It is 50 years ago since Collegiate School in Poole Road, Westbourne, closed. Many of its former pupils still live in the Bournemouth area and have fond memories of the school.

One of the oldest schools in Bournemouth, Collegiate was founded when Bournemouth was little more than a village and a press report in 1876 said it was 'the chief educational establishments in Bournemouth'.

"The main Collegiate School building at 28 Poole Road was replaced by Homewaye House in 1982. Prior to it being a private day school for boys 'run on public school lines' it had been a girls private boarding school and took up the next two buildings,Towerfield and Westboro, in Poole Road", said Alwyn Ladell whose large collection of old Bournemouth pictures is on Flickr.

"In 1911 there were 66 girls at the school and the principal was Miss Ellen Louisa Parker-Gray. In 1921 Miss M Davie was the headmistress, living at Towerfield".

Robert Tarrant of Bournemouth, was a pupil at Collegiate boys school from 1930-38 when there were over 100 boys and ten classes under three headmasters, Dr Bramall, Mr H.B. Thresher and Ernest Jordan. Only a short walk from the Bournemouth West Railway Station, and public transport stopping at the school entrance, Collegiate was in the perfect location for pupils travelling from near and far, some travelling from as far as Swanage.

"There was a large lawn at the rear and lower down a large playground. Sports and athletics were played at a ground off New Road, Northbourne, as Collegiate did not have space outside. I still have all my school reports. Latin was the best language to learn and I excelled at book-keeping when it was a subject for a few terms. The masters were good, except one we called 'Blue Murder', said Robert.

Each term started with a religious service at St Ambrose Church on West Cliff Road. The school had a large gym hall where plays were often performed.

He recalls a boy called Vye whose father had a butcher's shop on Poole Hill and Jackson was another pupil whose father was a well known architect in the town.

Bournemouth resident Peter Durrant attended Collegiate from 1946 -1950. The school fees were paid by a rich aunt.

"The headmaster at Collegiate was Ernie Jordan who was a county hockey player so all the boys had to play hockey. I knew Paul Dyter whose parents owned the nearby Queen's Hotel, and Cyril Josey who later bought a place with his wife at Ferndown. After leaving school I became an apprentice engineer at Loewry on Lindsay Road, Westbourne, and was employed there for 45 years", said Peter.

Lewis Parkyn who was at Collegiate from 1949-58 remembers the headmaster Ernest Jordan, his wife and two children living in the flat on the top floor of the school. As the playground overlooked Bournemouth West Station they had a good view of the locomotives and rolling stock and often did train spotting.

David Willitts was 12 when he started at Collegiate in 1952 after the family moved to live in Alumhurst Road, Westbourne, from Winchester. His younger brother Richard Mellor also attended the school.

" I was not too keen on sports but enjoyed the drama classes, participating in several of the school productions. After leaving Collegiate in 1956 I went on to do drama training at Boscombe. I was also good with cars, passing my driving test at 17 and worked for various garages in the Bournemouth area, repairing an maintaining vehicles", said David.

John Lee from Ferndown attended Collegiate from the age of nine in 1955 and stayed until he was 17. He travelled by bus to school from Ferndown and knew some boys from Swanage who had to rely on the ferry to get them to school.

"Classes were small, maximum of 13 -14 pupils, so you had lots of attention. I enjoyed sport, especially hockey, cross country and cricket.We didn't have a sports field so had to go to Kinson to play tournaments. My friends at school were John Badham, Richard Penson and the late Guy Swaffield, as well as Roger Brown who was a couple of years older", said John who worked as an East Dorset surveyor before working for the family firm John Lee and Sons (Ltd ) at Ferndown.

Simon White of Corfe Mullen, lived near Wimborne when he went to Collegiate from 1958 - 65. His mother took him by car to Wimborne Station where he would catch 8.20am train to Bournemouth West Station. He was given permission to miss assembly due to the length of his journey.

Ernest Jordan was head of Collegiate School when it closed in 1966, and died in 1982 aged 78. The school became a night club, then Collegiate Club before it was demolished.