I very much enjoyed the reunion on the 1st May. It was extremely well organised and impressively done. Many thanks to those who did so much work to achieve this. It was as if nothing had changed: Maxie Rickard was as irresponsible as ever; I had to encourage him to leave--I was passing the message on-- as his cousin and her husband--Priscilla and Barry Stubbs-were about to lock him out of the house. Maxie smiled and kept on eating-this was well after midnight--unconcerned. It's good to see people just as they were. I wonder, though, did he find a bed for the night...

Was dazzled by the clever organization that made this the success that it was. Thank you to everbody concerned!

I came away with the thought that for the handful of years that we were together in our respective classes, we probably spent more time together than with almost anybody else - about seven hours a day; five days a week! Thank goodness it was in this good school and not somewhere else!!

Feel bad that I haven't been about (I have been but mainly below the radar) for so long but time flies; still carrying on as an architect and finding the projects still come in and remain as absorbing as ever.

With the rash idea that anybody might have the slightest interest in what follows, after training at the Welsh School of Architecture in 1969, continued with a post-grad degree, subsequently turning my back on the ins and outs of Parker Morris and architects' design assumptions about the way people live, started a 21-year term with British Rail working through Southern Region projects like London Bridge Station, Gatwick, Charing Cross and suchlike as well as smaller schemes such as Crystal Palace, Esher, Southampton Parkway and so on and also the endless renovations; then after time with further projects with Network Southeast, including Stansted, Canon Street, St Paul's-Ludgate, became the Architect for European Passenger Services preparing the concept designs for Eurostar at Waterloo, Ashford, North Pole depot and places (never to be constructed) "beyond London".

Once the Chunnel was completed, I gravitated to being a regional architect for BR's Wales and the West of England, even masterminding the bits at Pembroke station! All that was left behind as my wife, Frances (same name as my sister), and I set up or own practice in 1994 and we are still doing our thing off the railway now and mainly on good Listed buildings projects based with an office in Godalming and projects in the home counties and further afield (not in Wales, though), including even landscape projects in the US.

In the belief that architects don't retire but just get old and die, I have so far convinced Frances that the work we do is actually worth doing (as well as paying for chocolate biscuits) and so we carry on, spending a good deal of time, too, going up and down the M4 to get away from things and then walking the dog at Freshwater West etc!


PS
Too bad nobody achieved getting the new power station to finance burying the cables strung up on the grotesque array of pylons between Sageston and Hundleton! Oh, well...

We would like to thank the Penvro team for a most enjoyable Reunion on 1st May. It far exceeded our expectations and the attendance numbers showed the deep respect we have for our alma mater. We now live in a world far removed from the values that Pembroke Dock Grammar School instilled in us, thanks in many ways to the quality of the teaching staff. Once again, our sincere thanks to you all.

Yours sincerely, Raymond Dony and Ruth Buckle (nee Dony)

Just a little note to express our sincere thanks to all the organizers of the Reunion on Saturday night (1st May). We had such an enjoyable evening, including the very nice food, and was so pleased to meet so many people, and of course singing "Green Grow the Rushes" was a wonderful finale and brought back lovely memories. Thank you once again. Gwen Smith and David Yates

Elwyn and Vernice Hughes wish to say a heartfelt thankyou for all the wonderful organisation and hard work which went into making a most memorable and happy evening for so many people. No details were missed out. It is 60 years since I last sang Green Grow The Rushes O, and it immediately conjured up the memory of us all singing our hearts out while parents and family left the school hall after Prize Days.

We are all privileged to have been educated in such an environment and at a time when each town in Pembrokeshire boasted its own Grammar school. Your forethought and energy made it possible for us to meet up and talk ourselves hoarse, as if we had only parted yesterday.

Thankyou again and we are proud and delighted to be in touch with the New Penvro Association. We can be contacted at:
e t s . h u g h e s @ b t i n t e r n e t . c o m (Remove all the blank spaces between the characters to use our email address.

Best wishes Elwyn & Vernice Hughes (Evans)

Now back in Switzerland, I want to take this opportunity to thank the organisers of the Reunion on the 1st May. What a wonderful and memorable evening! It was fantastic to see so many school friends again after such a long time.I am glad I was able to be there, despite 'volcanic ash' which jeopardised my trip.The evening just flew by and I hope that when the next reunion takes place I will be able to attend. The photos are great.

Had a lovely evening on May 1st, nice to see old faces and make new friends. A good time had by all, great photos.

Thank you very much for the May 1st re-union.
It was a great success.
All those who were there to whom I have spoken about it realised how much work must have been done by the organisers.
I am about to email you a copy the first number of the school magazine.
Davina

Enjoyable evening & good to meet old friends & make new ones.

Thank you to everyone that organised the May 1st reunion it was good fun, I brought along my sister and brother in law (Patricia Waite and Derek Swift) who attended Pembroke Grammar in the 40's and 50's and they were convinced there wouldn't be anyone there that they knew but they met far more people than I did, I think that was the only disappointing bit, there were so few from the sixties intakes, where were you all guys? It was great to meet up with a few fellow pupils though and I hope we can do it all again one day as I kept thinking all the way home after the weekend of things I should have asked those I met. It certainly looked like a good night was had by all. If anyone wants to contact me they can do so on carolzammit@aol.com

This will be lengthy because I have so much to say. I am not given to exaggeration but Fantastic quite well sums up the 1st of May event and I am so glad that I made the effort to attend. Whilst I was involved from the outset in the creation of the web-site, I cannot claim any credit for the reunion - but the team who did organise it deserve all the praise now lauded upon them. When the subject of reunions comes up, in every-day conversation, most people will frown and tend to be derogatory - however my experience has been nothing but good. The two previous PDGS reunions held at the Quins were most enjoyable, but this current one exceeded all expectations. I regret that I missed the opportunity to speak with so many of those present and it became obvious that five hours is not long enough.
Once again many congratulations to the team and I hope all the hard work of the past months has not deterred them from organising another. The Friday school visit started the nostalgia and was a suitable preamble to the actual event. The photo badges were brilliant and I think Roger Mac deserves special mention for this and the slide show, the wall mounted photographs the display of school uniforms and the room decorations just added that special touch; icing on the cake as they say.
I would most heartily endorse the call from other respondents - for a list of attendees and especially if possible with some contact detail. For my part I may be contacted here at gregralph1@btinternet.com 01873-860316 or in Australia at gregoryralph@bigpond.com 0061 8 9204 4994 and would be very happy to hear from anyone from school.
Once again - very well done team. I did not hear one critical comment on the night and, if I had, it would have been rebuffed.
I have sent the photos DJ and I took on the night to Roger for inclusion on thepenvro website and I hope that if we missed you - you will forgive us.
Cheers everyone - Greg

Would love to get in touch with anyone from my year.
Back in St Davids, Pembrokeshire after 17 years in Canada.
Those were happy days and no idea what life lay ahead.
Am in touch with Sue Morris and Christine Jenkins.

Congratulations to the team of organisers! The reunion was a great success.
When you've had a chance to catch your breath, could you please put a list of names of all reunion attendees on the website?
I know I missed some old acquaintances, and probably failed to recognise others! I daresay I'm not alone in this.
The Penvro website is great : I find it addictive. I log on for a quick fix, & can't resist browsing through the array of material. It's pure nostalgia .
Keep up the good work,
Sandi.c.sinclair@googlemail.com

Reunion was very enjoyable

Really enjoyed May 1st Reunion. Will look forward to the next one.