Poignant reunion for far-flung Portsmouth school pals after decades apart

FORMER school friends travelled from around the world to attend their first school reunion.
By The Newsroom
Published 6th Jul 2016, 06:06 BST
REUNION: Classmates from St Johns School, Southsea, met up for the first time in almost 30 years and looked over old photosREUNION: Classmates from St Johns School, Southsea, met up for the first time in almost 30 years and looked over old photos
REUNION: Classmates from St Johns School, Southsea, met up for the first time in almost 30 years and looked over old photos

It has been almost three decades since the St John’s College class of 1989 saw each other.

They took a step back in time last week as they took a tour of the Southsea independent school and marvelled at old form photographs of themselves.

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Five former teachers from their time joined them for what was a brilliant look back on their school careers and a chance to catch up with old friends.

OLD FRIENDS: The group were joined by former and present members of St Johns College staff at the reunionOLD FRIENDS: The group were joined by former and present members of St Johns College staff at the reunion
OLD FRIENDS: The group were joined by former and present members of St Johns College staff at the reunion

Nic Cronin, 43, from Fareham, organised the event.

He said: ‘I was feeling a bit nostalgic and it felt like the right time to hold a reunion.

‘There were about 25 of us and everyone made a huge effort. Some came from as far away as the USA, Dubai, and Vietnam.

‘The strangest thing was seeing five of our old teachers. The have all since retired but had each taught there for more than 35 years. They didn’t recognise any of us until we told them our names and then it clicked.

‘It was great to see everyone, but also very poignant because one of our school friends, Jeremy Warringer, died suddenly just a few weeks after the reunion.’

Related topics:PortsmouthFarehamSouthseaUSA