A FORMER Coombeshead teacher has unearthed a photograph of his form class from 1981 – and he wants to know what became of his former pupils.

Robert Tarry, known to generations of pupils as Mr Tarry, came across the photograph while rummaging through a drawer at home.

Now 92, the retired teacher brought the picture in, hoping to discover whether anyone could help fill in the gaps on what happened to the class he remembers fondly.

‘They were a brilliant class’, he said, recalling the two years he spent as their form tutor.

The photograph shows the pupils in their first year of secondary school, with their names recorded alongside their signatures.

Robert Tarry
(Robert Tarry)

Mr Tarry said he could remember the pupils once his memory had been jogged, and revealed he still regularly bumps into former students.

‘Fortunately, most of them have come up and say, “Hello, sir. How are you?”’ he said.

Having begun his teaching career believing he could be everybody’s friend, Mr Tarry admitted he soon realised the importance of being firm as well as fair.

‘I started off thinking I was going to be everybody’s friend,’ he said. ‘After a fortnight, I realised it didn’t work’.

Mr Tarry taught at Coombeshead after previously working at Highweek Boys’ School, and remained in teaching until his retirement in 1993.

More than four decades on from the photograph being taken, he would love to find out what his former pupils went on to do.

Do you recognise anyone in the photograph? Were you part of Mr Tarry’s form in 1981, or do you recognise a friend, relative or former classmate?

Get in touch with your memories and let us know what became of the class.