THERE were plenty of old school memories at Bromsgrove Library on Monday (July 11) and the town’s two high schools also did battle in a North v South quiz at Artrix.
Around 870 people went to the Parkside venue throughout the day where hundreds of photographs were on display – both in paper form and on a special Powerpoint presentation which was on a loop during the library’s opening hours.
They depicted everything from school building photographs to pictures of individual year groups, lessons and sports teams between the 1930s to the present day.
One visitor Michele Meller told The Standard: “I thought it was excellent – it brought back a lot of memories and it was nice to meat up with a few people who I hadn’t seen for years.”
They had been submitted via the Bromsgrove Past and Present Facebook page and from people sending them in to the library.
The event was organised by librarian and local historian Pat Tansell and Annie Deeley from the Bromsgrove Past and Present Facebook page. Both women were also schooled in Bromsgrove.
Pat said: “It was an incredible day – to get 870 people through the doors was amazing and one woman had even come all the way from Somerset to see the exhibition.
“She sat there for most of the day, browsing the photographs and reminiscing about her school days in Bromsgrove.”
Annie said: “It was a real celebration of schools in Bromsgrove and the people who went there.
“I met the head and deputy from my school and I witnessed people meeting up who had not seen each other for over 30 years or more – there were some real reunions going on.”
In the evening the attention turned to a friendly long-established rivalry – that of North v South.
Past pupils from the two high schools did battle at Artrix in the ‘old school’ quiz – an event organised by Liz Boyd from North and Annaliese Stanton from South and chaired by quizmaster Steve Cowperthwaite.
A vociferous crowd of close to 40 people watched on with placards and posters declaring their allegiance to North or South.
The toughly fought contest featured questions from the 1970s, 80s, 90s, 2000s and 2010s, with participants being probed on everything from moments of history, culture and music to more quirky questions including naming as many characters from The Muppets and surnames of Friends’ characters.
In the end, South ran out winners by 96 to 71.
Many of the photographs can be seen at the Bromsgrove Past and Present Facebook page where there are also a number of threads and forums relating to school days in the town.
To find out more, log onto Facebook and search for ‘Bromsgrove Past and Present’.
