I went back to my old school to celebrate a significant anniversary and take a trip down memory lane

I fall into the latter category, having experienced a fair amount of bullying over my five years at Colton Hills Secondary (later Community) School in Wolverhampton between 1993 and 1998 and leaving with a wish to not go back and not relive those memories.

As time has gone on and I've got a bit older and, indeed, worked with the school in my role at the Express & Star, I have regained a bit more feeling and respect for the place.

When the message went out about an event to mark the 50th anniversary since secondary schools in Graiseley and Penn merged together with Wolverhampton Municipal Grammar School to form the school we know today, I decided to get dressed up and go along to see what the school was like now.

On a sunny evening on Thursday, July 18, I walked along Jeremy Road towards the school entrance, noticing how the badges and colour schemes have changed over time, as my jumper had been dark red, while the current ones were grey.

Other things that are different include fencing along the front field and a very formidable looking gate that I know weren't there in the 1990s, but I can see why due to safeguarding and safety concerns. Amazes me to think we all survived the 1990s to be fair.

The building on the outside hasn't really changed, all grey effect around most of it, while the swimming pool has a brown exterior that was there when I was in the swimming team (don't laugh, I was a decent swimmer when I was kid).

I could see what was going into the evening as a mobile bar was being set up with a range of drinks, while a full barbecue area was being prepared to offer food to the near 200 people who would be attending the event.

It was also nice to be able to chat to the assistant headteacher Duncan Gittins and headteacher Julie Hunter and talk about my experiences at the school, which felt like a therapy session to some levels and left me joking about experiencing Stockholm Syndrome.

It was nice to talk to them, however, and hear all the positive stories about the school and what they've done over the years to improve the reputation and boost the standards and so, taking a deep breath, I walked through the doors and officially signed in.

One thing which had definitely changed was the area between the dining room and the sports hall which, in my day, was an open quadrangle exposed to the elements, whereas it was now a bigger area for students to work in and also be used for exhibition space.

In this case, it was with students playing piano and guitar as entertainment as myself and the other former pupils from the last 50 years discovered all the year seven class photos from that time.

It was very weird to look back and see myself at 11 years old, all fresh-faced and innocent and with hair and see all my classmates from that time, with some no longer with us and others living in other countries.

There were also prospectuses from that time, which meant I could see how the school day was structured back then, six lessons with a break and a lunch period and the formalities of uniform, form teachers and the correct PE gear that should be worn.

The best part of this was seeing the reactions from older former pupils to their pictures, many of who who had been at the school in the 1970s and 1980s and were experiencing their own treks down memory lane, so we all had this wonderful shared nostaligic feeling as we saw our younger selves.

As well as this section, the building had been opened up to allow us to take a walk around and see what was different from our time and, considering that I left 26 years ago, it would have been a little depressing if the building hadn't been modernised even a little bit.

I may have left a long time ago, but I can still mentally direct myself around the place and remember where things were, so I was never in danger of getting lost, even when I could see a new and modern dining room and a newer corridor alongside the library on the first floor.

It was a real trip down memory lane as I saw my old maths room, the room where I did geography and could watch the football matches on the pitch nearby, the section which was new when I started in 1993 and the science room that doubled as my form room.

Obviously, the building was different on the inside, full of modern flooring and brighter colours on the walls, as well as a few rooms either not being there any more or having been installed, as well as more modern touches like stair lifts and chill out zones, but it still had that familiar feeling.

I also got a blast from the past as although no one from my year group was there, two of my former teachers were there, with Mr Ashton walking up straight away to tell me he read my stuff in the paper all the time and Mr Scorer asking me about my time at University as he was from Sunderland.

It felt good to see them and see they were well, but also odd as I'm 42-years-old and a grown man in a professional job, but I still didn't know whether to call them Alex and Colin, Mr Scorer and Mr Ashton or sir after all these years. A level of due respect still exists after all these years.

Having caught up with my old teachers and enjoyed a cold drink from the bar (it was a warm evening and I'd chosen to wear a suit), all involved decamped to the school theatre, which still looks how it was when I was last there, for the formal part of the evening.

After a welcome address from Duncan Gittins about his own memories of the school and what 50 years means to him, there were a mixture of speeches and performances.

This included a Dhol Drum performance, a sound I admit I very much like, then a speech from the Mayor of Wolverhampton, Councillor Linda Leach, who had been a pupil at the neighbouring Parkfields School.

After a contemporary dance performance from former pupil Jasmine Kaur Stone, the ex-deputy head of Graiseley School Dave Francis gave a humorous, if somewhat rambling, speech about the history of the school, before year 12 and 13 students performed a Bhangra dance routine.

It was a good showcase of the talents of the students at the school, which has prided itself on giving them room to learn and develop their talents, and although a few people around me were mumbling about things, the majority of people were fairly entertained by it.

Former pupil and city poet laureate Dr Kuli Kohli spoke about her time at the school in the 1980s and read a poem, then those in the audience were treated to a trip down memory lane with a slide show of the last 50 years.

That was the highlight of the event, with people laughing at their old form pics, gushing at memories of teachers and trips and generally getting nostalgic at the memories of the past 50 years, with my own memories being hit by views of Gelliwig, the residential home in Porthmadog in North Wales, and seeing my name on a news story was a nice moment.

Headteacher Julie Hunter ended the formalities with a heartfelt thank you to everyone who had attended, saying that we were part of the history of the school, as well as the future to come.

With that, the evening became a chance to sit in the sports hall at one of the tables, remark at how big the hall used to feel (well, I was 16 at the time) and enjoy the fine food from the caterers, coming in with burgers, chicken, sausages and roasted potatoes for a good spread.

It was nice to be able to chat with former pupils and get their own memories of the place, as well as share old war stories and different teacher experiences.

I also had a moment of sitting and drinking a pint with Mr Ashton, who kindly bought me a beer, and remembering my old PE teacher Mr Smart, who taught me how to swim and also told me I was a member of the swimming team. I did think that he probably wouldn't have approved of people drinking beer inside his sports hall!

It was a lovely evening and I left feeling a lot better and happier about Colton Hills and my place in it. While my own experiences at the time were not always great, I've made peace and can start looking at the place as a part of my life and, as Mrs Hunter said, a part of my future.

Happy 50th birthday Colton Hills. If I make it to 92, I'll be there for the 100th anniversary.