Trip down memory lane - Peter Constable’s essay takes readers on a nostalgic walk along North Station Road, describing the houses, shops and people who lived there when he went to North in the 1940s and 1950s. He describes the artisan cottages that used to be in front of school, the Riverside Cottages and recollections of the VE Day party at the Railway Mission Hall. He also remembers Stowe’s bakers, where penny buns were the favourite of many pupils Picture: CONSTABLE FAMILY ALBUM

Air-raid shelters - in October 1939, five air-raid shelters were built at the back of the junior playground and in the nursery. Each one could fit 60 children and was fitted with “seats, lavatories and hurricane lamps”. Air-raid practices became routine and on November 3, 1939, the juniors made it to the shelters in two and a half minutes. Neville Papworth was a student at the time and said: “We used to sit on wooden benches with our backs against the concrete wall. Forty to fifty of us, along the edges and one bench down the middle. We sat there for about half an hour or so, until the siren went off and we could go back to class”

Tower of strength - the front of the school, showing the original Victorian bell tower. The school’s beautiful architecture is remembered by Robin Matthews, who attended in the 1950s. He describes it as “richly detailed with roof turrets, octagonal towers, gable features, warm-coloured glazed tile work and domestically-scaled windows”. The building had a great influence on Robin, who went on to become an architect. He returned to the school 16 years ago and designed two new classrooms for North

Renowned artist - Paul Gallifant wrote an essay about his uncle, former North pupil Henry Collins. Mr Collins’ teacher, Arthur Andrews, encouraged him to attend the Colchester School of Art on North Hill and he went on to be a founder member of the Colchester Art Society. He later became an internationally-acclaimed artist. This picture is a Collins family portrait, thought to have been taken in 1924. Pictured from left are father Henry P Collins, sister Joan, Henry (centre), brother Cyril and mother Mary Picture: PAUL GALLIFANT

Classrooms - this photograph shows the classrooms at North, with double wooden desks featuring a slot for the slates and inkwell on the right. Former pupil Margaret Gilbert, born in 1914, describes the desks: “If you lifted the lid, that was where you kept your exercise books. But when I first started school in Miss Griffin’s class, all we had was a form to sit on and a slate and a slate pencil”

Carnival entry - this photograph was shared by historian Andrew Phillips. It was taken in Queens Road, near the back entrance of the Grammar School, in 1948. Presumably the end of the procession route, it may be that this was the first carnival after the Second World War

Girls’ playground - this playground used to have a brick wall dividing the girls’ and boys’ playgrounds. Brian Thompson, who attended North between 1941 and 1949, said: “The playground was Tarmac, with gravel at the bottom end, and there was a brick wall dividing the girls’ and boys’ playground. The boys and girls played separately, but were mixed during lesson time. The football posts were painted on the wall. The toilets were outside in the playground to the left of the boys’ entrance, where the new buildings are now. There were air-raid shelters in the playground, with sandbags against the outer walls. We went there lots of times. We used to sing sea shanties and nursery rhymes. There would be one teacher who would get someone to sing. There was wooden seating either side. During the Second World War, the American Air Force were based at Langham and Boxted. One Friday, they supplied us with chocolate powder in bags which we took home to make cocoa. I kept dipping my fingers in. The Americans gave each pupil an orange - that was my first orange. I was seven years old when I had my first orange and saw my first banana”

First head - Liz White, from the Lexden History Group, wrote an essay about the school’s first headmaster, John Harper. Mr Harper was headteacher from 1894 until 1922, when the school was in Princess Street, off North Station Road. The road was later renamed John Harper Street

Vivid memories - Susan Wilson, nee King, attended North between 1958 and 1965. She wrote an article describing her memories and sharing her own collection, including her first spelling book, drawings, reports, an autograph book and photographs. “Our headmistress, Mrs Flood, was strict and would not allow outside shoes to be worn in the hall, to the extent parents took off their shoes,” she wrote. “We generally wore plimsolls indoors and hung up our outside shoes in a bag with our coats on a peg in the cloak rooms”