Nearly 30 years ago the Bedstone College story nearly came to an end when fire gripped the main school building.
Final curtain looms for Shropshire school which rose from ashes of devastating blaze
Despite the damage the college was to rise like a phoenix from the ashes thanks to a £2.5 million renovation.
Alas, the onset of an altogether different set of troubles has led to the announcement that the independent school in south Shropshire will soon be no more, with a closure date of July 4.
But let's flashback to July 31, 1996, and the disaster which was to be triumphantly overcome. The term had ended, which was a blessing as the 220 children, aged from three to 18, had already broken up.
The three-storey building at the heart of the school, Bedstone Court, which dates from 1882, was undergoing a major renovation. Workmen were stripping off old paint with a blowtorch and that was the suspected cause of the blaze which broke out.
