I feel quite privileged to be able to come back and see how much it has come on.”

Mr Booth, of Neston Crescent, felt that many of the changes at the school had been for the better.

He said: “The outside toilets were never pleasant so it’s a good thing they’ve been removed, although I was speaking to someone earlier who came here and he said I should have been grateful as all they had was a bucket!

“It’s a pity that they got rid of the swimming pool as I think a lot of us probably had our most favourite memories of the school around the swimming pool.”

Sue Warren, who taught at the school for nine years, said: “It’s been lovely reminiscing with old friends and former pupils as there’s always been such a great sense of community here.”

Mrs Warren, who retired 13 years ago and now lives in Dorset, used to live in the village.

She said: “The parents really helped make this school great, they’d rally round behind every social event we had lined up, whether it was after-school classes, bird watching or camping trips.

“I hope the school goes from strength to strength – bring on another 150 years.”