"Like so many of the signatories of your Guest Book, I came across your website purely by chance. I had been 'visiting' the official KEGS Aston (Isn't it a shame that they don't use the words 'Grammar School' any more?) Website and I was just about to log off when I noticed your name.

I was at Aston from 1961-1968. I was in my First Year when Chas died at Christmas. One of the consequences of this was that during the Christmas break in a particularly hard winter, the untended heating system froze up and burst. When we came back, the fireplaces had been opened up and we had coke fires in every room. The school had never been so cosy! I remember one French lesson when Ted Pick - as we and the staff called Mr Pickering - was toasting his back in front of the fire until he was aware of a singeing smell coming from his gown!

I started Aston Life in Joe Entwistle's class. We called him 'Jack'. We all used to dread his French lessons, but, to my knowledge, none of us were slippered! Our teaching paths crossed several times, for French or German and he taught me in the Lower and Upper Sixth. He was really quite human by then, as long as you had done your work! We still had vocabulary tests in the Sixth Form! He was very pleased when I became a Languages teacher myself.

Obviously I was at Aston much later that you and I suppose that many staff had 'mellowed' by then. Perhaps this was the case of Joe Pinder. I don't know if he taught you. He walked around the school with a face as miserable as sin and shouting at any miscreant. We had him for O Level in the 5th Form. In the classroom he was a delight. He was kind, enthusiastic - even at that age - and had a wonderful sense of humour. He loved the contrast of his Birmingham accent using the most erudite language possible. One of his putdowns was : "If you don't listen more carefully, I'll throw you with such velocity into that there radiator, that you'll come out concertina-shaped!" Then he'd turn to the rest of the class and say: "He's a nice lad really!" I had him for 'A' Level in the Lower Sixth, but he was taken ill and went to hospital. He never came back to Aston. Brian Roberts replaced him.

I was in 2A in Room 12 during the time that the 'New Building' was being built. This was quite distracting.

I only managed to attend one Reunion Dinner, many years ago. There were only three of us from my generation. Everyone else seemed very old! I found the toast 'The Immortal Memory' and the singing of the school song very moving. I'm now a retired Head of Modern Languages and I live in Letchworth Garden City in Hertfordshire."