ALMOST 100 pensioners from the class of 1947 are forgetting retirement and going back to school - more than half a century on.

The group, ex pupils and one former teacher, of the old Haslingden Grammar School, Bury Road, are getting together for a reunion.

So far 68 former pupils and 16 partners, all aged around 70, and including four married couples who met at the school, are planning to attend the gathering next April.

The reunion is for particularly for people who were on the school photograph of May 1947 when headteacher Arnold Weston was at the helm, and is being planned by former Edenfield resident Ray Hill.

Mr Hill, who lives in Preston, logged on to the Friends United website where he got in contact with former classmate Glenice Duckworth and his one time girlfriend Irene Reid.

Mr Hill said:"I thought if I got ten people we could go to a pub, but names and addresses have been rolling in. I've been wondering how many are going to come on zimmer frames or in wheelchairs!"

To attend the gathering on Friday, April 30, at the Holden Vale Hotel and Conference Centre, Helmshore, call Mr Hill on 07833 770008.