FORMER pupils of Merry Hill Infants School returned to the halls of their youth this week as part of an ongoing Millennium school heritage project.

About 15 former pupils, one of whom attended Merry Hill as far back as 1915, were welcomed to the school on Tuesday for a reunion with a difference.

The main aim of the reunion was to gather first-hand accounts and information on the school, built in 1875.

The information will be published in a booklet centred around the history and development of the school over the past century.

Initial ideas for the publication were instigated and drawn up by Mrs Sandy Woodley at the start of 2000, following a decision by the school's governing body to mount a campaign to restore the front facade of the building in School Lane, Bushey.

Mrs Woodley, who retired on Wednesday, July 25, after six years as deputy headteacher, said: "In order to generate interest we produced a leaflet which we distributed to the parents of current pupils, and placed in local libraries and the Bushey Museum.

"The response to date has been amazing and, in turn, led to this event, which has been fantastic way of collating primary accounts while also linking past and present pupils."

Following an official welcome by Mrs Woodley on Tuesday, the guests were taken on a guided tour of the building during which they were invited to share their own memories and individual recollections of their time at the school.

Aside from obvious visual differences, such as that of the school's walls which are are now painted bright yellow as oppose to a dull and murky brown, the visitors all agreed that the most striking difference was the atmosphere.

All commented on it being far more relaxed and friendly in comparison to their own years as an infant.

Staff and former pupils laughed as one visitor shuddered on approaching a classroom with which she linked a bad experience being ordered to stand at the front of the class for having disrupted the lesson.

Despite taking early retirement, Mrs Woodley intends to continue with her research for the school heritage project alongside special needs co-ordinator, Mrs Joan Handis, with whom she has worked closely since the onset.