SURFING with the television remote the other day, the face of Lynda Bellingham filled the screen. Described as “warm, open and quick-witted panelist of Loose Women”, her appearance prompted me to call my wife Ellie: “Your old school friend is on the telly.”

My wife looked up and stressed: “She was no friend of mine.”

They caught the school bus together, back in the early 60s as they attended the same class at Aylesbury High (Grammar) School.

“Perhaps it was a schoolgirl perception but she had everything,” Ellie reflected. “Her dad was a pilot, she was clever, an achiever, in all the school plays and didn’t seem to have time for the likes of us. “That is not saying she wasn’t a nice person but I preferred Lesley Kearton, Lord Kearton of Courtaulds’ daughter. She was good at everything, as was Lynda. They had attended private school before they came to Aylesbury and, in those days, the private school kids were brighter. Lesley was a lovely girl.”

Two girls with famous connections in the same form? I panned back through the three schools I attended and no one famous or with a connection to fame came to mind. There was a classmate called Cobb, who initially claimed under pressure he was distantly related to the late racing driver John Cobb, but I always suspected that had been a momentary attempt on the part of a “new bug” to appear interesting.

I was unable to conjure any such memory. Two of my assistants, at the Watford Observer, went on to win the national Sportswriter of the Year Award; Watford icon Cliff Holton once phoned me from Spain; I stood on the same clinker bank at Vicarage Road football ground as a tubby kid called Reg Dwight but we did not meet until later when he was Elton John; and I was quite close to Graham Taylor. That was about as good as it got.

I once came close when I was six. I went into a house where the actor who played Just William on the radio lived. Undfortunately he and his family had moved out the previous year.

But no one at any of my schools or anyone at work became really famous.

I know a lady in Sarratt who appeared on This is Your Life when it featured Twiggy, because they had been best friends at school, but I can lay no such claims.

I also recall Percy Stratford, former local bowls maestro and “occasional drinker”, when licensee of The Western, Rickmansworth, travelled with me to away games. One day he invited me down to his pub to meet someone. It transpired it was Bedford Jezzard, former England and Fulham footballer. Percy informed me he and “Beddy” attended school and played for Croxley Juniors together in far-off days.

I have even trawled the old school websites, but without success for fame passed us all by it would appear. One became a successful local accountant, another a solicitor and a third still writes the occasional letter published in our columns on Watford FC. I have been known to point out that we had lunch together when in Deal on a scout camp outing in 1953.

So, to be honest, I envy Ellie her Lynda Bellingham connection. I know she preferred Lesley Kearton but the Courtaulds connection is a little tenuous. You see, Shirley Eaton never got on my bus to school but just as I had come to the end of my trawl for someone vaguely famous, I recalled an old morose sub-editor who ridiculed the obsession with fame.

During a conversation among local scribes recounting the famous people they had interviewed, he suddenly announced to the assembled: “I met Brigitte Bardot’s cleaner!”

When we tried to take in the significance of the remark he spread it out by adding: “How significant is that?”

Yes he was right: the tendency to associate ourselves with the famous, is a little ludicrous, but it is something I cannot indulge in.

However, I know there were people who went to school with Nick Leeson, Geri Halliwell or George Michael. What were they like? Could you see they were scheduled to make a mark? Have you photos of you and Andrew Ridgeley in the same cub troop?

If you have rubbed shoulders, swapped caps, shared a towel in the swimming pool changing room or just sat in the same class as someone destined for fame and fortune, it would be good to hear and you could always send us a photo.

Readers who submit articles must agree to our terms of use. The content is the sole responsibility of the contributor and is unmoderated. But we will react if anything that breaks the rules comes to our attention. If you wish to complain about this article, contact us here

Readers who submit articles must agree to our terms of use. The content is the sole responsibility of the contributor and is unmoderated. But we will react if anything that breaks the rules comes to our attention. If you wish to complain about this article, contact us here