Mr Fox attended the school from 1944-51 and was a special guest at the school's 150th birthday celebrations on Friday afternoon.

Mr Fox shared some of his stories with pupils, and said his time at the school was something he wouldn't forget.

"It was a really great school to attend, despite being overcrowded.

"I used to love maths and wood-work, but hated English. I am still friends with a couple of the people I met at the school as well."

Mr Fox, who became a successful engineer and businessman, remembers things that students today would never dream about.

"During the war they built air-raid shelters behind the school and we had to have drills, which meant lying in the gutters among animal droppings," he said.

"My brother was there when they shut the school because of a polio outbreak."

Mr Fox, whose father attended the school in about 1910, said much had changed since he was a student.

"Back then, punishment was the strap and sitting in the corner. There was no school uniform and there was a lot more students."

But some things haven't changed in the 60 years that have passed.

"Most of the buildings that we used are still here, so it feels like the school hasn't changed at all.

"Even looking at current photos, the children look exactly the same as they did back in my day."