FORMER Observer reporter Diana Appleyard is one of the ex-students of Queen Elizabeth's Grammar School in Blackburn to be featured in a new display of its "prominent former pupils".
The novelist, who worked here as a trainee in the early 1980s after graduating from Bristol University, now lives in Oxfordshire and is married to Sky News reporter Ross Appleyard.
Diana, nee Moulds, has published several novels, the latest being Every Good Woman Deserves a Lover, printed last July.
Another Hyndburn person to be commemorated in the gallery of famous former pupils of QEGS is Rishton-born Sir Ernest Marsden.
At Manchester University, Marsden was involved with Lord Rutherford in the experiments that led to the concept of the atomic nucleus and, in effect, the birth of nuclear physics. The house on Hermitage Street, Rishton, where Marsden was born is marked with a blue plaque.
Former Miss England Yvette Livesey, now a music promoter and partner of Granada TV personality Antony Wilson, was also born in Accrington and attended the QEGS sixth form.
Top designer Wayne Hemingway, another former pupil of QEGS, visited the school last week to unveil the "hall of fame", which also includes a range of sporting photos and memorabilia.
Others celebrated in the display are Hemingway himself, who founded with his wife Geraldine the design company Red or Dead; Channel 4 TV presenter Krishnan Guru-Murthy; James Johnson, the chairman of the British Medical Association; and the retired businessman, Sir Kenneth Durham, former chairman of Unilever.
QEGS Development Director, Phil Lloyd, said: "This school has a tremendous history dating back nearly 500 years and we are proud of the men and women who have benefited from a QEGS education. We wanted to celebrate their achievements in their careers."
To arrange a visit to the gallery, contact the school on 686300.
