St Peter Port reunion as school set for demolition

The secondary school closed in 2009 and will be demolished shortly to make way for the new Guernsey Institute buildings.

Martin Search, 67, has organised a reunion for students that attended St Peter Port Secondary School between 1968 and 1972.

‘I heard what was happening with the old site,’ said Mr Search.

‘And it reminded me of all the great memories I had of the school. I think it’s fantastic that the school has been redeveloped. The new development benefits the island greatly. When I was at school, it really served the island well. It was brand-new, and it was a state-of- the-art facility.’

Mr Search, who was known as Martin Smith or Smithy during his school days, had lots of stories about his time in school, including racing the pet chickens and skipping assemblies to play basketball with his friends.

‘When I was in my fifth year, my friends and I would skip assembly to go and play basketball in the gym. One morning, we were playing, and our terrifying head master, Mr Tiller, walked into the doorway. He just stood there, looking at us, and tapped his cane, so we just placed the ball on the floor and silently walked into the assembly hall, very quickly.’

As well as being state-of-the-art for the time, there were some unusual features, including that the school’s tortoises were kept in the school quadrangle.

The event will take place on 24 June at Folies – a nightclub managed by Tony Le Marchant, one of Mr Search’s peers from school.

‘The school encouraged us to be responsible, and hard workers,’ said Mr Search, who is now a managing director at Ray & Scott jewellers on the Bridge.

‘Loads of people I went to school with became really successful, like Tony.’

Mr Search encouraged his peers to come along.

‘It was great days. I have some great memories. It’s really nostalgic planning this, and I’m really looking forward to it.’

• The reunion starts at 7.30pm and ends at 11pm.