WINGED collars and patterned knitwear were the order of the day when pupils from Hereford's Trinity Primary School headed to London in 1977.

The smiling group is pictured alongside one of the city's famous Beefeaters, the ceremonial guardians of the Tower of London, who were traditionally responsible for looking after any prisoners in the tower and safeguarding the British crown jewels.

The picture sparked fond memories for many former Trinity pupils, with Debbie Hughes-Cound saying it was "the best school I ever went to".

She had started at the school just before the trip, after her dad came out of the army.

"My memory of the London trip was being helped down the Monument," she said.

"I got so very scared when I looked down when we reached the top and my legs just went to jelly. Mr Smith helped me down. I think he actually had to carry me!"

Simon Eldridge said he had seen the Two Ronnies on his London school trip, and met Colin Shepherd, MP for Hereford from October 1974 until his defeat by Liberal Democrat Paul Keetch in 1997, when his class toured the House of Commons.

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"Still have the autographed postcard he gave us somewhere," he said, remembering taking his money for the trip to school in a little brown envelope each week.

But one former pupil missed out on the trip for surprisingly selfless reasons.

"I pretended I didn't want to go to save mum and dad forking out, thinking they would have to do it three times," said Heather Neville.

Memories of former teachers were also strong, with some remembered more fondly than others.

Mr Eldridge said he had been given "the slipper" by one teacher for throwing stones in the playground, while another teacher would throw chalk at students chatting in his classes.

The primary school, in Hereford's Barricombe Drive, is still going strong, with 571 pupils at the time of its last Ofsted inspection, at which it received a 'good' rating.