CALLING all surviving members of the Class of '51 at the former Worcester Technical High School!

You're attendance is warmly requested at a proposed Golden Jubilee re-union next September on the 50th anniversary of your entry into the "Tech" school, which was housed in part of the Victoria Institute at Sansome Walk.

To be precise, the search is on for 23 of the 60 boys of 13 years of age, who passed entrance exams to become the two-form intake into the Technical High School in September 1951.

It was Worcester building contractor Tony Bryan of Hallow Road who, four years ago, first hit on the idea of having a re-union of all 60 boys who shared the good times and an excellent technical education at the school as the 1951 intake.

Armed with a full register of the intake and helped by form-mates Brian Wearing, Pete Lodge and Derek Digger, he began ringing round as many of those listed as possible.

To date, 34 of the "Tech" school Old Boys of 1951 have been traced, and it has also been discovered that, alas, three others have died.

Four social get-togethers have already been held by about 20 of the Old Boys, now in their early 60s, and I caught up with Tony Bryan and several of them at their fourth gathering - in the Star Hotel, Worcester, just a couple of weeks ago.

Even so, the prime aim still remains to have a grand re-union and dinner next September on the 50th anniversary of the 1951 intake - and with as many of the surviving "Tech" School Old Boys present as possible.

To this end, Tony Bryan stresses it is still vital to trace 23 Old Boys on the intake list whose whereabouts he and friends have so far failed to find. He hopes Memory Lane readers may be able to help locate some or all of these 23 men so they can be invited to the "Tech 51" re-union in 2001.

If you know where any of the 23 can be contacted, please ring Tony Bryan on 01905 749001, or write in to me, Mike Grundy, at the Evening News.

Tony says that at the social get-togethers so far, there have been "great chats about old times" and about life at the "Tech" school.

"We all reckon it offered a very good education in trades and vocations such as engineering and building.

"Back in those days, you were guaranteed a job when you left the Technical School. You had been educated to the age of 16 - a year longer than at other city secondary schools - and had received a good training in various chosen trades. Large local engineering firms like Archdales and Wards were then crying out for good apprentices."

Tony explains that the 1951 intake was initially divided into two classes - one alphabetically from A to M and the other from M to Z. In subsequent years, there were further divisions into course classes specialising in either engineering, building, science or other trades.

Tony can remember virtually all the teachers and instructors, though most are now dead. He recalls particularly Mr Bushell, Mr Harwood, Glyn Jones, "Cappo" Orr, Miss Brettell, Mr Thorpe, Mr Burrows, Mr "Isaac" Newton, Norman Jones, building department head Bill Osborne, and Les Cole who taught science but who had suffered severe burns and hand injuries flying with the RAF during the Second World War.

As a boy, Tony Bryan lived with his parents in Lansdowne Road, Worcester and went first to the St Martin's Boys School.

The Technical High School closed in the 1960s with the opening of the Technical College at Deansway and with the significant expansion of the city's secondary modern schools.

INTAKE TO WORCESTER TECHNICAL HIGH SCHOOL - SEPTEMBER 1951

*SO FAR TRACED:

Chris Atkins, Ralph Barker, Derek Bishop, David Bosworth, Tony Bryan, Les Davies, Islwyn Catley, Derek Digger, Frank Ellis, Neil Finch, Eric Fulcher, Eric Foster, Don Griffiths, Roy Gilmore, David Glynos, Bernard Goode, Roger Howell, John Hunt, John Howard, Roy Haywood, Esmond Harrold, Raymond Heywood, Mike Jenkins, David Jennings, Tony Lloyd, Peter Lodge, David Marston, Brian Orme, Richard Swain, Rupert Thomas, Gordon Taylor, Edgar Whiteley, Brian Wearing and David Yapp

* ALAS, DECEASED

A. Hankins, A. Lewis and K. Weaver

* STILL TO BE TRACED FOR 2001 RE-UNION

William Banner, Alan Batin, John Beale, Patrick Blackman, Brian Burt, Mick Byrd, Mike Collins, Eddie Coombs, David Hill, Edward Hooper, C. Jones, M. Jones, John Lane, D. Lloyd, Patrick Malin, Billy Naulder or Nolder, C.Preece, R. Silvester or Silverstone, Peter Sarratt, "Ginger" Taylor, C.Taylor, Anthony Thomas and T.Woodcock.