A 77-YEAR-old man from Somerset was invited back to a school he had attended as part of a special anniversary.
This past week, Ian West, a pupil at St Benedict's School in the 1950s, returned to help them mark their 150th anniversary celebrations, praised the school for involving the wider community in marking this significant milestone.
Ian, who is now a resident of the neighbouring St. Benedict's Nursing Home, said: “I was delighted to be invited and thoroughly enjoyed my visit.”
Mr West, whose sons Chris and Mike also attended the school, became a pupil there in 1955.
He added: “I was one of the ‘Windmill Hill Boys’, along with my friends Harold Bolton, Colin Dyer, Thomas Woods and Harold Burridge.
“I couldn’t describe myself as well behaved, but I did enjoy the art lessons I did with Mrs Adlam.
“As far as sports were concerned, we only did basic PE and I remember games that involved throwing beans bags - but mostly us boys just ended up throwing them as hard as we could against each other.
“It was a really lovely event, and so nice that they involved other members of the community who the school means something to.
“The local Mayor was there with all the kids in the playground and field, and the children sang and danced then we all enjoyed themed cupcakes that were a gift from Burns the Bread.
“When I left school in 1964 I became a retained firefighter. I went on to do it full-time from 1972 and made some really good friends through work.
“I moved to St Benedicts Nursing Home in January 2025 and it’s nice being so close to the school and getting invited to events like this.
“My son Mike is possibly one of the more well-known past pupils of the school: he’s a former Detective Chief Superintendent with the MET Police and has been in the press a lot speaking about County Lines, acid attacks and knife crime.”
St Benedict's Nursing Home is run by specialist dementia care providers White Care Group, which also runs St Cecilia Care Home in Shepton Mallet and The Rectory Care Home in Taunton, Somerset.
Share