REDHILL Junior Technical School Old Boys will be holding a final reunion in a fortnight's time.
The former pupils will gather at Bletchingley Golf Club's restaurant on Friday, May 24, to exchange memories of their old school, which finally closed its doors in July 1966, sacrificed, they say, on the anvil of "comprehensive education".
Redhill was one of only four junior technical schools in Surrey.
The others were at Guildford, Kingston and Wimbledon. They were housed within the administrative umbrella of the technical colleges but were separate units.
The boys had all passed the 13-plus examination and attended the school for three years with an optional fourth year.
The building was opened in the late 1890s as Redhill Technical Institute. The foundation stone was laid on May 20, 1895.
Redhill Junior Technical School opened in 1926 in the Technical Institute (later College) as a two-year course. Throughout the school's existence, 72 boys started each year at the school on Redstone Hill.
During the Second World War, when the V1 attacks were at their height, some 30 boys were evacuated with their teachers to Bargoed in the South Wales valleys.
From 1926 to 1952, Mr FG Smith was the headmaster, with Mr AI Fisher taking over in 1953 until the school closed in 1966.
Altogether, some 2,400 boys were educated at Redhill Junior Technical School.
In the earliest days of the school, most classes were held in the evenings and the Institute was administered by the local Higher Education Committee of the borough of Reigate.
The buildings were enlarged over the years until Surrey County Council purchased the nine-acre site of the old Hawthorns School at Gatton Point, Redhill, where a new college was opened in 1967.
Any "old boys" unaware of this final all-years school reunion can call Roger Marples on 01737 243666 or Tom Slaughter on 01372 276900, for further information.
