Pictures: 45 years of students at Hereford's Whitecross School

The proposed new school for senior boys, to be built in the Whitecross area of Hereford, would help relieve pressure on the oversubscribed Scudamore School and Holmer School, it was hoped.

Whitecross School in 1955

But it was not until January 1955 that the new Whitecross School was opened, at a cost of £140,000.

Whitecross 1979: Major Fawcus receives a cheque from Leslie Burgis

The Bagallay Street school was described by the Hereford Times at the time as having "gay colour schemes and modern equipment", with a colour scheme (Arctic blue, primrose, Paris grey, and French beige), described as being "colours one might expect to find brightening an actress's boudoir, but not a school".

Whitecross 1982: Danish teachers visit. Mr Rokkjaer with Mr Summers and pupils Andrew Boucher, Stephen Hardwick, William Shaw, and Richard Hastie

The first school of prefabricated construction to be built in the county, Whitecross opened with eleven classrooms, a science laboratory, and rooms for arts and crafts, woodwork, metalwork, and more.

Whitecross 1986: Prizewinners Karen Walker, John Smyth, Mary Bushell, Gillian Fradley, Louise Garrett, Rachel Hurlow, Victoria Sanders, Peter James

It also had a gymnasium and school hall described as "the most handsome in the city", kitchens with equipment "that would not disgrace a first-class hotel", and a library.

Whitecross 1987: Jane Morris and Dean Morris donate a cheque for the special care baby unit to Dr Andrew Butterfill

But trouble was on the horizon for the new school, with headmaster Mr Weston telling a parent-teacher association meeting that it was suffering from "acute overcrowding" just three years after opening.

Whitecross 1987: Sasha Goggin

The school, it was reported, already had over 200 more pupils than it had been built to accommodate, with around 700 on the roll, and classes taking place in the hall.

Whitecross 1988: Radio 1 Pop of the Form team Neil Watts, Chris Smart, and Daniel Macklin

By 1959, the number of pupils had risen again to more than 800, with the staff room converted to a form room, two forms sharing the hall, and some lessons taking place at the Holy Trinity Institute and the Scudamore school.

Whitecross 1989: School wins tourism competition with brochure shown by Yin Fong Kan and Tim Thomasson

Extensions were planned to cope with the numbers at a cost of £74,000 but, ahead of their completion in 1964, headmaster Mr Weston warned that the school still would not have enough space.

Whitecross 1989: young artists Claire Devereux and Amanda Sproston

However another big change was on the way, as discussions over whether to build a new school for girls in the city or to turn Whitecross into a co-educational school going back and forth through the 1960s and early 1970s.

Whitecross 1993: Potter Simon Hulbert with Sonia Morgan and Jasuir Jutle

Parents were asked whether they really wanted their sons to be educated with girls in 1969, the Hereford Times reported.

Whitecross 1994: new minibus with PTFA treasurer Mike Jefferies and head David Whitcombe

But whatever their responses were, girls would finally be admitted to the school for the first time in 1973, with 70 first-year girls joining that year's intake.

Whitecross 1997: Mars project. Jessica Foulkes, Michelle Morgan, Ben Boswell

New extensions had been under construction to accommodate the girls, with the school saying it would also need further space to provide "substantial home economics facilities" for the girls.

Whitecross 1997: Mars project sleepover Peter Lea, Marc Ashton, Samantha Devereux, Amy Matthews, Samantha Jones, Lucy Reynolds, Michelle Morgan, Stephanie Best

By the early 2000s, space constraints were again proving a problem at the old school, and plans for a £14 million move to a new site, with accommodation for 900 pupils, was approved in 2002.

Whitecross 2000: Taste For Adventure Phillip Rideout, David Tingle, Marc Havard

Contractors were given the go-ahead to start work on the new school in 2005, with the move to the new site off Three Elms Road, initially hoped to take place in 2005, taking place in 2006.