News: College staff, students and alumni mark WW1 centenary

Leading the service were members of the High Pavement Society, made up of High Pavement alumni, some of them from the 1940s, including the President of the High Pavement Society, Ken Kirk and Nottinghamshire Historian and author Peter Foster. 

As part of the ceremony Peter donated his book ​‘We Will Remember Them’ — the fallen of High Pavement School, Nottingham 1914 – 18, to the College library. This moving portrait by Peter details the lives of the many pupils and teachers who gave their lives in the First World War. 

Peter was a pupil at High Pavement School in the 1950s and 60s. He said: 

“Military history has been a life-long obsession of mine, particularly the Great War. I distinctly remember sitting in assembly as a 14-year-old boy at High Pavement School, looking over at the huge bronze memorial plaque hanging on the wall (the same one that is now displayed at High Pavement Sixth Form) and wondering what the pupils who were mentioned did and what had happened to them. When I retired five years ago, I decided to start documenting the 93 ​‘old paviors’ who lost their lives during WW1, as a way of honouring their lives and what they had sacrificed. 

“I was proud to be part of the remembrance ceremony today at High Pavement Sixth Form. Events like this help to keep the memories alive which is so important.” 

Reading the names of the fallen was presented jointly by Society members and College staff and students, followed by the sounding of the Last Post by Royal British Legion Bugler Andy Borgdale, and a two-minute silence. 

A number of A Level students were in attendance, sharing what Armistice Day means to them. 

Shelley Blake-Carey, 18, from Clifton, is a current High Pavement Sixth Form student, studying A Level History, Government & Politics, Business and Maths. She said:

In the videos below Peter tells three very moving stories about past pupils of High Pavement School who sadly lost their lives in the Great War.