Proof that I was once slim arrived in my inbox today from an old school chum I’ve not seen since 1963!  It’s a photo of us both at primary school – knobbly knees and all - taken the year we went off to grammar school.  I’ve never seen the photo before! But it proves that I was skinny once – when I was 11!

Chris Capel and I both attended Forches Cross County Primary School in Barnstaple, Devon, where we passed the eleven plus before moving on to Barnstaple Boys Grammar School in September 1961.

I was only there for two years until my family moved down the county to Exeter, the capital city. After Hele's School I moved up north to university and stayed there for the next 40 years before emigrating to Spain.  So I haven’t seen Chris or most of my Barnstaple schoolmates for 47 years.  I visited a couple of them, Trevor Hill and Geoffrey McEvansoneya, on a trip through England a couple of years ago, but that’s been it.

Next month, however, that will be rectified, when I attend the BGS Class of 61 School Reunion in Barnstaple and nearby Saunton Sands.  Will they recognise me?  I doubt it; then I was skinny, now I'm not, but I’m looking forward to it immensely.

©  Paul Whitelock

Tags: Forches Cross County Primary School, Barnstaple, Barnstaple Boys Grammar School, Exeter, Hele's School, Trevor Hill and Geoffrey McEvansoneya, BGS Class of 61 School Reunion, Saunton Sands, www.a1-solutions-spain.com