Centenary of former Derbyshire grammar school sparks search for class of 1974

Ernest Bailey Grammar School opened in Matlock in September 1924 and closed in 1982 as part of the merger which created today’s Highfields School, with its buildings converted to become the Derbyshire Record Office on New Street.

The centenary has coincided with soul searching among 1974 graduates who are now looking to find old friends and learn where life has taken them.

Retired accountant David Gray, 68, sparked the initiative and has so far traced around half of the 48 students who completed Sixth Form alongside him.

Now living in Darley Dale after a career which took him around the world, David said: “It started with a retirement project that led me to write down my life story – not to publish, just for my own benefit or maybe for someone doing research in 50 years.

“I tracked down one school friend in Manila, and another, Robert Bathie in Crich. We lost touch about 40 years ago and now see each other every few weeks. We got talking about the anniversaries and how it would be great to reconnect with people.”

He added: “I look back on those years as extremely pleasurable and the 50th anniversary feels quite a milestone. When you’re leaving at 18, it feels too far in the future to wonder what you might all be doing.

“It seems unbelievable really. The majority of pupils went through All Saints Junior School, then seven years at secondary. We had so much in common in our upbringing, then one day you leave and never hear from them again.”

David has been meeting up with some classmates as and when they emerge, simply to piece together the class’s story. They are not yet planning a full class reunion.

He said: “It’s become quite a compulsive activity. There are ten of us now in a WhatsApp group and others we’ve heard back from. Unfortunately we’ve learned four have died, but there’s one living in Portugal, one in New South Wales, and we’ve just found two who went to work at Southwell Minster.

“We’re just running out of leads. I’ve already got much more out of it than I expected but I’m especially keen to find a friend called Jonathan Cooper. We were very close at one time.

“Everyone in the WhatsApp group has shared fond memories of that period, particularly of the history teacher Godfrey Curry. He’s into his 90s but still lives in Matlock and a few of us have been to see him.”

Though social media has made reconnecting with people easier than ever, that has only gone so far with the class of ‘74.

David said: “There is a Facebook page for all years of Ernest Bailey. They’ve arranged various reunions but with our year it seems like everyone went their separate ways.

“We’ve had help from brothers and sisters of people we knew. Others we’ve sent messages to and got no reply, so we’ll never know if it was the right person.”

Anyone who might know the whereabouts of a 1974 Old Bailean can contact David via [email protected].

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