I log on regularly but nothing seems to be happening. I cannot think that we are all on holiday. Is it to do with the revised site? I certainly do not find the new format/layout as easy to explore, but again I did end up in a "C" form.

I pop in regularly but am probably one of the few. There seems little will to contribute, a fact which is reflected in the very small membership of the OBs Association so dutifully manned by, amongst others, my old boss Peter Fielding. Shame really, and somewhat surprising when you think of how many thousands of OBs there must be out there. If basic math serves, something like a hundred leave every year so since I left in 1968, 40 lots of 100 are potential OBs or contributors. Is that 4000, Mr Warne?

This topic comes up from time to time on here, though my attempt to search for earlier posts I'd made on the subject came up blank (Dave, are there any posts missing?).

No one's ever done a poll as far as I know about how typical people who sign up to Old Boys' sites like ours are. My guess is that by and large those who do are considerably more nostalgic about their schooldays than most *ODs are, so you're never going to get 4000 ODs signing up here, or anything like it.

Next, what happens when people do sign up here? I did a quick survey when I was stand-in webmaster here back in 2005, when Dave was recovering from his eye operation, and I discovered that only about a quarter of Old Boys signing up post in the forums at all.

Of those who do, most make fewer than five posts: typically one each about the teacher they most liked and disliked, and one concerning a fond memory of a club they joined when they were at DHS; and usually all on the same day they join, or a day or two after.

This is a very consistent pattern and I find it hard to see that it is ever likely to change. We had a lot more posts when the board first started (our record was 333 in a month, in January 2004!), but most of the people who were involved back then have drifted away from our board. Some have gone on to post on other sites where debates are hosted, and others are either busy or have lost interest in posting online. It's probably always likely to be a minority hobby.

* BTW, in case anyone's wondering, "OD" is a term Jim Coyle coined for Old Boys of DHS and which some of us (including me) thought was a good one. The "D" derives from the old Latin name for Devonport, "Deuionisso", and follows in the tradition for boys' schools' Old Boys Associations to have Latin tags relating to the place where the school was founded.

Graham Giles wrote:
This topic comes up from time to time on here, though my attempt to search for earlier posts I'd made on the subject came up blank (Dave, are there any posts missing?).

Here's a couple:

Death of the DHSOB Site

Site Activity

Perhaps the site is a victim of its own success.

I don't know whether any other similar school site has such a wide-ranging and detailed set of threads.
The team and school photos are very comprehensive, as are the reminiscences about staff and school life. Perhaps people have just run out of things to say about the past, and don't feel the need to comment here about current affairs.

I see the site as a wonderful resource, to be dipped into and added to as the fancy takes me. I certainly don't view the reduced level of posts as a worrying trend, but merely the inevitable consequence of the nature of the beast.

Dave, thanks for finding those threads; I thought I'd done a proper search but it seems I was wrong.

Richard makes a fair point about people running out of memories of DHS to relate, but what I'm wondering is how many people look at, say, memories of teachers from different eras to see how the school has changed? And what opinions do we have about this?

There's plenty of room for debate even if we just confine ourselves to DHS. We probably can't compete with more general discussion sites such as Urban75 and the Phora (or even the Guardian's Comment Is Free, where I've been posting lately). Face it, those sites have something we don't and aren't likely to have since the option was rejected; females.

Chris Turner wrote:
I pop in regularly but am probably one of the few. There seems little will to contribute, a fact which is reflected in the very small membership of the OBs Association so dutifully manned by, amongst others, my old boss Peter Fielding. Shame really, and somewhat surprising when you think of how many thousands of OBs there must be out there. If basic math serves, something like a hundred leave every year so since I left in 1968, 40 lots of 100 are potential OBs or contributors. Is that 4000, Mr Warne?

I don't come here very often but if some activity is required to liven the place up then I shall do my bit. Prorsum Semper Honeste and all that. However I must admit to taking not one iota of interest in DHS Old Boys over many years. Guilty as charged Chris. I switched off when I was thrown out of school in 1961. No, I hasten to add, not for some heinous crime such as getting Doc Cresswell's daughter in the family way but for smoking on school premises. I had already left school some months before after passing A Levels and was busy with my new career. On holiday at Christmas I called into the school to see my favourite masters; but the first person I met was Mr Dungey the caretaker. Remember him? A very, very fat man but extremely friendly and nice; known as Spongy Dungy. I offered him a cigarette (we all smoked in those days) and we both lit up in the cloakroom. Enter Tiger Truman stage left! He wasn't happy. "Get out, get out get out!" he screamed and manhandled me out the door. I never went back.