Almost 60 years after they were at school together, a group of pensioners are getting together for a reunion following a chance meeting 1,000 miles from their old primary.

The schoolchums - now all turned 70 - were in the same class at Loose Primary School near Maidstone back in 1966.

It was their last year together before they went on to their different secondary schools.

The month that they left school, 32 million people were glued to their TV screens to watch (in black and white) England beat West Germany 4-2 to win the World Cup - for the first and only time.

On the international stage, the Vietnam War was still raging - fortunately without the participation of the UK. Harold Wilson was Prime Minister and Plaid Cymru had just gained their first MP after Gwynfor Evans won a by-election in Carmarthen.

The Rolling Stones were topping the charts with Mother’s Little Helper, and Charlton Heston in Khartoum and George Peppard in The Blue Max were competing for our attention in the cinema.

The idea for the reunion of pupils from Miss Arnold’s class was hatched after a chance meeting of two of the women in Portugal four years ago.

Lynne Higson (nee White) was staying with her husband at their holiday home when she happened to notice a Facebook post of someone posing by a statue in nearby Faro.

She said: “I recognised the name first - Sue Brattle - and then saw it was my old friend from school.

The two connected through Facebook and then met up in Faro.

They started talking about the good old days, but when one of them produced a school photo, a competition to remember everyone's names began.

In 1966, Mrs Higson, who now lives in Chichester in West Sussex, lived with her parents in Berwyn Grove, Loose.

She said: "I look back fondly to my school days, although I know not all of my classmates do.”

“Miss Arnold had a tough reputation and was not beyond throwing the board rubber at you, if you misbehaved."

But what she recalls about her teacher was her patience and the extraordinary lengths she went to one year to help the girls learn the art of dress-making.

It stood Mrs Higson in good stead years later when, after a rather unappealing start to her working life as a secretary, she switched to starting up her own business in design.

She said: "I was at Loose from 1959 till 1966, because at the end of the infants, they made me stay down a year. So I actually got know two year groups."

Later, she went on to Maidstone Technical High School for Girls (now Invicta Grammar).

It has taken all the intervening four years, but, between them. Mrs Higson and Mrs Brattle have now been able to put a name to every face in the photo, and more importantly, track down almost every one.

Mrs Higson said: “Sadly, two of our classmates have died. And the rest are scattered all over the country and some abroad. But 20 of us have pledged to meet up at the Orida Hotel in Maidstone on Thursday, July 31.”

They have even located their old teacher, Miss Arnold, now in her 80s, who will be joining them.

The logistics of the get-together have been organised by another old classmate, John Hall, who still lives locally.

Mrs Higson said: “There are still one or two people who we haven’t been able to reach, so if anyone recognises themselves in this photo and would like to get in touch, please do.”

She also asked that if anyone spots their mum, dad or grandparents in the photo, to please pass the message on.

Contact Mrs Higson on lynne1709@hotmail.com.

The names of the pupils are, from left, back row: Phillip Bourne, Brian Amess, Kevin Tucker, Peter Cackett, Chris Owen, John Halls, Anthony Galbraith, Peter Stevens, Graham Lock and Keith Wright.

Middle row, from left: Marilyn Moon (nee Simmonds), Noreen Thatcher, Jane Portal (nee Bowerman, Ann Saunders (nee Hoadley), Gillian Ballard, Lynne Higson (nee White), Valerie Manhood, Gillian Bristow (nee Osborne), Vivienne Knight (nee Pounder), Susan Wanstall, and Vanessa Norman.

Sitting, from left: Susan Brand, Anne Appleton, Susan White (nee Blythe), Sue Pepper, Miss Shirley Arnold (teacher), Susan Brattle, Nicola Mayhew, Christina Norman and Joyce Hall.

Sitting on the grass: David Perkins, Colin Hawkins, Andrew Sandham, Nicole Turner (nee Razzell), Anne Blake, Peter Stephenson, Barry Croft, and Stephen Gilbert

Sadly, Anthony Galbraith and Susan Wanstall have both passed on.

The reunion will run from 10.30am to 6pm.