The following explanation by our founder Dennis Duggan appeared as a foreword in Andy Marlow's book on the history of the school:-
HOW THE CURRENT WYVERNIANS BEGAN
Given that I founded Wyvernians it's perhaps ironic that
my time at The City Of Leicester Boys’ Grammar School (1959-1964) was not, on
the whole, a very happy one. But I accept that was largely my own fault, and
not the school’s. The years rolled by, and by the 1990s the Humberstone Gate
building had found a new lease of life as Age Concern. Occasionally I would
wander into Clarence House, as it was called, and although many changes had occurred
it was still basically recognisable as my old school. Time is a great healer,
and I felt nostalgia for those more innocent days. Maybe things had not been
that bad after all...
During the spring of (I think) 1998, on a whim, I
contacted the Leicester Mercury to invite my former classmates to join me at
The Harrow, Thurmaston, for a get-together. I had no idea who would turn up,
and was astonished at the response. Not only did a couple of teachers also turn
up, but ex-pupils from other years asked if they could come. Let’s do it again next
year was the message, so I contacted Age Concern to ask them if we could hold
the next reunion at Clarence House. They were happy to oblige, and we have
never looked back. Since then we have amassed a huge amount of memorabilia
connected with the school, and as I write this foreword in September 2012, Old
Wyves’ Tales 75 is being written. This simple publication has accidentally
grown into what must surely be a unique history of one school, and I am delighted
that Andy has taken things a step further with the publication of (this) book.
Wyvernians is a finite organisation, because membership is open
only to those who attended City Boys prior to 1976. It is generally acknowledged
that after that date all connection with the original grammar school was lost.
In fact there is a body of opinion that after the 1965 move to the new school
in Downing Drive, things were never quite the same again!
The switch to Clarence House (Humberstone Gate) as the venue for reunions occurred in 1999.