Let me tell you about the girls who came together as Form 2W in September 1954 at West Leeds Girls’ High School in Armley. There were 25 of us with Miss Marjorie Tunnard, who taught Latin, as our Form- mistress.

Well, when we were in 2W, we had an open day in the summer. The school had a big field behind it and we did a dancing display – Scottish dancing. Then in Jubilee year, when the school had an open day in the summer, we did dances from Central Europe. We were trained in the dances by the PE staff and it was wonderful. We also had a joint church service at the church, which is now Leeds Minster, which we shared with the boys. There was a Boys High School as well and we shared the same building, but we were not taught together. We were not supposed to meet with them.

We stayed together as a form until 1958, the year we took our G.C.E ‘O’ Levels. Of the 25 girls in the original 2W, 12 went into the 6th Form whilst the rest left to pursue other careers. Two years later on July 20th, 1960 the 12 girls who had stayed on in the sixth form to take A’levels left school promising to meet again on that date 20 years later.

Time went by and our lives took different paths until early July in 1980. One of my classmates, Jean, who was at that time living in Hertfordshire, wrote to me to ask if I remembered the promise we had made 20 years before. We were still in contact with some of our original classmates but we had no idea where others might be. We decided that I would write to the Yorkshire Evening Post asking for those missing to get in touch with me here in Lancashire. Amazingly we had a fantastic response which led to a gathering that summer in Judith A’s garden in Horsforth.

One of my classmates has lived in Australia for many years. And several years ago, after we retired, my husband and I went to Australia. I wrote to her and told her we were going, and she said she would like to see us there. So, when we were staying in Perth, in Western Australia, we spent the day with her and her husband. It was Australia Day. And it was wonderful to see her because I was the only one of her classmates who'd ever made the journey.

We all made an effort to keep in touch, and this eventually became an annual meeting for lunch in Leeds which continued until 2020 when COVID meant these annual get-togethers came to an end until we met up again at Leeds Playhouse for 1001 Stories.

We finally had a reunion on November 2022. We have grey hair, glasses, and hearing problems, but still, we can recognise who each other are which reminds me of school life.

Don’t you think it is amazing to keep in touch with friends who share the same background, schooling, and the same memories? So precious.