Paying a nostalgic visit to her school days will be extra poignant for a Hopton grandmother.

Eastern Daily Press: Former Cliff Park Secondary School pupil Joanne Ruddock is looking to toast her school days at a reunion in Gorleston in May. The event is dedicated to her best friend Lisa Brenchley, who died aged 21.Former Cliff Park Secondary School pupil Joanne Ruddock is looking to toast her school days at a reunion in Gorleston in May. The event is dedicated to her best friend Lisa Brenchley, who died aged 21. (Image: Archant)

For Joanne Ruddock (nee Benge) knows there will be no joyful reunion between her and her best friend Lisa Brenchley after the pair left Cliff Park Secondary School, Gorleston, in 1979.

And while other school chums, many of them now greying grandparents, will be able to re-connect and bemoan the passing years and expanding waistlines, Mrs Ruddock has only her memories.

For the invincible teens that danced the night away at Gorleston's Ocean Room and sang Abba into their hairbrushes will be missing one much-loved member - Lisa Brenchley.

Mum of three Mrs Ruddock, of Sea View Rise, is organising a reunion for classmates at Cliff Park Secondary School who said farewell to the establishment - whether they liked it or not - in 1979, and already has people coming from Australia and Norway.

The bitter-sweet event will see former students hark back to the wild days of their youth and also mark 30 years since Lisa sadly died of a brain tumour in May 1985, aged 21.

'I feel a little sad,' Mrs Ruddock said. 'Because a lot of people will have their special friend there and I wont and that does make me feel sad. I am just hoping that other people that I was quite close to and that I haven't been able to reach through social media will come along.'

However she enjoyed school and has plenty of happy memories she hopes to share with her year group in an era when boys were still struck on the hand and black-board rubbers were launched across unruly classrooms.

Although generally well-behaved and not the type to bunk off school Mrs Ruddock admitted she was involved in minor rebellions aimed at flouting uniform and hair-style rules.

Lisa and Joanne met at high school and soon became close. Living just a stone's throw from each other they were always having sleep-overs, fighting for the mirror and generally being teenagers.

A message from Lisa in Mrs Ruddock's autograph books carries a weight of sadness unintended at the time with 'hope we can keep good friends for a long, long time.'

However, after school Lisa's family moved to Colchester and she followed soon after with her fiance Karl Amis who has recently been in contact.

Although she attended Mrs Ruddock's wedding she was too ill to make it to her 21st birthday celebrations and died soon after, having been robbed of her sight.

Mrs Ruddock said she often thought of her former chum who loved horse-riding, dancing and 'getting up to a bit of mischief.'

Holding a reunion in her memory suddenly seemed the right thing to do following an upsurge in interest on social media with photos and memories being stirred and shared, thirty years on.

With her family's blessing all proceeds will be donated to Cancer Research, helping to fill the void and ease the pain of her absence. Her father and sister will be attending.

The reunion will take place on May 21, Mrs Ruddock's wedding day and the last time she saw Lisa, at Gorleston's Cliff Hotel at 7.30pm.

Already dozens of people have shown an interest in attending and bringing along any photos or memorabilia that will fuel nostalgia and re-kindle memories.

Tickets £3 from joanneruddock@hotmail.com or the Cliff Hotel.

Call Mrs Ruddock on 07730783245 for futher details or to donate a raffle prize.