School Reunion

IT WAS OURS TODAY! 22ND AUGUST 2026.

BALMORAL COUNTY SECONDARY SCHOOL - CLASS OF 1965.

We were all young then,

Life was simple,

full of promise, with years stretching endless ahead.

Plenty of time to do and be all we ever dreamed of -

We were strong and vital and carefree.

We never expected it would go by in a flash!

But the camera captured one frame and it had gone.

We wanted to tell the other's - the young ones - to remind them it would only be a short ride,

But they were breathless with youth,

Believing it would never fade.

Suddenly, here we are,

Years and years hence,

As if some time machine catapulted us forward into the future,

Hardly recognising each other from those heady school days.

Exchanging symptoms and mourning past friends.

Even the Venue is different now,

It gets smaller each year as less people attend.

But we are resigned to this -

Allowing time to carry us,

And our memories to support us as we journey on.

We are glad to still be here, to greet each other warmly once again,

To laugh and joke and toast our friends.

To wonder where the time has disappeared 🤔

To promise we'll come back again next year. (we hope! 🤪)

Dedicated with much love to all my wonderful school friends- past and present. We had such fun - and its not over yet!!!

I can hardly believe its over 50 years since we were all together at Balmoral - which is now an Academy. Years ago, of course, it was just where you went when you failed the 11 plus! We called it ‘Bolly’ or ‘Bad Moral’ school - because years ago it had a bit of a reputation. Unlike the Grammar School, which was reserved for those with a higher IQ.

To be completely honest, I remember most of it with fondness. Time has erased any uncomfortable experiences, and age has decided that what mattered then is less important now. It was absolutely lovely to meet up with everyone and learn how their lives had turned out.

On the whole we seem a fairly well balanced bunch, though I must confess to forgetting names and only recognising one or two at first. We may have seemed a motley crew to the staff at The Bath and Tap! Some of us married, some widowed, some divorced, some single. Some of us confident and some shy.

I was surprised at how far some dedicated soul’s had travelled to be there. A few from Spain, and from the south of England, staying quite a few days in Morecambe just to meet up again with old friends. It's interesting how easy it is to reconnect with old school friends - especially as most of us have hardly seen each other in the past 50 years. It was like we were all suddenly sixteen again. A strange phenomenon - like going back in time.

Even stranger, is the fact that we could probably have passed one another on the street without even realising! We likely have very little in common now - apart from the fact we were all together at school. Somehow that fact seems to break through all barriers - though i still haven't worked out why! Could it be our shared youth, or perhaps we view those days as the best of our lives? Maybe we are just viewing through rose coloured spectacles now that most of us are 70! Bemoaning our lost youth!

Anyway, I want to leave you all with yet another song 🎵 because music seems to convey my mood far better than words.

To my school friends - those passed from this world, and those still here, thank you for your friendship 🙏 and for giving vibrant colour to my life that has blended across all my relationships - both past and present.

Live long and prosper ✨️

Carole 💜🎵🙏