I think it’s fair to say Saturday 1 October is a day that will live long in the memory for many people connected with St Mary’s and its ‘sister’ schools St Joseph’s Convent and St Mary and St Joseph’s.

The launch of We Did Our Homework on the Bus brought together hundreds of old boys of St Mary’s College and St Mary’s Grammar, Sidcup going back to 1949.

The picture above somehow encapsulates the spirit of the day with myself, on the right, meeting Phil ‘Pip’ Wells who joined in 1953. Though 24 years separates us, and we have never met before, we are linked by our school and Saturday was a time to make new friends and meet old acquaintances.

Despite a national rail strike and other well-publicised problems in our country – not to mention a weather forecast which predicted howling gales and lashing rain – almost 300 people gathered at the old school on Chislehurst Road in beautiful autumnal sunshine for an unforgettable day.

The hall on the fourth floor was packed and guests were able to lose themselves in nostalgia with nearly 1000 photographs and many items of memorabilia.

Brilliantly hosted by old boy Tony Damer, the day was made possible by a committee consisting of St Mary’s very own Peter Pan, Bert Moniz (1954) who had flown in specially from his home in Delaware. Showing no signs of jet lag, the dapper lad originally from Sidcup mucked in and managed the flow of cars as they arrived.

The entrance hall registration process was brilliantly managed by two of my contemporaries and great friends from 1977 Tony Walton and Simon Pajak ably assisted by Lisa Eastley, Alice Eastley, Holly Horton, Julie Walton and Amy Walton.

As guests made their way up the stairs they were greeted by a series of iconic posters from yesteryear featuring St Mary’s legends like former headmasters Frs Leo McIver and Philip Graystone and much-loved teachers like Olim, Pommo, Eccles and Ron Hesketh.

So many people had assisted with the launch but special mention to other members of the committee including Paul Geradine, John Arundel, Phil McCarthy and Steve Willis who all worked tirelessly to make the day a special one.

The hall and adjoining staff room (formerly the kitchen) were full of old photographs, names of old boys and took us all back to when we were so much younger than today (I never can resist a Beatles reference).

And to prove it, here’s a couple of photos from when Phil and I were much younger. The first shows Phil as captain of the St Mary’s first eleven football team in 1958/59 and the second shows myself as a scrawny little 14-year-old who played fly-half for the 1977 year rugby team at U12, 13, 14 and 15 level. The picture was taken in March 1981.