Have you ever been to a school reunion?

As life has slowly meandered along, there have been occasions when I’ve been invited to go along and join in the fun of meeting and reminiscing about ’the happiest days of my life’ with my long lost school friends.

I never said yes. It’s not that I have any dislike of my fellow students, it’s just that I don’t think that it’s the thing for me to sit around and talk about the good old days.

As far as I am concerned, those good old days started when I left school. Now and again I get a twinge of regret, particularly when a name that I recognise crops up in the obituary column.

From time to time, I may bump into one of my remaining contemporaries and this is always an unplanned and welcome pleasure, but I can’t imagine looking forward to meeting up with folk who I no longer recognise.

But recently, I changed my mind about re-unions.

The other day I was enjoying some refreshments with Paul Henry, a fellow ’pullyman’.

The subject under discussion was the declining numbers of the surviving ’old time’ Pulrose veterans.

Pulrose Park, as the corporation housing estate on the outskirts of Douglas was once called, was one of the earliest public housing developments on the island.

If my historic memories are correct, it was built in the early part of the twentieth century as a temporary solution to a housing shortage problem in Douglas.

The first part of the development, lower Pulrose, was well known for its red roofs and the nickname ’Shanghai’.

The second part of the estate was known simply as ’top Pulrose’.

Many of the original families had been well acquainted with each other before they were relocated from the older parts of Douglas. This ’social glue’ was just what was needed, and Pulrose soon became a true community.

There was the Sacred Heart Catholic church, the Pulrose Methodist church, and the Legion hall and youth club. We had the Sunshine infant school, a police station, complete with a resident bobby, and the never-to-be-forgotten Johnny O’Hanlon’s general shop.

But those days are long gone.

Recently, Douglas Corporation has invested in a complete rebuild of Pulrose, with a variety of new design and more energy efficient houses. They have included more accommodation for the elderly, than was previously allocated and I hope that this plan would encourage an atmosphere of belonging together.

Since I started the Pullyman column, I have been amazed at the number of folk who stop and chat about their personal memories of the Pully that we all knew and loved. Paul lived about two back gardens away from me and it never takes long for the conversation to drift back to the old days when we really did all know each other.

One thing that all communities have in common is something that can be easily taken for granted. The community spirit.

Until quite recently I had not realised just how respected and highly thought of, was my late mother, Doris Cowin.

She was the inspiration and guide to many families and children.

It is all too easy to forget how much we need to be part of a community. How easy it is to shut ourselves away with our TVs and computers. With hindsight, school re-unions are not such a bad idea.

So we are organising a Pulrose re-union. From midday onwards on Sunday, August 25, at the Pinewood in Pulrose, if you are from, or have links with Pulrose, if you have memories or tales to tell, come along and share.

If you have any old photos or anything else of interest that we can borrow, ideas that we can use, or if you just want to chat, phone Pullyman on 676240 or Paul Henry on 450935.

A decade ago Pullyman - aka Michael Cowin - was diagnosed with Parkinson's Disease, a condition that affects people in different ways. Michael discovered writing and Island Life is featuring some of his musings. Sometimes topical, sometimes nostalgic, read about life as seen through the eyes of Pullyman