Friends Reunited is a website in the UK & Ireland reuniting schoolmates.  Through this site I've been able to contact old friends I went to school with (some of who may have thought I would never amount to much.)  I thought I'd share with you some of their stories and memories to give you an idea of what I was like in school.

Neville,

Do you remember me, I've recently been in touch with a few old schoolfriends via the friendsreunited website and your name is on the Newbold Grange as
our only FAMOUS PUPIL. Brilliant, you've proved all the staff wrong.

My most vivid memory of you is you stealing up behind me and pulling my shorts down in front of a group of girls on the playing field - I didn't get
any offers though, still we can't all be lucky. I meet Phil Smith occasionally and it was while talking about you I said that I would search the web. I have had messages from Jean Beards and Brian Eite who told me of a few of our year who are no more.

David Howe had leukaemia. Martin Hilditch got run over by a tractor on his own farm, Richard Jones (Cancer),Douglas France (multiple sclorosis), Owen
Bush who committed suicide when his penchant for little boys got the better of him.

Anyway you have done really well for yourself and I for one are proud of your achievements. Check out the friends reunited website sometime.
Show em Nev.

David

Hi Nev..or as they say over there...Hi.
From your photo you havn't changed much...your STILL an ugly bugger.
I was going to say "how are you?" but obviously your doing better than me. Or should I say, doing better than most of us.
Yes I certainly remember you Neville, and when ever you appear on T.V. ( you must be worth a fortune with all the repeat fees you get for your videos) I usually tell my kids about your days at Newbold. Certainly you was no angel was you Nev?
6 of the best for smoking by the terrapins wasn't it?and 6 of the best for attacking Mr. Long with a broom. ( mind you I don't blame you for that one). Another 6 of the very best for assaulting that young art teacher in the supply cupboard whose name I can't recall. Others were with you on that one wern't they Nev? Did you know Owen Bush died a few years ago. He hung himself from the attic of his house in Brownsover. ( It was over his 'love' for young boys I believe).
I'm sure there was other times Ashcroft had you in his office.
Do you know who else is in america? Archie Bryan. He's living in San Francisco. He split up with his missus last year. I don't know if he's got any sprogs. I've got 5 myself. I don't know if I'm a granddad like you cos I havn't seen my eldest..Frazer, for 6 or 7 years.
Trev Davis is a dad. I think someone told him recently that it's not " just for peeing with". He's a manager of a building society in Birmingham. So if you were to pop over and see him no doubt he'll say " Nice to see you Nev. Now just take that ski mask off and put that bloody shotgun down....(ha ha ha!)
One memory I have of you, and I can still see it very clear now even after 34,35 years. It was in an inter house Rugger match. You and me were in Oxford team and we were playing against Warwick. ( didn't you hate the way they always seemed to win everthing sporty).
Any how, the match was level and we were on the attack with just a couple of minutes to go. You had the ball and was racing ahead of us. You must of thought that a copper was chasing you instead of the Warwick pack, the speed you was going. Anyhow, in front of you was Newbolds fullback...Charlie Parton. He was the only thing between you and a try. You ran on... you got nearer and nearer, Charlie girded himself..you got nearer, you swerved to his left, he moved to his left and dropped down on one knee ready to tackle you, What was you goimg to do? Swerve right? swerve left? kick the ball? Pass the ball?......NO! You jumped straight over him like a gazelle and went on to score. Giving Oxford the win over Warwick.  Most of us, our side anyway,was to busy laughing to congratulate you.
Hope that jogged some memories for you.
I might have, and I say "might have" a photo of you when you pulled a knife on Trev up in Caldecotte park. Do you remember that? ( Tell your kids it was only in fun". It probably wasn't....) If I can find it I'll try and send it to you. The trouble is although I took a few photo's in those days I've given most of them away over the years. Still.......
I'll have to leave you know Nev as it's time to don my outfit and strutt my funky stuff.( what ever that means)  In other words I'm off to the pub.
see ya Nev,
Brian.     ( Eitey...)

Hi Neville

Glad to hear how successful you have been.  I remember you as a real little rascal at school.  Too busy having fun to learn a lot.

I followed your music and felt proud to have known you.  Have been in touch with a few old Newbold pals and we are planning a reunion in September.

Saw you on Top of the Pops 2 recently in your pink cadillac by the palm trees!  Was in California myself in 96.  Saw all the best places.

Living in Newark, Notts with Hubby Mike, daughter Mel who's 18 and son Ross who's 14.  Proud of them both - don't think I could have coped with more than two though.  Now working for an IT company as an exam administrator.  Couldn't pass them myseld but trained to set them up!!  Will never make me rich - some things never change.

You're looking good for your age.  Must be all that sun.

Regards
Jean

Hello Nev
Do not know if you would remember me but we did run with the same crew in Rugby before you moved to Cov. My name is Graham Coulson, friends who used to hang around with was Keith Wells, Ray Brightwell . Mark and Paul Mc Cluskey, Pete ince Kerry Livermoor,  but to name a few. Very please you made your name in the pop world, and if my memory is right your favourite Ska track was Monkey Man. Many a fond memory of the West India club, Lawford disco and one or two other place's. hope you remember me as during your peak with The Specials not many people believed me when I told them of the times we had in Rugby. Well I hope you continue with your solo career and get the susses you deserve.
Graham Coulson (couls)

Hi Neville,

Wow, an e-mail from the rich and famous!!!!!!   Of course I remember you, you were the one always getting into trouble!!!   Only joking...  I checked out your web-site and you are doing really great things, it was thanks to you that I got an answer right in the local pub quiz, they were all dead impressed you were at my school!  My only claim to fame!   Do you remember Arthur Bryan, he really was always getting into trouble, well apparently Brian Eite tells me that he went to San Francisco on holiday and decided to do something with his life and became an illegal immigrant, in trouble again see.  After four or five years he decided to make it legal and married 'An American Girl' good title for a song!!!!!    Jill Lambert contacts me and has given me all the gossip on most of our classmates.  Do you remember Dawn Kingston?  She unfortunately had leukaemia and has now fully recovered and we got together last summer for the first time in 25 years, it was great to see her and catch up on everything.    You have to remember Trevor Davis, apparently he is now a building society manager in Birmingham.  Sylvia Davis with the long ginger hair, unfortunately met her demise and was murdered by her boyfriend (she got in with a bad crowd, a very bad crowd!) and we thought Rugby was a sleepy old town.    I lived in Canada for eight years and decided I didn't like their weather and could no longer live their way of life and came home again.  All my family still live over there, they obviously liked it better than I did!!   Great to hear from you keep up the good work.

Elaine (Leonard)   ps. You still look exactly the same as you did at school!  How do you manage it????

HI NEVILLE

PLEASED TO SEE YOU ARE STILL IN THE MUSIC WORLD WELL ITS A LONG TIME SINCE WE WERE IN 4P AT NEWBOLD WE ALL    HAD SOME FUN THERE DO YOU REMEMBER MR    WILLSON WHO TOOK RE WE NEVER LEARNT A    LOT ONE OF YOU BOYS WOULD START HIM ON A DIFFERENT SUBJECT AND THAT WAS IT FOR    THE REST OF THE LESSON I REMEMBER HE     ALWAY KNEW YOU WOULD DO WELL I WAS THINKING WHO ELSE WAS IN OUR CLASS       SANDRA PARTRIDGE SUSAN ROBINSON DAVID CANT COLIN  BRADSHAW BARRY GREENFIELD SANDRA LANGHOR DAWN KINGSTON ELEAN SMITH DAVE HOWE HE DIED YOU KNOW A WHILE AGO   DO YOU REMEMBER MR HARRIS I THINK THEY   CALLED HIM BLOB AND SLIM JIM DO YOU REMEMBER WE USED TO GO CROSS COUNTRY RUNING IN THE SNOW ME AND LINDA WILLIAMSON WALKED ALL THE WAY ROUND I THINK THE REAST OFF YOU USED TO HIDE     OVER THE QUARRY DO YOU REMEMBER THE LITTLES BOTTLES OFF MILK AT DINNER TIME  WELL THATS ALL I CAN THINK OFF IM MARGARET SPOONER NOW GREEN HAVE TWO      GIRLS SHARON 20 LESLEY 18 HUSBANDS NAME  ROGER HE WENT TO NEWBOLD HES 18 MOUTHS   YOUNGER THAN ME SO I DONT KNOW IFF YOU WOULD KNOW HIM

BBFN MAGGIE


Do you still play ska?

Looks like you spend most of the time in the gym! Are you still in touch with any of the other old skool Specials? One of the best bands ever in my opinion. Would like to see the original lineup play a few gigs but that is probably a tall order. Liked FB3 but not as much. Have a couple of later Specials albums featuring yourgoodself but they are not as distictive as, say, More Specials. The cover versions one is quite enjoyable. All the best mate
Cheers
Tim

HI NEVILLE
CAN YOU LET ME KNOW IF THIS GETS TO YOU OKAY AS I HAVE SENT THIS WITH FRIENDS REUNITED I HAVE LOOKED AT YOUR FAMILY ALBUM YOU MUST BE VERY PROUD WE HAVE NO GRAND KIDS YET WELL THAT ALL
TTFN MAGGIE

Neville,

Just a note to wish you a Happy New Year mate, I trust you had a good one. I saw from your website that you had some gigs at the end of the year and that your Japanese tour went well. You've travelled a long way since walking out of those gates in 1969. The re-designed website is great. From this communication you will see that I am online at home now, so don't have to squeeze my hours on the internet to the end of an exhausting days work.   Christmas and New Year went well for me, a quiet time at home to unwind and relax, watching a few videos and selected tv offerings. The musical highlight of New Year was Jools Hollands Rhythm and Blues Orchestra on BBC2 with a brilliant range of artistes, Jimmy Cliff ( who I hadn't seen for years on TV- he was brilliant), Tom Jones, Miss Dynamite(rap isn't my kinda music-but that girl has talent in abundance-A great sense of rhythm). Also I caught up with a Songs of Praise that Pete Waterman worked on getting a choir of eighty or so Coventry schoolkids together and singing carols at Coventry Cathedral - it showed auditions and practice interspersed with carols, a truly inspiring programme that made Christmas for me.   I saw Philip Smith who was in the middle class of our year last week for a drink at the 'Avon Mill'. We are going to have another mini re-union at the end of March. In the meantime I attach a photo of our September re-union from last year. From left the line up comprises Jean Beards, Philip Smith, Brian Eite, Julie Faulkner, myself, Michael Pearce and Stephen Prior. It was taken at the Old Crown Inn in Newbold.   Anyway all the best its late Saturday night here and time to get my head down.

David

Hi Neville,
Do you remember me..Lynda Currie that was? I remember lunch times when you tried very hard to teach me to dance. It paid off i still love to... whatever the 'IN' word is for dancing. You used to call me Mersey Tunnel (cant think why at the moment) and laugh at my very short skirts and bright knickers (not the skimpy things of today!!!)

I was a few years younger than you and left school in 1973. I do remember your name often being shouted out in the corridors for something you'd done. Glob Harris was often heard bellowing your name!!

I was into Ska music so I was aware of your success, plus ther were a few guys around that kept me informed.

I cant say I've done as much as you. I have 5 children, all cracking looking. James is 27 and a nurse and back at university and the other 4 are 10,9,8 & 8. Still young and keeping me busy. I live in Poole in Dorset and have my own cleaning company. I visit Rugby regularly and am there next weekend to see AKA playing. Do you remember TOMO in my year? Well he was my first boyfriend at Newbold and he and I met up again and are seeing each other!! Small world.

I'm glad you've had a full and successful life, with lots of kids. I bet you're still the loudest life and soul of the party!

If you remember me keep in touch,
Lynda