Fifty years ago they were fresh-faced 11 year-olds, about to leave the security of their primary school and head into the wider world of secondary education.

The pupils now adults, returned to St Paul’s School in Winchmore Hill, in Enfield after 50 long years.

Many of the pupils hadn't been back since 1968 and of the original 65 pupils, 25 were reunited.

One pupil, Liz Fuse, now lives in Japan; another, Andrew Wells, has settled in Berlin.

It's not the first time some have got together, but it was the largest gathering they've ever managed.

David Wells – Andrew’s identical twin - now a secondary school teacher in Kent, led the group that tracked down the class members.

He said: “We used a variety of sources to try and locate these former pupils, including Facebook, Google, LinkedIn – or simply telephoning parents who are in their late eighties or early nineties and still live in the area.

“They aren’t all far-flung; a few still live in Winchmore Hill and some have migrated only as far as Hertfordshire.”

David Wastell, who lives in north London, said: "For many of us it was our first St Paul's fete for 50 years.

"We all had fond memories of the lucky dip, the bottle stall, and maybe not quite so fond - when we had to take part of displays of country dancing.

"It’s all much more sophisticated now, but the community atmosphere that made it a great school for all of us seemed to be the same as ever.”

The class also got to meet their teacher from 1968, David Morgan, originally from Wales, who worked at St Paul’s for 10 years before becoming head of an Edmonton primary school.

'Mr Morgan', as he was always known, now 83, joined his former pupils for lunch in a nearby pub.

He was accompanied from his home in Enfield by his son, Huw, who said it had been 'an emotional day' to meet so many people who had so much enjoyed being taught by his father.

Lesley Hayes, one of his former pupils, said: “It was so lovely to see him after all these years.

"I’ve always thought of Mr Morgan with great affection.”

David Wells said: “The fact that so many of us wished to meet again on the day of the summer fete and reminisce is testament to our appreciation of the core values which the school imbued in us all, something for which we are still very grateful.

Our teachers provided us all with a very good education, an excellent grounding in the three Rs that enabled us to attain our potential at secondary school and beyond.”

The former pupils vowed to return another year, agreeing with one another: “We’ll be back.”