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| 21 Oct 2025 | |
| Alumni Stories |
There were some 90 of us in the Upper 3rds at BGS (girls) in September 1958, now known as “the class of 1965” even though some left school after O-levels in 1963.
Over the years, some kept in touch with one or two special friends, others drifted away.
In May 2019, it so happened that half a dozen “girls” from that year (actually women in their 70s) found themselves sitting together at a table at the meeting of the London branch of the Old Girls' Association. Most lived in or around London, and they enjoyed the event so much that they decided to meet regularly for coffee and a chat.
Fast forward to 2020, and lockdown. But BGS Old Girls are nothing if not resourceful: they set up Sunday afternoon meetings online. This meant that the Old Girls who lived far from London could join in.
Members of the original small group who had kept in touch with other friends were keen to invite them too, and soon the Zoom invitation list grew. It now includes fifteen names, and the group has been meeting on line almost every Sunday (at 5pm UK time) for over five years. Some Old Girls join in regularly, others occasionally; sometimes there are three or four of us, sometimes eight or nine. We chat from far and wide, logging on from such places as London, Northampton, Manchester, Canterbury, Sussex, Leeds, Teesside, Chester, the Isle of Man, Canada, France…. We reminisce about school, of course, but we also talk about books, grandchildren, careers, property prices, health, politics - all is grist to our mill. Some of us are very chatty, others prefer simply to be a part of the group and say nothing: being there is enough!!
We also keep in touch through a WhatsApp group.
We've come full circle from sharing our teenage worries and pleasures; now we share different (but similar) emotions relating to our increasing age and the very different world we live in. Through celebrations and times of sadness, the support we have been able to give each other has been invaluable.
We would love to invite any old girls who joined Upper III in 1958 to join us.
