POSING patriotically for the cameras one late spring day 63 years ago are a class from Gorse Hill Infants School.

The occasion was Empire Day, a celebration for people in Britain and the nation’s territories across the world.

The young teacher of those children, not many years out of college, was Jean Spindler, who is now 88 and lives in Lawn.

She recalled: “After they posed for the photograph we paraded around Gorse Hill. All the mothers lined the route and cheered us on. It was lovely.”

The first Empire Day had been celebrated in 1902 and was traditionally marked on or as near as possible to May 24, the birth date of Queen Victoria.

By the late 1950s, as the Empire shrank, it had become British Commonwealth Day, and later still it became simply Commonwealth Day, which is celebrated on the second Monday in March.

Mrs Spindler may be familiar to Rewind because of the many poems she has had published in the newspaper. Her long career in teaching began at Gorse Hill and ended with her retirement from Ferndale Road Infants’ School.

She always taught infants and especially love teaching reception classes.

Mrs Spindler said: “I liked reception classes best because they were straight from home and so innocent and lovely.”

From left to right, according to her notes, the picture shows Madeline Hale, Stephen Lane, Leslie Brown, a twin whose name is not recorded, Michael Payne, Michael Talbot, Jennifer Slapson, the other twin, Janet (surname difficult to read), Alan Barrow, (Christian name difficult to read) Talbot, Pat Harris, Andrew Brittain, Richard Oddy, Pauline Watson, Shirley (surname difficult to read), Sandra Ball and Michael Heath.