Est.1988
How times have changed... a Bristol alumnus remembers student life 60 years ago Barry Williamson
University of Bristol alumnus
I
arrived in Bristol as a student in 1961 from a small grammar school in Dorset. I was in Churchill Hall and my subject was History. The University was small; I think there were only about 4,000 students in total. It was a different world…. Churchill -- a Hall that was only four years old. It was all male. The Warden was Alan Reynolds, the kindest and gentlest of men. He invited every student to his flat for sherry during the year. We had formal meals every evening, wearing gowns and standing for Latin grace. Mr Cainey, the old butler from the Holmes served the High Table and continued to do so until the 1980s. Our beds were too small to accommodate visitors. A bed-maker (mine called Elsie) came in every morning to make them and tidy the room.
I think there was a rule about guests expected to leave by 10.30 but I may be dreaming. Certainly, at Clifton Hill House wheremy girlfriend lived, no man was allowed in a girl’s room ever at all. We all dressed differently then. Almost universally we wore jacket and tie and looked like professionals in the making. Girls were smart and some wore suits. What was a T shirt? Had it been invented? And shorts for everyday wear? The idea was crazy. I remember only one student wearing jeans, Alan Dosser in the Drama Dept who later became the famous Artistic Director of the Everyman Theatre in Liverpool. The place was dominated by private school products – they had confidence and swagger and banter and seemed to own the place. The History dept was full of eminent academics. Continued on page 5