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Further down, you will find information & photographs on past reunions enjoy them!

Future Reunions          Organising a Reunion  If you want any support contact:  grahamtall@wgsmemories.org.uk

 1955 re-reunions are planned for  2010 - if interested I'll pass your details on

1Past Reunions:

1940s Reunion   select Forties Overview/Categories below to find pictures of reunion etc.

Display on School created by Graham And David Tall for OG's Club House using 1940s reunion profits:      WGS Display at OGs

1945 Reunion   The reunion was held at the Old Grammarians club, it was a 'beer & sandwiches' event.  Primary object was contact,  food unimportant (age related ?).   No Ladies invited.   A number of the 'boys' still meet at the Old Grammarians quarterly  lunches.

1952 Reunion   www.wgs1952.org.uk           5th October 2002  Held at Kettering Park Hotel. . Following day visited the school

1954 Reunion   Copy of Newspaper article     2005.  Informal afternoon tea,  Formal Dinner and visit to school following day.

1960s Rugby Reunion 

1967 Reunion  Described originally on the  Wellingborough GS Nostalgic site   direct links: Report Below

Dining in the old hall was an odd experience! It really did remind you of those lunchtimes sat around the octagonal tables balancing the salt and pepper on the skin of the rice pudding or watching the old favourite of sponge pudding with lemon curd puddles being sliced up (someone referred to that particular dessert as "p***holes in the Sahara" - a very illuminating description!). There was a slight "cock-up on the catering front" on our reunion evening, which resulted in the meals being perhaps a little lower in standard than they would otherwise have been.  That aside, it was a pleasant enough venue and being able to wander among the tables after the meal and catch up with old mates was very nice.  Tim Kearsley (1967)

Report

The idea of trying to organise a reunion for all those who entered Wellingborough Grammar School in September 1967 was born in June 2003. Adrian Coombs (who now lives and works in North Carolina, USA) contacted Ben Galloway to tell him he was coming over to England for a few days to visit family and friends and could he get a few old school mates together for an evening to talk over old times.
At short notice Ben managed to pull together about 10 of the gang of 67 and a very enjoyable evening was had by all at the O.G’s club in Oxford Street just recounting tales of school days. It was such a good night that four of those present - Messrs Galloway, Lutter, Hornbuckle and Bellamy began to wonder if they could try to get the whole 67 intake together for a reunion for the first time in over 30 years.
It was a daunting task but in October of 2003 we started meeting on a monthly basis at the O.G’s on a Thursday night and slowly but surely managed to work our way through the class list of 98 pupils and those masters who enjoyed our company through those formative years.
Starting with the Old Grammarians annual magazine list it was soon apparent that former pupils kept some contact or knew where some of their compatriots either worked or lived and so by early January 2004 we had managed to contact enough people who seemed really up for such an event that we were able to pencil in a date - May 22nd and start planning seriously. We had great fun making speculative calls taken out of the local BT telephone directory, some of which proved fruitful and some which took us nowhere. The enthusiasm that was shown made the calls in themselves rewarding and encouraged us to try and track down as many on the list as possible. We rang some people twice, in error, and in several cases we just could not find any leads to look for them and had to reluctantly give up. With the date set, the email and letters went out on February 23rd and we waited patiently to see whether verbal enthusiasm would turn into £20 commitment.
By our meeting on March 18th we had 17 fully paid up members and so the ball was rolling- we felt we needed to at least 40 members to make the evening worthwhile and hoped that we would be able to manage between 50 and 60 including masters.
The next four weeks were very busy as we tried hard to chase up those who seemed interested but had not committed and made renewed efforts to contact the blanks on the list. One of the reasons for the need for firm numbers by the end of April was that we needed to commit on the tie order which was to be a closely guarded secret as it was to be a surprise on the night.
By the end of April we had just reached the magic 50 mark and so we predicted a final figure near to 60. We did try to reach everyone on the list but failed in about a dozen and a half cases, although it was not for want of trying- apologies to those in this category. We were able to obtain details of one or two missing members from those attending on the night - these will help us next time !
Our final meeting on the Thursday prior to the event saw us putting the final touches and everything looked set for a great night.
On the day we met at the school at 4 o’clock to help set out the furniture and put banners up etc and had it all organised by 5pm when John Hall arrived to start laying the tables and preparing the food. A flippant comment as we were leaving regarding the menu brought the dreaded last minute panic, that John had not realised that he was to provide cheese and biscuits as a final course ! Ben stepped in to the breach and was despatched to Sainsburys to buy enough cheese and biscuits for 60 people ! He did a grand job although the woman on the check outs looked a little strangely at him as he struggled to carry 5lbs of cheese out to his car !
We were back at the school at 6.30 pm to make sure we were on hand to greet the early arrivals. All was quiet and so Clive Bellamy went to check with John Hall that all was ok to be greeted with the news that he was having difficulty lighting the ovens ! Bens cheese and biscuits may yet prove to be the highlight of the meal !
Fortunately John managed to fire the ovens eventually but before we could indulge in the meal Richard Temple was asked to say Grace which again brought back some vivid memories of pre school dinner nerves at the thought of having to devour what was on the plate in front of you. We needed to have no worries on ths score as John did us proud serving up an excellent dinner which was much enjoyed.
Of the 60 members committed all but a handful turned up to help make it a night to remember. Some faces were familiar, others needed a shifty glance at the highly important name badges that were issued and compulsorily worn. In one or two cases individuals could not be placed at all but this may have been due to the dimming of memory which has already started to happen in many cases.
There was a distinct lack of hair in certain quarters and the group photograph taken by the Evening Telegraph shows some impressively polished pates.
A minutes silence was then solemnly observed for absent friends - both former pupils and masters who are no longer with us.
Master of Ceremonies for the evening Ian Lutter did a wonderful job despite much heckling and friendly banter. He welcomed everyone especially Adrian Coombs who had travelled in from North Carolina and many who had come from all parts of England to be there. He then handed over to Ian McDougall whose journey through various past masters brought instant and noisy mimicking from the assembled company. The fondly remembered William the Bastard (for those who never met him at first hand) also brought an instant reaction which was a mixture of recognition and trepidation. It was an entertaining speech which brought back many memories of “the good old days” and was well received.
Lutt responded with a splendid speech the highlights of which were undoubtedly the series of quotes from school reports. Rumour has it they were all sourced from those of Dick Windsor but it was unconfirmed !
The school was then opened up for everyone to see how the buildings had changed over the 30 odd years since we were there as pupils.
The old front part of the school was little changed although the dear old quadrangle has now been totally filled in but the hall and gym still looked the same. Thus it was’nt difficult to imagine yourself back in the late 60’s moving from class to class and wallowing in the nostalgia.
The last couple of hours gave everyone a chance to mingle and meet as many old friends and colleagues as possible to catch up on 30 years worth of news and events. Midnight came far too quickly and with it the end of the proceedings which judging by the emails and reaction since everyone thoroughly enjoyed and has re-established many old friendships that had been lost.
It is to be hoped that it will not be the last get together of the Class of 67 and that it will certainly not be another 30 years otherwise there will be very few people left to toast absent friends at the next one !
Private celebrations continued for a select band at the Galloway household whose whisky stock took a hammering as did his stairs as Ian Underwood experienced one his less than routine landings ! But that is another story- ask Ben when you next see him.
For those keener members and those staying overnight there was a further get together at lunchtime at the Old Grammarians clubhouse in Oxford Street where about 15 members enjoyed a couple of pints and further reminiscences. Then the weekend was over, after months of planning it was gone, but it had in itself provided another treasured memory and it is to be hoped that there will be more in the future.
Finally thanks to all of you who made the effort to attend-it made it all worthwhile as far as we were concerned and we sincerley hope that you were glad you were there. If you are wondering how we managed to keep within our budget you need to look no further than Mr Hornbuckle who through his own business and his business contacts managed to provide the banner, stationery etc free of charge and for this we are eternally grateful to him and hope that it does not dent his profits too much this year !
As you know we collected donations on the night which will go to finance a plaque at the new sportsfield which will hopefully show the Class of 67 logo as a permanent reminder of our reunion.
We will let you know further details when this has been completed.
A group photograph did finally appear in the Evening Telegraph on the bank holiday Monday (May 31st ) and the photograph reference number is
220504.15.2 should you wish to order one from one of the ET offices. Prices are £4 for a 7 x 5 inch and £6.50 for a 10 x 7 inch.
In the meantime best wishes to you all for the future, keep in touch from time to time, and if you change address, phone number or email keep us
informed as we may need to contact you at some stage.

The 1952 reunion was primarily of ‘A’ stream boys. The boys decided to really enjoy themselves and stayed for the weekend at the Park Hotel, Kettering. Perhaps more than any other year, the 1952ers have met up repeatedly in succeeding years – re-reunions, not visiting the school, but meeting for a pub meal etc.