Few things can be stronger testimony to the evocative power of Central School to its Old Boys than the monuments they erect. Here Brian Skeldon tells the story of  his contemporaries 6o years after they were First Formers.
CLICK on the pictures to enlarge them.
See also the plaque in the Tea Room.

About 2000 my own class year, as many as we could muster, approached the Derby Parks Committee with a view to placing a seat in what we knew as the Rose Garden to commemorate the School’s existence in Darley Park. Permission was granted and we placed a seat in a 'negotiated' position, prime slot, as you will see from the photographs. The cost was astronomical, but the funds rolled in and the plan was completed.  

The seat was officially made available to the public on the day of our class (1944/49) reunion, held each year in June at the Darley Park Tea Rooms. Ken and Gill Gee cater for us,  and we of course remember our old School friends over the years.

Donated by the Old Centaurs of 1944-49
in affectionate remembrance of the
Derby Central School for Boys
which stood on this site for nearly twenty years.
In celebration of enduring friendships.
Celer et Certus June 2003

Mindless vandalism

The plaque was prised away from it's fittings within a month, and found in one of the flower beds nearby. It was duly re-instated and six weeks later, the whole bench was damaged beyond repair. Again the plaque and a piece of the furniture was recovered from the flower bed nearby.  At the Parks Committee direction, it is not viable to replace it.  The plaque is currently in safe keeping.

The seat as you should have seen it.

As for the future Brian says they are thinking of a monolith (smallish) to carry on where the seat left off, placed somewhere on the paved area of the old School floor area....(that's why we had the 'shield' created and placed in the Tea Rooms...at least it is under close supervision). 

One other plan is to use it at the base of either an adopted tree, or plant a tree in Darley Park, but the 'soreness' will need to 'fade away' a little before I move in that direction, unless of course someone has other suggestions.

By digital magic

I couldn’t resist the 'staff on bench' creation as I feel sure the 'staff' would have put the seat out of bounds, so they would have unlimited access to it.

From the left:
Topliss, Weston, Morris, Swaine, Cook, Coates - watched over by the angelic Simpson

Yet more digital magic

This collage photograph was digitally created by one of our class from twelve old photographs, and one 'on the day' photograph. The picture shows our two classes of 1944 either side of our current amalgamation of the two classes, showing all the 'lads' we could reach, standing in front of the old School where the bench was located. The final picture was mounted and framed and placed in the Tea Rooms. The dedication of the seat and the picture, made the DET Bygones, but not the sad end of the seat.....we wouldn't give the perpetrators the pleasure of notoriety.

The story only takes a few minutes to tell, but the generation of the story has taken over 60 years, and many of the players are still around to tell the many tales. Long may they be so.