WHEN Stephen Savage saw a class photograph from St Thomas's School, Farnworth, in this column on February 14, he did not know any of the pupils shown.

However, he did recognise the teacher, Mrs Yates, as he went to the school a few years later and she was the teacher in Standard 2. "In fact, we were her very last class, as she died during the summer holiday at the end of that school year - I think it was 1957.

"I went to the school from 1953 to 1959. Just after I started we had a party to celebrate the Coronation. Many of the local streets, such as Smith Street, were beautifully decorated with symbols painted even on the road surface. I wonder if any photographs survive.

"This photograph must have been taken about 1954. I am on the front row, first left. Of the rest, I remember Alan McGuffie, Alan Cartwright, Raymond Ashworth, Paul Gerrard, Arie Vrolyk, Brian Mayoh, Albert Gill, Stephen Brawn, Michael Cross, Stuart Bond, Kathleen Green, Brenda Shawcross, Ann Cole, Terry Kaye, Gordon Charleston, Val Weaver, Philip Knowles, Barry Ribchester, David Disley, John Ward, John Harrison, Robert Tyrer. I remember all these faces, but cannot now put names to them all. Would I recognise them today? I doubt if anyone would recognise me!

"Is it very sad that St. Thomas's Church and school are both closed, although the buildings still stand.

If you want to contact Mr Savage, his address is 4, Austhorpe Gardens, Leeds, LS15 8TF (e-mail: steve@austh.freeserve.co.uk