A CLASS of 1958 reunion was held in Dorchester to bring together 10 former classmates.

The men left Hardye's School 50 years ago in 1965 and were reunited at the Class of ’58 reunion at the Colliton Club in Dorchester.

The reunion marked 50 years since the men left school in 1965, having joined Hardye’s Junior School together at Wollaston house in 1958.

The 10 all kept in touch through the Old Hardyeans School Association.

For many years, three of the Class of ‘58- Simon Frampton, John Sibley and Colin Smith met to celebrate their birthdays, which all fall in the first week of December.

Founded 110 years in 1905 as the Old Grammarians, the Old Hardyeans- also known as the Hardyeans Club- is one of the most successful old school associations in the county, bringing together the old boys of Dorchester Grammar School and Hardye’s School, plus ex-students of the modern Thomas Hardye School.

In the times of Queen Elizabeth I, it was Thomas Hardye [with a final "e"] described as a Yeoman of Frampton, who endowed Dorchester Grammar School in 1569. Hardye’s [shopping] Arcade today stands on the site.

The Grammar School moved to Culliford Road in 1928- renamed Hardye’s School from 1954. The new Thomas Hardye School in Queens Avenue opened in 1992, encompassing the best traditions of the two previous schools- but admitting girls for the first time since 1569!

Writer Thomas Hardy OM, who lived at nearby Max Gate, laid the foundation stone of Hardye’s School in 1927.

He was no relation to Thomas Hardye, founder of the school, nor of Admiral Thomas Masterman Hardy!