The daughter of an Indian Army officer who lived in Petersfield in the 1950s is looking to reconnect on a trip down memory lane.

Paramjit Gill – her previous surname was Brar – wonders if readers will remember her family when they briefly lived on Rushes Road and Bell Hill in 1953/54.

The family moved into a large house with an expansive yard and orchard after her late father Major IS Brar was posted to England to attend a railway or transport-related course in Portsmouth.

She was around five or six when she lived in Petersfield with her parents and three siblings. Paramjit and one of her younger brothers attended Petersfield Primary School and she still has her report cards, with her teachers being Ms Gibbs and Ms Gillespie and her headmistress was EB Hayes.

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Paramjit's class photo from the her 1953-54 spell at Petersfield Primary School (Paramjit Gill)
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Her Petersfield Primary School class photo from 1953-54 (Paramjit Gill)

Her closest friend was Cynthia Morris, whose family may have owned a dairy business, and she vividly recalls walking to school with her brother, Gurmeet, along with the heath and the Friday farmer’s market on The Square.

Paramjit moved to the US a few years after the family returned to India but is coming to England this week with her daughter for a ten-day trip.

She said: “I am interested in finding out if any of my school mates are still in the area.

“I do have a class picture and also remember the names of a few fellow students, like Cynthia, Ian Finder, Robert Taylor and a Gillian.

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Recognise any of these faces? (Paramjit Gill)

“My plan, currently, is to take the train down from London on August 24 and spend the day in town. My hope is that I might be able to meet someone who remembers us as we were the on Indian family living there.”

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