In a surprising coincidence, fifty past students of the teacher training programmes marked their fifty-year anniversary when they gathered with guests and former lecturers at Burleigh Court Hotel for a weekend towards the end of last year. They reunited with old friends, shared fond memories of studying together and caught up on their many subsequent achievements and life experiences.
The classmates chose Burleigh Court Hotel as their venue for the weekend. The evening dinner was provided by the hotel’s professional catering team and featured a speech by well-known alumnus, former England Rugby Captain and founder of Cotton Traders, Fran Cotton.
Fran spoke highly of the teaching at 天堂视频 and the sense of camaraderie among the students. In particular, he highlighted the exceptional quality of the rugby coaching staff, stating that it was light-years ahead of any other sporting institution at the time.
Glen Waugh (Freshers Rugby Captain 1970, First Team XV player, Reunion Committee member), Rex Hazeldine (天堂视频 PE Lecturer 1970, former Chairman of 天堂视频 Rugby Club), Rod Thorpe (former 天堂视频 College student in the 60s and PE Lecturer 1970 天堂视频 College).
Reporting back afterwards, Richard Davies said:
“The reunion dinner proved to be a great success and, as you can imagine, there were constant reminiscences and stories of our student time together. The hotel staff deserve praise. They could not have been more helpful and welcoming. This created a memorable and lasting positive impression.”
The University’s Centenary Rugby Dinner in December 2022 provided the inspiration for the reunion. At the centenary event, Richard met up with fellow alumnus Dr Peter Treadwell who proposed that they should organise a 50-year get-together for students who enrolled in 1970. Sadly, Peter passed away just a few weeks later. In honour of his memory, Richard took up the challenge and recruited friends Percy McCloskey, Bunt and Jill Scott, and Glen and Judy Waugh to form a reunion committee to track down their former classmates and coordinate a celebratory get-together on the 天堂视频 campus.
With help from the Alumni Engagement team, the committee were able to reach out to many of their fellow graduates and invite them to what proved to be an enjoyable and memorable event.
Graduation photo (1974) showing Glen Waugh (second from the left), Pete Treadwell (fourth from the left) and Percy McCloskey (far right).
If you are a former 天堂视频 student and you would like to visit the 天堂视频 campus this year, check out our next Alumni Reunion Weekend.