Peoples College Old Boys Society

Hello - The old School site is owned by the Nottingham City Council and for some years it has been used as a location for arts organisations with some of the rooms being made available for for hire for meetings and events. That business has ceased to exist but the Nottingham Playhouse uses the Assembly Hall in the Ropewalk building for rehersals and it recently approached the Council to buy the building.  Nottingham City Council as you may know are selling some of the buildings they "own"  because of its financial problems which is rerported as being a £26million hole in its finances.  The Council want to sell the site as a whole and the Playhouse Directors only want to buy the Ropewalk Building.  The building is not listed but it is on a local list created by the Civic Society which identifies those buildings of heritage value to Nottingham which are not currently given national protection through Historic England listing. The PCOBS Committee was encouraged by Mich Stevenson to write to the Playhouse and offer our support and we will let you know more about this when we have a reply. Without Historic England Listing protection the building could demolished and the site redeveloped. 

The list of past presidents of the Society has a signifcant gap beteen 1948 and 1960 caused when the chain of office was stolen from a members car.  Can you remember who was Presdent in any of these years?  Let me know. I am "slowly" going through the documents that we have which will be sent to the Nottinghamshire Archives for it's Schools collection so I might find some clues amongst them.

Tony

keyworth1@btopenworld.com

It is sad to report the death of Anthony (Tony) Martin on 27 May 2022.  His funeral will be on 16 June at St James Church Porchester 1:30pm. Donations to Renal Dialysis Unit at Nottingham City hospoital in lieu of flowers, online or c/o Harrod House, Church Street, Carltom NG4 1BJ 

I heard from his daughter Jeannette that John Shipman died on 21 March 2022.  His funeral will be at the Bramcote Crematorium on 19 April at 10:30. His daughter said he always enjoyed our reunions.

We are sad to report that Douglas Barks died last September in his 90th year.  His daughter told me that he often shared his memories of his  time at the school with his family and was looking forward to our proposed reunion in the Spring of 2022.  He left the School in 1946.

Archiving Memories of the School

We have in our possession a significant amount of documentation such as photographs, certificates and School Magazines most of which is posted on the website.The committee are conscious that at some time in the future someone will have to" switch off the light" on the website and our other activities.  For that reason the Nottinghamshire Archives have been approached to see whether they would be interested in taking this material. They replied promptly that they would be pleased to accept our collection which would be put in the Education Section. 

This is an opportunity to ensure that a record of the School will be preserved in perpetuity and you are invited to send to us any documentation that you would like to see included in this initiative. The Archivist has said that they will accept future submissions and that they are particularly interested in original photographs although they will accept digital copies.  The problem with digital copies of course is that as technology changes occur there is a danger of loss of data and quality during transfer. 

So please contact Tony Keyworth on 07800866825 to discuss arrangements for getting any material to us. 

 I will be labelling the material in the next few weeks ready for handing it to the Archivist in late November.

Hi

Peter Walters has made contact from Milton Keynes where he retired after a career as an Electrical and Electronics Engineer. He would be pleased to hear from anyone who remembers him and shared schooldays at Peoples College. He has made an impressive list of the masters at the school during his time there. See the  "Contact An Old Boy" section  His email contact is  kenkevlyn.3@btinternet.com

On 28 February 2019 a small group of OB's. spent on interesting and enjoyable evening at the BBC East Midlands studios

{vsig}pcobsphotos/RadNottm0219{/vsig}

Some photographs from the reunion lunch on 26 October 2018.  43 old boys attended and had a pleasant lunch.

{vsig}pcobsphotos/2018reunion{/vsig}

Martyn Hammond made contact  and would be interested to hear from anyone who was at the school between 1961 - 65.  After a globe trotting life he has now settled down in Memphis TN. He visits Nottingham regularly and has asked to be kept up to date with Old Boys' events. See Contact an Old Boy for deatils.

Old Boy makes contact from Cornwall.  David Knight made contact recently recalling his time at the Old School and some of his friends. His email is david.knight.e@gmail.com which is also listed in the "Contact an Old Boy" section under the Main Menu.  David would be pleased to hear from any of his old freinds.w

Mike Kiddey 1953-56 

Mike Kiddey wrote in to say that it was he that brought the Spanish boy from La Coruna  in the C6 Form Photograph to the school. He thinks he was a pen friend. Does anyone recognise Mike in the photograph or remember him?  He was at the school between 1953- 56 when he went with his family to London where his father took up a new job. Let us know or contact Mike direct through the Contact an Old Boy facility.  Were you one those who dismantled his bike on his last day before he went to London?

Gymnastic Display from 1955

Can you name anyone in the photograph?