FORMER pupils and staff of a Preston nursery are to take a trip down memory lane to celebrate a special anniversary.

Preparations for the 70th anniversary celebrations at Stoneygate Nursery School are hotting up thanks to last week's appeal in The Citizen.

Over the past week the Preston school has been inundated with calls from former pupils and staff eager to share their experiences and memories at a reunion bash.

But the school are still keen to trace other former pupils, staff, parents or governors who can provide them with any old photographs, articles or written memoirs relating to their time at the nursery in time for their anniversary on February 4.

Former pupil Bobby Leslie, of Farringdon Lane, Ribbleton, attended the school for two years from 1953. Mr Leslie, 52, was eager to make contact with his former nursery after reading the article about the school's anniversary celebrations.

And he was over-the-moon when he spotted a picture of himself playing on the climbing frame among the collection already received at the Stoneygate Walk nursery.

"The teachers had a wonderful way with children," said Mr Leslie. "They were always very pleasant and we were very lucky. It was a great place to go."

For former Stoneygate catering chief Marian McWilliam, 77, of Sandybrook House, Tower Lane, Fulwood, who worked at the school during the rock 'n roll years of the 1950s and 60s, every child who attended the nursery was given lots of love and cuddles.

"Some of the children you couldn't help but love," she said. "We would make them up something to eat and give them a big hug to let them know they were loved."

Pat Walton, 65, who was the school's nursery nurse for more than a decade from 1951 has donated old photos and articles to the school in time for their special exhibition.

Mrs Walton, of Layton Road, Ashton, said: "When I started, there was just the original building and the area was very run down.

Tramps slept in doorways next to the entrance to the school with slums nearby. I have seen the school transformed into the wonderful place it is now."

Anyone wanting to find out more about the nursery's anniversary celebrations should call 257865.