We met at Bristol
University was a defining time in the lives of our alumni, so it's no surprise that so many of you responded to our appeal for couples who met while studying at Bristol, published in Nonesuch (PDF, 2.21Mb). You can read their stories here:
1930s
James Geary (BSc 1939) met Wendy
James Geary, 1936 - 1939. Physics. Lots of rugby. Met Wendy - a nurse - in 1937 and married 1939. Still going strong.
1940s
Chris Birch (1946-50) met Betty Birch (née Andrew) (BA 1951)
It's such a long time ago that it's difficult to answer some of the questions you pose, but this is our story.
Betty and I met on the very first day of the autumn term 1948 when I sold her a copy of the Daily Worker on the steps of the Victoria Rooms, then the home of the students' union. I had been at the university for two years, reading botany with microbiology and chemistry, and I was secretary of the university student branch of the Communist Party. Betty was a fresher from Northamptonshire who had come up to read history.
Betty joined the party, and consequently we saw a lot of each other in the following months. It wasn't love at first sight but I gradually realised that she was a remarkable woman: intelligent and sensible, serious but good company, and physically attractive. And she seemed to like me. But it wasn't until March 1950 that I proposed, not kneeling but sitting on the front upstairs seat of a double-decker Bristol bus.
We got married in the Congregational Chapel at Rothwell, Northamptonshire, that September and then returned to Bristol for Betty's final year at the university. We found ourselves a nice flat in Rodney Place, Clifton, but we were not there very long. The 10 November issue of Nonesuch News, the student newspaper, had a front-page story with the banner headline COMMUNISTS GET NOTICE TO QUIT. The story began: "Chris and Betty Birch, who got married last summer, have been evicted from their pleasant Clifton flat because they are members of the Communist Party." So we moved to Cornwallis Crescent, and Betty collected her degree from Sir Philip Morris, the Vice-Chancellor, standing in for Churchill, on 3 July 1951, and we moved to London where we have spent most of the subsequent years.
The place with which we most associate our relationship is the Victoria Rooms as we were both very active in the union and spent a lot of time there, eating in the refectory, drinking in the bar and attending meetings.
We have been back to Bristol many times, in particular in April 2007 for a reunion for graduates from 1947-1953 and in July this year for the centenary celebrations. On both occasions it was a great pleasure to have lunch in the Victoria Rooms that we know so well.
Next September will see our Diamond Wedding Anniversary and perhaps a telegram from the Queen.
Lorna Bolingbroke (née Kendall) (BSc 1949) met John Bolingbroke (BSc 1949)
’48 was a bad winter. Heavy snow and a shortage of coal made life in Hall a challenge and all sport had been cancelled. The only bright prospect was the forthcoming Leap Year Ball where, by tradition, Guys were the guests of the Gals. But who to invite?
We were well into our second year and established groups crowded Bright’s restaurant for morning coffee, to the accompaniment of a very gentile string trio. Membership varied depending on timetable and financial status but there was always someone there you knew and occasionally a Telegraph crossword to complete. Here, perhaps, a potential partner?
A short list revealed just three prospective candidates. An ageing lecturer [25], a favourite cousin and a Welshman I had seen playing rugby at Coombe Dingle. For better or worse Wales won.
My guest arrived in best Moss Bros rig, on a rusty bike, to join the rest of the gang for the walk to the Victoria Rooms. (No car? No taxi? No money!)
However, the evening was a great success, with real dance music played by Harry Gold and his “Pieces of Eight”, ending in the early hours with a stroll back to Clifton Hill via Cabot Tower.
From there, one thing led to another and we have happily dined out on the story for the last 56 years. Thank you Bristol.
1950s
Chris Argent (BSc 1952) met Joyce Argent (née Vickery) (BSc 1953)
How did you meet?
I met Joyce on Saturday 7 October 1950 at the dance arranged to enable freshers to meet the then current undergraduates or put differently, for the undergrads to secure the pick of the newcomers. For my part, I spotted this quintessentially English rose wearing a pink A-line dress while she (my subsequent wife) avers her first impression was of (I quote) "a gorgeous blond blue-eyed lad".
Did you have a first date?
Having led a fairly sheltered life up to that time, I invited Joyce out to see Bless The Bride at the Hippodrome a week or so later (we still have the programme, price 6d).
Is there a place in Bristol that is special to you?
One could say that the Vic Rooms (then the Students’ Union) was the place where we met most often and frequently (metaphorically) danced the 'night away', but we also held hands at the Bristol Old Vic and in the local cinemas - sometimes after I had returned to Bristol from some strenuous cross-country competition.
Have you been back to Bristol?
We did go back to Bristol in 1970, having married in 1955, with our three children, having swapped homes for a fortnight or so with friends who lived in Westbury-on-Trym - we were quite sorry to see that the Student Union was no longer based in the Vic Rooms, a place that that had a substantial catalytic impact on our lives.
Christine Gorman (née Wilson) (BA 1958) met Mike Gorman (BA 1960)
Mike Gorman and I met in the 1950s at the university. I came up the year before him to read a General Arts degree and probably the proudest moment of my life was walking in the great doors at the university tower. I quickly got into student social life, especially Revunions and Rag.
Mike came up the following year to read Economics and immediately went to the Nonesuch office (then a weekly newspaper) for a job. The previous year's editor had failed his exams so, faute de mieux, Mike Gorman was immediately made editor and consequently onto Union Council. "Who is this Fresher?" thought I. He says he saw me walking up to the Vic Rooms and told his friends he was going to marry me. When he bought me a half pint in Aunties (on the Triangle) I became suspicious.
We were both involved in a Rag stunt in Weston super Mare involving ficticious Russian spies etc on the night the Busby Babes were killed in the Munich air crash. He invited me back to his little room for a cup of tea after it was all over and the rest is history. We celebrate our Golden Wedding next year.
We continue our connection with the University and I still have a tremendous sense of pride walking in those doors.
George Mamo (BSc 1960) met Erika
How did you meet?
I met my wife Erika in Bristol 1959. She was then an "au pair" girl from Germany. We married in1962. We met on a Sunday at the International Club of the University at the Victoria Rooms which since is associated with our relationship.
Have you been back to Bristol?
We returned from Germany once to Bristol for a one day visit with our daughter when she became 18 years old in 1983. We left England for Germany in 1963.
John Morris (BVSc 1960) met Jean Morris (née Anstey) (BVSc 1960)
How did you meet?
We met at the Veterinary School, Park Row, Bristol in September/October 1956. I had already done one year (1st year BVSC) and my Jean came into the 2nd year of the Course... We cannot remember what the first impressions of each other were, obviously very favourable.
Who asked who?
I asked her if she would like to come to the Bonfire night which was held at the veterinary school at Langford on November 5th 1956. An enjoyable night out but too much cider to drink ! We went out with each other occasionally for the next three years and the relationship became serious in our final year.
Is there a place in Bristol that is special to you?
Yes the field station at Langford because we spent the whole of the final year at Langford, we were a small year of only 22 students and all lived in the student accommodation on site. There were two girls in our year and they had accommodation in Langford House.
Have you been back to Bristol?
We have been back to Bristol a number of times since graduating and our year have a Reunion every year. It will be our 50th year since graduation in 2010.
We both qualified together in July 1960 and got married in September 1961 and are still together.
Barbara Phelps (née Youatt) (Cert Ed 1952, BEd 1981) met Brian Phelps (BSc 1950)
How did you meet?
I sat behind him in Maths lectures for the first year He picked me up at the Vic Rooms at a 1/6d Saturday hop-2nd year
Did you have a first date?
Went on first date to The Embassy -Sunday concert "Deep River Boys". Married 1952. Five children.
Have you been back to Bristol?
Rarely go to Bristol though we live in Glos.
Muriel Prior (née Holme) (BSc 1959, Certificate in Education 1960) met Michael Prior (BVSc 1959)
How did you meet?
My late husband, Michael Prior, and I met at the dance in the Vic Rooms at the end of Fresher Week October 1956. We were happily married for 42 years until Michael passed away from cancer in 2004. I was one of four Domestic Science students who were starting their studies that year.
Michael was in his 3rd year of Veterinary studies. He and his friend, Chris Lamplugh, had gatecrashed the Fresher dance with the excuse that they were part of the crew responsible for the lighting, being on the technical crew for Dram. Soc.! He was a very good dancer!!
Did you have a first date?
We arranged to meet the next day to go to the beginning of year service at the cathedral, so I guess that was our first "date." We were late arriving and had to sit in the side aisle behind the choir. I had got up early that morning to go to Redlands chur
Is there a place in Bristol that is special to you?
The Vic Rooms were the home of student union is those days and we spent a lot of time there, going to most of the formal balls as we both loved dancing. Of course there were walks and picnics on the Downs, visits to Langford during Michael's final year, coffees at the Mikado across from the main Wills building etc.
Have you been back to Bristol?
We went back to Bristol just once or twice since graduation - mainly to visit friends who had stayed there after graduating. We emigrated to Canada in 1966.
A.M. (Bert) Rosettenstein (LLB 1959) met Jennifer (née Palmer) (LLB 1959)
My wife, Jennifer (neé Palmer) and I both went up to Bristol in October 1956 to read for law degrees. We were both in the same class and the same tutorial group. During her first year, my wife was a resident of Manor Hall and I was a founder resident and occupied room No.1 in Churchill Hall during my whole period at the University. Paul Batterbury (later his Honour Paul Batterbury with whom we are still in contact) hosted a Sunday afternoon tea party in his room at Churchill Hall soon after term began and that is where my wife and I first met socially.
My wife and I both graduated in law in June 1959, just over 50 years ago. After a period as a graduate trainee and then an officer at the London County Council, my wife joined me in the then Rhodesia in November 1962 and we were married in Salisbury (now Harare) in February 1963.
I was called to the Bar at Lincoln’s Inn in July 1960 and immediately returned to Salisbury to commence serving articles as an attorney under my father at the Firm of Honey & Blanckenberg where my father was a partner. The Firm was established in August 1893 and is the oldest, existing firm of attorneys in Zimbabwe. I was admitted to practice as an attorney in September, 1963 and later as a Notary Public, Conveyancer and Patent Agent. I was admitted to the partnership in 1959 and was the senior partner of the Firm from 1996 until 2007.
After working for a brief period for another firm of attorneys in Salisbury, my wife joined the staff of the Law Faculty of the University of Zimbabwe. In 1985 she was admitted to practice as an attorney and became involved in the Firm’s large Intellectual Property practice, of which she later became head in 1996 and more particularly in the registration of patents. Because of her long experience in this field, she is frequently asked for advice by members of the staff of the African Regional Intellectual Property Organisation which is based in Harare; the Zimbabwe Patent Office; and other firms of legal practitioners.
We both retired as partners of the Firm when we both turned 70 in 2008 but both continue to practice as consultants with the Firm.
John Worley (BSc 1961) met Judith Worley (née West) (BA 1962)
How did you meet?
met outside Rod's Pot during a freshers' caving expedition Sept 1959. Blackdown had burned that summer so was black and brown, it was dusk, raining, all of us covered in mud and slime.
While the rest of the group exclaimed about their underground initiation, Judith quietly enthused about the subtle colours - dark grey, lighter grey and brown. I could see she was different.
Is there a place in Bristol that is special to you?
Most of our meetings were at Spelaeological Society events - caving then was done from the UBSS hut in Burrington Coombe - I had wheels, an Austin 7, a considerable attraction in a car-less age. Keen cavers seemed to spend every weekend in the Burrington hut, returning to Bristol only for lectures.
So we tend to think of ourselves as UBSS, rather than Bristol, alumni, and used to return for UBSS celebrations.
We have been married since 1966.
1960s
Peter Bedingfield (BSc 1970) met Sonia Bedingfield (née Lough) (Cert Ed 1969)
Peter says:
March 1969. Thoughts of student revolution were behind us, eclipsed by the more important issues of Rag week. I was at the Vic Rooms, shouting above the din from John Peel’s favourite band, Principle Edwards Magical Theatre. “Hey Dermot! I’ve split with my girlfriend, so I’ve got a spare ticket for the Rag Ball. If you know any girl who’s up for a blind date let me know. Doesn’t matter if she’s fat or spotty or anything!”
A couple of days later I was at Dermot’s flat in an ill-fitting hired DJ. His girlfriend’s friend Sonia was the brave blind date, trying to help me sort out this silly cummerbund thing. No, not fat, not spotty - in fact rather pretty, just a tad shy (understandably). And then we were off to the Anson room at the Students' Union. Great fun all night, then the next day I caught up with the float she was on in the Rag parade. “Hey, do you fancy coming to the Engineer’s Ball in a couple of days?” We had organised this ball on a paddle steamer, the Waverley. Boarding at the docks we left on the high tide, under the illuminated bridge dancing to the steel band and our one of our mates as a DJ. On down to Weston, dancing on the pier then back under the bridge for a bleary eyed dawn. So the bridge figures large in my memories.
The rest, as they say, is history. All three of our kids went to Bristol, both the girls met their husbands as students, one still lives there. So we are often enough back in Bristol, wondering if in time all those grandkids will end up enjoying their student lives as fully as we did.
Sonia says:
It was the Summer of ’69! (cue for a song!) I was in my final year of Teachers' Training College at Barrow Court. I wanted to go to the University Ball held yearly at the Union rooms. This was my last chance as I had missed the ones in previous years. However I had recently split with my boyfriend and in those days you could not go to the Ball unaccompanied. Then a friend told me that her boyfriend had a friend with a ticket but no one to go with. Would I go with him? I had never met this friend and was unsure, but she insisted that he was nice and that it was only for one evening. Eventually I agreed.
So I made my own dress ( we did in those days) and on the evening of the Ball off I went with my friend to meet my Blind Date! We met at her boyfriend’s flat where friends were meeting to go together. Everyone looked very smart, the boys in their DJs and the girls in evening dresses. He was tall with dark curly hair - quite long (it was the 60s!) The first thing he said after “Hello” was “How do I do up this cummerbund?” I had no idea but eventually he managed and off we went! They were a lively group of friends and I liked them. It was a great evening but I felt he wasn’t the sort of guy I normally went for. He was very outgoing and gregarious and I normally went for the quieter type. He was an Aeronautical Engineering student and during the course of the evening he invited me to accompany him to the Engineers Ball which was to be held on a boat on the Avon. Although it sounded good I was a bit noncommittal as I felt I hardly knew him! At the end of the evening we went our own ways.
A couple of days later we were to meet again. It was Rag week and I was dressed as a washer woman on the Barrow Court Chinese Laundry float! My fellow students and I were driven through the city having a laugh and collecting money for charity. A friend suddenly said to me “Why are you playing hard to get? Isn’t that the bloke you went to the ball with?” I looked to where she was indicating. There was Pete walking alongside the float. He had seen me on it and had been following the float for about 15 minutes and I hadn’t noticed!
I did go to the Engineers Ball with him and found we both loved Steel Band and had other things in common. It was a wonderful evening, the boat went under the suspension bridge and sailed through the evening with everyone dancing and having a good time. It was so romantic.
Forty years later Pete and I are still together. Many of our friends from those evenings are still together. We have taken to meeting up at least annually. We have three children. I don’t know whether the fact that we were always telling them what a great place Bristol is had anything to do with it, but each of the three children went on to study at Bristol University! Two of the three are married to people they met at the University. We now live in South East England but return often to Bristol. Of course it holds many happy memories for us. We have four grandchildren now. Will any of them follow in their parents' and grandparents' footsteps and go to Bristol University? No pressure!
John Crocker (BA 1966) met Sheila Crocker (née King) (BSc 1966)
We beat most records when we met on our very first day at Bristol, at the Freshers' Dance in the Victoria Rooms. The only people who could possibly have beaten this would be those who met on the journey, or at interview!
Sheila was the first person with whom I took the plunge and danced that evening and I was only the second person with whom she danced, even though she looked the sort of really pretty girl the blokes would gravitate to "en masse"! We talked for most of the rest of the evening and discovered we had a huge number of things in common. I accompanied Sheila back to Manor Hall after the dance and then returned to Churchill Hall, determined to find her in the queue for registration at the Victoria Rooms the next morning, even though we hadn't arranged anything. Fortunately the timing was right and chance brought us together again in the long queue of students. Thus our meeting was the result of two completely fortuitous events. If she had not been in that queue just at that moment....
We spent most of Freshers' Week walking tirelessly, hand in hand, around Bristol, armed with a map, getting to know our way around. We quickly knew that our relationship was for all time, and sealed this formally with a romantic proposal one evening on a moonlit path in the Swiss Alps - just outside Wilderswil, near Interlaken, for those who know the area - in the first summer vacation after starting at Bristol. Circumstances meant that we didn't actually get engaged until the Manor Hall Ball in the final year and did not marry until 5 years into our lives together. During our 3 years at Bristol we saw as much of each other as studies would permit and both came out with upper second degrees.
Since then we lived on the South Coast for our entire careers as teachers, but returned to Bristol on many occasions, particularly as we had become very friendly with a Bristol family through contacts of my parents from the very beginning of our time at the University. We attended the reunion of 1966 graduates in 2006 with several of our contemporaries with whom we have kept in contact. Retired, we now live partly in Worcestershire, where our married daughter lives, and partly in France, near Lake Geneva.
Margaret Dixey (née Wardell) (BA 1964) met Michael Dixey (BSc 1964)
How did you meet?
We met at a dance in the Victoria Rooms during Freshers Week in 1961, married after graduating in 1964 - and are still going strong!
Thank you Bristol!
David Ian Harvey (BSc 1969) met Gail Margaret Harvey (née Johnson) (MB ChB 1972)
How did you meet?
We met at a party in Hotwells Road in March, 1969; we were smitten with each other immediately and walked around the city streets until daybreak.
Who asked who?
David subsequently asked Gail out as often as her busy medical training would allow!
Did you have a first date?
Our first 'date' was the party where we met.
Is there a place in Bristol that is special to you?
We often met up at Gail's accommodation in 1969 - 4 Goldney Road Clifton.
Have you been back to Bristol?
David was born in Bristol in 1947. Gail arrived there in 1966 to study medicine. We were married in 1971 and lived and worked in Bristol until 1982 when we emigrated to Canada. We revisited Bristol as a couple in 1997.
Gail was intelligent, caring physician who served many patients in Bristol and later in Vancouver, Canada. Sadly, she died in 2005. Her fellow student friends from 4 Goldney Road planted a memorial tree with a plaque dedicating the tree to Gail's name. The tree is in the grounds of Manor Hall where she had resided in her early years at the University (at an annexe).
James Stanley Hogg (BSc 1966) met Jane Margaret Hogg (née Kitchen) (BA 1966)
How did you meet?
We first met on a Saturday night in November at a party in a house somewhere in the side streets between Cotham Hill and Whiteladies Road. After a short time Jane (and friends) decided to move on to another party. Jim was rather disappointed by this as they had been getting along very well up to that point. Who asked who out?
Did you have a first date?
The following Monday Jim was in the then new Students Union building refectory at lunchtime and Jane walked through and gave him a big beaming smile. Following that recognition Jim wrote a letter asking Jane out to the cinema, as Jim was living in Wills Hall.
Is there a place in Bristol that is special to you?
The refectory in the newly opened Students Union where we met at most lunchtimes with other friends during most of our final year. Wills Hall, the Downs and Devonshire Road were the most familiar places to us as the places we lived in and met most frequently.
Have you been back to Bristol?
Yes. a number of times; for a Job interview at the Wills tobacco factory, which sadly didn’t result in employment; a family visit to the docks area. Weekend visit with a University friend (S C Hill BSC Eng 1966) who we have maintained contact with. 2006 40th anniversary of our graduation attended convocation, stayed in Wills Hall and attended Wills Hall reunion dinner. 2009 100th anniversary of University’s founding, attended various events. stayed in Wills Hall and attended Wills Hall reunion dinner.
John Howes (BEng 1969) met Sue Howes (née Wilford) (BSc 1970)
How did you meet?
We met at a disco in the Union building in Sue's Freshers' Week. I was in my second year.
Who asked who?
One of the guys I was in hall with suggested it was a good way to check out the pick of the first year female students. He was so right!!!
On the night some of my friends had noticed this good looking girl who would not dance with anyone. I was sent to try. She told me 'in a minute', so I stood in front of her for a whole minute looking at my watch. All seemed very corny afterwards, but it certainly worked, she did dance with me. I am not sure how impressed Sue was with me - I think my old Austin Healey Sprite stole the show. I know I was very impressed.
Did you have a first date?
I did ask her out the following Saturday, to meet at the Union dance - inside. Being so cheap was a big mistake, took a while to find her at the dance, a mistake I never repeated.
Have you been back to Bristol?
We were engaged within six months and got married in Clifton in 1970. Without Sue I may not even have got a degree, I was never going to be an engineer (spent my working life with IBM), but she made me work. She still does!!
Since leaving we have never been back to the University although we have been to Bristol a few times.
Meeting and marrying young can be a bit of a gamble, we have been lucky, it has worked so well for us. We are still having a great time together. We now have two grown up sons, both married, and two grand sons.
PS Back in 1968 Rag Queen competition Nonesuch said of Sue 'a truly gorgeous girl'. She still is (but then I am very biased).
Anna Hughes (née Strouts) (BA 1962) met Duncan Sidwell (BA 1963)
How did you meet?
I noticed him when he came to the fresher's table which I was 'manning' for the United Nations Student Association in 1961. A little later I joined one of my friends on a trip to Stratford Upon Avon to see Hamlet. She and he were both reading German and for some reason, this was a society outing. I liked him even more.
Did you have a first date?
I cannot remember any particular first date or how it was arranged, but I remember many occasions in his room or mine, both in Clifton. I was taking my finals and we regularly went out for a cider (me) and beer (him) which helped me relax and sleep well.
Is there a place in Bristol that is special to you?
We walked a lot on the Downs and hid in thick bracken on hot afternoons; or I remember cold winter days in Slimbridge or in his chilly quarters in a house owned by a woman who kept rooms full of tins of Carnation milk - in case of coming disaster...
One of my tutors wanted me to stay on to work for a Ph.D and he kindly invited us to dinner; but my fiance, as he was by then, would soon be working in London, and said we could not marry if I stayed in Bristol. I thought this romantic and natural and didn't think much of it - I could do a Ph.D later, somewhere else - more ignorance!
We had two children who both came to take their degrees at Bristol, and a third who chose Manchester. My son was a lecturer at Bristol and still lives there with his wife, another graduate now working for a Ph.D herself.
Although I knew I had never been so happy as during those first years of marriage, eventually things did not turn out so well, and we divorced after 30 years. However, we are still in touch with each other and with Bristol, both through our son, and until a few years ago, a friend who graduated with me, but sadly who died of breast cancer.
Bill Mosley (LLB 1963) met Gill Mosley (née Carpenter) (PGCE 1963)
How did you meet?
- at least we might have met at Bristol, but don’t think we did! I completed my LLB course in 1963 and my wife, then Gillian Carpenter, did her PGCE at Bristol in the same academic year. We both went to BIFCU and had friends in common but so far as we know never met during our time at Bristol.
We actually met definitely a year or two later at a church in London, Westminster Chapel (where the minister was a famous Welsh preacher, Dr Martyn Lloyd-Jones, who incidentally got his MD at the age of only 21!!).
First Impressions? I thought Gill was stuck up – though this was probably because she went to Cardiff High School for Girls (which prided itself on turning out girls who did not sound Welsh even though they were) – and she thought I was fussy. But even so the fact that we had been at Bristol at the same time was a point of identity between us.
We also got to know each other better over the next year or so and learned to appreciate each other’s good qualities. But this was just as part of a group of young people without any romantic interest or attachment until April or May 1967. However I have to say that then things developed very quickly indeed!!
Who asked who?
I asked Gill – this happened one Sunday evening in June 1967 when I asked her to go to a concert at the Wigmore Hall the following Tuesday but she actually turned me down! This was not because she didn’t want to come but she had to re-sit a paper for a diploma she was doing at LSE and so felt she needed to swot instead. However she couldn’t go to sleep that night and so rang me between 11 & midnight to tell me she’d changed her mind. I had to tell her I’d given the tickets away because I didn’t want to go with anyone else. I invited her to come for a meal with me instead
Did you have a first date?
Yes we did – Gill came to my flat in Acton the very next evening (Monday) and we had a meal there together (it was steak which I had to cook myself because Gill had never cooked one before followed by strawberries & cream for afters). The most significant and unusual thing though was that we got engaged on that first date!
We were married the following October at Westminster Chapel (and met up virtually every day in between). We have four children and three grandchildren and celebrated our Ruby Wedding in 2007.
Have you been back to Bristol?
Yes, we stayed at the Hawthorns Hotel in Bristol at the end of our honeymoon on our way back from Cornwall to London. We have also visited Bristol a few times since on journeys between Cardiff and London [I remember that we went to the Camera Obscura once with our children].
Our last visit was on a coach day-trip from London when we had lunch in the Museum [because the Berkeley had such a smoke-laden atmosphere that we beat a hasty retreat]. We also looked in on the Victoria Rooms because that had been the home of the Students’ Union in our day. I then took her into the Wills Building as that was where we had all our law lectures [she had been based at Royal Fort and so wasn’t familiar with it]. I particularly wanted to see the Great Hall because that was still a ruin in my time. We found ourselves at the tail end of a guided tour there but the guide kindly took us on a little extension afterward up into the tower because we were Old Bristolians.
Sadly we will not now have a further opportunity to visit Bristol as a couple because Gill died suddenly & unexpectedly in July last year as a result of an accident at home.
Marion Slade (née Batley) (BSc 1970) met Andy Slade (BSc 1969)
How did you meet?
We met at the coming up dance in 1967. I almost didn’t go as I had a cold but my room mate persuaded me to go with her. It was late in the evening and hot. Andy asked me to dance but because of the heat and my cold I was not very keen. Andy said something which I understood as “why not?”, so rather than get into a discussion I said “OK then”. In fact, he said “yes, it is hot”! I had already been rejected by an Arts student when he discovered I was reading chemistry. When Andy found out my subject he said “great”. So a good start.
Who asked who?
Don’t know. We agreed to meet the next morning at the swimming pool in the new Union Building.
Did you have a first date?
It wasn’t until we arrived at the pool that we were unsure what each other looked like, especially as we were both in swimming gear.
Is there a place in Bristol that is special to you?
Late night returns across the Downs on the back of Andy’s scooter from Churchill Hall to Manor Hall. Also, uncomfortable seats in the Anson Room for Jazz Club.
Have you been back to Bristol?
We frequently visit Bristol for shopping, occasional nostalgic visits to Whiteladies Road, Clifton and the Union Building and HP science lectures.
Geoffrey Thomas (BSc 1961, PhD 1968) met Maureen Randall (BSc 1963)
How did you meet?
We met in Victoria Rooms at Science Faculty Dance on Saturday 17 October 1959 – so about to celebrate 50 years. She says I had a cold! I remember she was sprightly and still is.
Who asked who?
She needed a partner for the Physiotherapy Ball on Friday 25 October, so she asked. Maybe we went to the pictures on Wednesday 23rd.
Is there a place in Bristol that is special to you?
We went many times to the Vic Rooms, so that must be the pick of haunts.
Have you been back to Bristol?
Yes returned many times. I came back for research in December 1964 to August 1968 and we lived on the ‘old’ greyhound stadium in Knowle near the Somerset county cricket ground (then). A picture of my second degree day is attached.
Our second son Alex(ander) Rhys Thomas studied Chemistry from 1987 to 1991.
Recently during the centenary celebration we attended an Engineers Reunion dinner organised by Ken Parry.
Sheila Woods (née Carter) (BVSc 1968) met Stuart Woods (BVSc 1968)
We first met (1964) in the anatomy dissection room in the Vet school in Park Row (over a dead dog!). First impressions of each other were not dramatic (we were probably overcome by the surroundings and the smell of formalin!).
Socially, we led separate student lives for the next 3 years until we were thrown together when our year moved to the Langford Field Station (with its own hall of residence) for the final year. Stuart, never the most organised of students, needed Sheila's notes to revise from - at least that was his excuse. We found that we really enjoyed one another's company and romance blossomed. (We thought we had succeeded in keeping it quite "under wraps" until the academic staff sang a little "ditty" about it for the Langford pantomime ...). We got engaged a week before finals, married the following year and have been together ever since. Unfortunately our children deserted to other universities, but we both loved our time at Bristol and especially the time spent together at Langford which still holds special memories for us. We have always enjoyed visits to Bristol since graduating, particularly a visit to Bristol and Langford together with other graduates from our year during the Convocation Reunion in 2008.
Lynne Worthington (née Cresswell) (BA 1965) met Robin Worthington (BSc 1965)
How did you meet?
Our first date was our first meeting - a blind date arranged by mutual friends. Manor Ball 1964.
My first impressions - he was good-looking, easy to talk to and put himself out to be charming. Seemed 'normal'. His impressions -' It's that girl that I'd admired at the Vic Rooms.'
Is there a place in Bristol that is special to you?
Upstairs at the Berni Inn at the LLandoger Trow. Blowing cobwebs away on the Clifton Suspension Bridge.
Have you been back to Bristol?
Every year since on the anniversary of our first meeting, 31st January - despite the weather!
1970s
Tina Bristow (née Gibbs) (BA 1980, BArch 1983) met Garry Bristow (BSc 1978)
How did you meet?
We met in the “explorers” walking club in 1977 which I joined when I arrived at Bristol to study Architecture. Garry was one of a group of incredibly old third year students who, to be quite honest, all looked the same (big hair, scruffy denim jeans and glasses!) Garry has told me he fell in love when he saw me at the summit of Cader Idris in a green cagoule and a bobble hat (?)
Who asked who?
We only got together through a chance meeting at a Chemists’ party in 1981. I think the pan galactic gargle blasters that were being served had something to do with it! Garry asked me to his parents’ the following weekend. He was by chance going there for his niece’s christening and as he was by then studying at Sussex, it was a lot closer to Bristol.
Did you have a first date?
Our first date in Bristol was in a pub down by the docks, but neither of us can remember the name!
Is there a place in Bristol that is special to you?
We were there in the very cold winter of 1981 (I think) when we used to walk down to the pubs on Gloucester Road especially the Robin Hood’s Retreat. Plus there was a little Greek restaurant on Gloucester Road where the heating was provided by a small calor gas stove. They served the strangest salads, consisting mainly of raw cabbage!
Have you been back to Bristol?
We treated ourselves to a weekend in the Avon Gorge hotel for our 20th wedding anniversary, and even went back to the Coronation Tap. It seemed to be full of VERY young people!!! Strangely, the Avon Gorge was the venue for the Explorers Annual Dinner.
Ros Carr (BSc 1979, PGCE 1980, Med 1995) met Shaun Roberts (BSc 1979)
How did you meet?
We met, as freshers, on the first night Freshers' Week 1976, in the Goldney Bar. The Bar was packed, many talking about their 'year out' and some wearing badges saying 'I'm not an Oxbridge reject'. Ros remembers Shaun's laugh (who could forget it?) and the fact that he was the only person wearing an Afghan waistcoat!
Who asked who?
We were supposed to be going out to a disco in Meeting Room 1, in the Union with a group of friends, but others dropped out leaving just the two of us! It was 30th October 1976.
Did you have a first date?
I suppose the first date was, by default, in Meeting Room 1.
Is there a place in Bristol that is special to you?
Goldney Hall. We were both there for our 1st and 2nd years. Shaun was one of the Bar Managers from 1977-8. Ros returned to Goldney as a Tutor as a postgrad for 2 years and Shaun used to come back to Bristol at weekends.
Have you been back to Bristol?
We eventually got married in 1985 and lived with our 2 daughters in Bristol until 1996, before heading north Co. Durham. We returned to Bristol and met up with friends for the centenary celebrations in 2009, 30 years since graduating. Lunch in the Orangery in Goldney and a walk around the gardens and grotto brought back lots of memories!
The Rev Graham Hamborg (BSc 1973) met Ruth Hamborg (née Harrold) (BSc 1973)
We were both first-year students in Badock Hall in 1970-71. We had only passing contact in that first year, despite our post going into the same pigeon-hole, with our surnames being alphabetically so close. We almost started going out together late in our second year, and finally did so at the beginning of the third year, September 1972.
We got engaged early in 1973, prior to our graduations in summer 1973: BSc in Maths and Computer Science for Ruth, BSc (Econ) for Graham. We were married in July 1974. Thirty-five years, five children and three grandchildren later, we remain happily together.
In recent years we have had a daughter at Bristol University, studying Maths, and a son currently at Trinity College, Bristol, so we have had plenty of excuse to re-visit old haunts. A recent walk on Clifton Downs reminded us both of days back then….
Dave Mansfield (BA 1978) met Ailsa Mansfield (née Fleming) (BSc 1975)
How did you meet?
We met first casually in the dinner queue at Badock because we had friends in common - it stayed that way for the rest of our first year. Second year was spent in University Close flats (girls in 57 overlooked boys in 33) and our friendship grew. Started going out right at end of term in December 1976.
Did you have a first date?
First 'date' was to see 101 Dalmatians (original Disney version) at the old ABC(?) cinema in Baldwin Street, actually a double date with 2 other friends!
Is there a place in Bristol that is special to you?
Particular place would be the University Library - passing notes in adjacent carrels while working. Also the Ashton Court pitch and putt courses!
Have you been back to Bristol?
We didn't leave Bristol until 1986, so married so lived there for some years, first child born there too. Celebrated our 30th wedding anniversary this year. Also went back on the 100th reunion this year and met up with friends from Hall most of whom not seen since our wedding, and revisited old haunts!
Bristol was a very special place for us, and actually still is.
Caroline Mansley (née Bonser) (BA 1980) met Nigel Mansley (BSc 1979)
We met at Christ Church, Clifton’s student group ‘MOSAIC’. We started going out at a Christian holiday camp called ‘Spring Harvest’ at Prestatyn, of all places. Can’t remember who asked who out …
We married in 1981 (I graduated 1980, he 1979) and lived in Bristol until 1986, in a basement flat on Redland Road and then a wee house in Cornwallis Avenue. Those, and our Church, would be good reminders, as would be of course the Wills Building where the History Dept. used to be.
I remember well the gatherings, ‘Wills at One’ when the high-flyers (mostly lawyers – does anything change?) would meet up in the foyer and network before going out for lunch.
Sarah Mitchell (née Wood) (BSc 1982) met Dave Mitchell (BSc 1982)
Dave and I arrived in Bristol in 1979 to study maths at the university.
We both lived in Manor Hall in our first year, which at the time was mostly a women's hall of residence. I had a room in the main builiding, Dave had a room in one of the annexes - Manor House. We both joined the hall Christian fellowship group, where we got to know each other, and made several good friends.
We got married at the end of our second year (an unusual decision!). After graduating we stayed in Bristol, where we still live.
We've had three lovely children, all in their 20s now. This photo was taken at the end of our first year, at the Manor Hall Summer Ball. Dave is only 19, and I'm 20 years old. (We like to think we haven't changed a bit!)
Although we've lived in Bristol for 30 years now, I sometimes still feel nostalgic if I visit the area around Manor Hall, or go to an event at the Students' Union. And the recently refurbished Clifton Lido brings back lots of memories - we swam in the old open-air swimming pool there when we were students.
Jenny Wigram (née Thom) (BA 1975) met Professor Tony Wigram (BA 1974)
Who asked who?
My husband, Tony, and I both studied in the Music Department at Bristol. He was in the second year when I arrived. I first met him when he was part of an auditioning panel, 'checking me out' before asking me to lead the 'Op Soc' (Operatic Society) orchestra.
Did you have a first date?
On the third weekend, I had thought about going home, but had decided that maybe it was too much effort. However, after an orchestral rehearsal, I heard Tony saying he was 'going up to town' that weekend, So I plucked up the courage to ask if he meant 'Lo
Is there a place in Bristol that is special to you?
We spent a great deal of time together during the two years we were both at Bristol. In the department, at rehearsals for Symphony Orchestra, Chamber Orchestra, Operas - both university organised and Bristol Light Operatic Company etc etc. Places I particularly remember being together were the Refectory on the corner of Queen's Road and University Road (no longer there - part of the museum, I think); Royal Fort House (Music Dept at that time); the gardens outside RFH; the Downs, of course, especially as he lived at Churchill Hall and I was at Clifton Hill House and Goldney.
Have you been back to Bristol?
We went back to visit friends and when the professor had a party for his retirement, however, more recently, our oldest son studied at Bristol and now has bought a house and works in Bristol. This gives us a good reason for visiting our old haunts, and seeing him in productions of the very same light operatic company which we accompanied years ago.
We still keep in touch with our ex-professor, Raymond Warren, and his wife. Now that Tony is a professor in a university department (at Aalborg University, Denmark), they have much in common. We have also played one of Raymond's compositions in a concert of an orchestra I lead in St Albans.
Andrew Wilson (LLB 1981) met Penny (née Turner) (BSSc 1981)
How did you meet?
We met through a mutual friend and fellow Bristol undergraduate during our first term at Bristol. We were both in Badock Hall. My first impression of Penny was that she was very lively and great fun, but quite excitable.
Who asked who?
A bit of both - Penny asked me to ask her out.
Did you have a first date?
We went to a small Polish restaurant in Clifton. I can't remember its name and I very much doubt that it is still there. I do, however, remember what I ate - Veal Pojarski.
Is there a place in Bristol that is special to you?
There are several. Two that stand out are (1) the Bristol OTC, which was something of a social hub for us and (2) the small (unlicensed) restaurant which the then unknown Keith Floyd opened up in Chandos Road, just a short walk from our shared flat in Redland.
Have you been back to Bristol?
Only once, when doing a tour of universities with our two older children about three years ago.
1980s
Gareth Davies (BSc 1989) met Sherri Davies (née Ousley) ((JYA 1987-88))
How did you meet?
During 1987-1988 I was Treasurer of the Churchill Hall bar. Sherri was at Bristol for a year as part of the JYA program (she was a Biochemistry major at Trinity College in Hartford, CT). We met each other through a mutual friend, another JYA student, and she also worked a couple of shifts at the bar. I thought her attractive and friendly in a more reserved way compared to her fellow Americans. I suspect she was as much amused by me as anything else - I was going through an extroverted goth phase at the time!
Who asked who?
Neither really - we just sort of got together.
Did you have a first date?
Nearest approximation: we met up in central London the day before she flew back to St. Louis for the Xmas break. I escorted her on a "tour" of my hometown, starting in Oxford Street and taking in the London Dungeon and a meal at Chi-Chi's in Leicester Square.
Is there a place in Bristol that is special to you?
Churchill Hall, especially the Holmes (where I had my room).
Have you been back to Bristol?
A couple of times, most recently last month (August 2009) when we travelled back for the first time in 10 years with our two daughters in tow. We stayed for a couple of nights and stopped to wander around the Churchill Hall grounds.
Simon Walker (BSc 1984) met Elizabeth Walker (née Quine) (MB ChB 1986)
How did you meet?
We met as part of a group walking from Badock Hall down to the Christian Union meeting in the Students' Union on our first weekend in Bristol. Shortly afterwards, Liz told her neighbour (who had also been in the same group) that if there was one person she really did not want to get to know any better ... it was Simon.
Who asked who?
We became friends some time later and gradually grew closer, but I suppose it would be fair to say that Simon pulled the trigger - just over a year later.
Did you have a first date?
There was a very significant conversation late one Saturday night in October 1982 (after returning from the Christian Union) outside Unit 8 of Badock Hall. Not exactly romantic, but there was a starlit sky and silvery moon ... we went inside eventually (
Is there a place in Bristol that is special to you?
We were married in Bethesda Chapel on Alma Road in Clifton in July 1987 (we had worshipped there for most of our student lives and, technically speaking, it was in the garden that we became engaged in October 1983), so that would be top of the list.
Have you been back to Bristol?
We had a lovely weekend back in Bristol in early November 2007, visiting old haunts and noticing lots of changes too.
1990s
Dr Stuart Chatfield (BSc 1992, MSc 1994, PhD 1998) met Rebecca Chatfield (née Wiles) (LLB 1994)
How did you meet?
We met in the old SCR of Manor Hall (now the 2 East Guest Room) in September 1992. (On recent visits we see that, despite conversion to a guest room, it has barely changed at all.) Stuart had been at the University for three years already and was offered a Tutorship at Manor Hall when he decided to stay on to study for an MSc. Rebecca was also offered a Tutorship by Dr Crossley Evans on arriving in Bristol, having done her first degree at Nottingham University. We met at the first SCR meeting on our arrival in the Autumn term.
Who asked who?
Rebecca thought that Stuart looked very posh(?!) quite young and kindly. Stuart thought Rebecca looked very sweet, unassuming and innocent ('like someone you might meet in a church' was what he said at the time!)
Did you have a first date?
After a drink in the Manor Hall bar Rebecca agreed, despite being a Liberal Democrat, to go with Stuart to the Conservative Association annual dinner and dance. John Patten was the guest of honour - one of a number of MPs deemed the 'next prime minister'
The only obstacle was that, as tutors in Manor Hall, we had to balance our relationship with the pastoral care of our students and the requirement to fulfill our managerial and leadership roles. Dr Crossley Evans was both Cupid and policeman in this regard, offering encouragement, guidance and advice.
Rebecca left Bristol first, in 1994, to take the Bar Vocational Course in London. Stuart followed a little later to begin his career as a company secretary in the City. Stuart now continues his career, working for Baker & McKenzie Solicitors. Since having our three children Fabian (1997), Toby (1999) and Cordelia (2004) Rebecca has been a full-time mother.
Govind Dhar (BSc 2002) met Jyoti Dhar (née Kumar) (MB ChB 2004)
How did you meet?
I’d walked into the Refectory in Fresher’s Week (October 1999) completely by chance and on the whim of a fellow Politics student. We sat at a table in the back when I spotted this incredibly petite and gorgeous girl sitting on the opposite corner of the table. She had the most beautiful eyes and dark brown hair. For the life of me, I could not work out where she was from. Rather unusually, we struck up a conversation across the table ignoring the friends we’d come with. She had been talking about cadavers and slicing them open (over lunch) which gave me the perfect opportunity to butt in with a joke. I was completely stunned by how gorgeous she was. As it turned out, we were both Indian.
Who asked who?
She asked me (with a little help from Smirnoff Ice). We were both in relationships when we met, but we kept tabs on each other for three years before one of us did something about it. I ended up going on a boys night out by accident, and with complete strangers to horror of horrors – The Lizard Lounge. She happened to be there. We had both recently become single and she seemed to know this! She marched up to me and announced, ‘I’ve fancied you for 2 and a half years and you’ve done nothing about it.’ I took that as an invitation to go out. We did. I proposed two and half months later, just before completing my degree. She said, ‘Yes...but not now!’ We were married a year later.
Did you have a first date?
March 2002 - we went to The Boston Tea Party on Park Street and ended up at the Avon Gorge and Cotham Tandoor! In November 2003, we were married at a civil ceremony at the Bristol Registry Office in Broadmead.
Is there a place in Bristol that is special to you?
Pizza Express on Park Street. We would spend so much time with each other in the day that we would invariably forget to eat, ending up at Pizza Express almost every other night just in time for last orders and to watch them shut shop and turn the neon lights off. That place and Cotham Hill. In my final year again, completely by chance, I happened to be living on one side of the train tracks running through Cotham (Ashgrove Road). She happened to be on the opposite side at Woodstock Avenue. We aren’t decided on who was living on the ‘wrong’ side of the tracks though.
Have you been back to Bristol?
Yes – a couple of times – Arnolfini and Thekla. It feels the same, but we definitely feel older amongst all the younger college-goers. It’s still magical especially the waterfront and all the restaurants we visited back in the day.
Dr Gary Graveling (BSc 1993, PhD 1997) met Dr Emma Graveling (née Ludford) (BSc 1992, PhD 1996)
How did you meet?
I held the door open for her in the Inner Court of the Wills Building; she had a red sweater on with jeans and black boots. I don’t think she noticed me, and it took the 3 years of her PhD for me to manouevre myself into a position where she did…
Who asked who?
We went out with a mutual friend who disappeared at an opportune moment, leaving us to walk home together.
Did you have a first date?
Over to the Berkeley pub, and then back to her place for a game of Monopoly.
Is there a place in Bristol that is special to you?
Emma finally fell for me during a visit to the top of the Wills Tower, where I was demonstrating the local geology to a group of prospective students – she tells me it was my Yorkshire brogue and my Birkenstocks she went for…
Have you been back to Bristol?
We met in Bristol and have stayed here since, we are married and now have two children; Thomas (5) and Katie (2 going-on 12); Emma works as an Actuary in Bristol and I am a Geoenvironmental Consultant in Bath…
Will Kenyon (BA 1999) met Emma Kenyon (née Round) (MSc 1999)
How did you meet?
We met in our first term, the October of 1996. I remember seeing Emma running down the stairs of her hall off to see her boyfriend! She denies all knowledge. I liked her, but being a shy 19 yr old assumed she would like me if I was rude to her. It took a while for this tactic to work. She was quite fond of me by the end of our 1st year, but it took until our 2nd year for me to summon the courage to ask her out.
Who asked who?
Well, eventually, I suppose it was me. Emma denies this and says it finally took a drunken Friday night in the Lizard Lounge before we said anything to each other.
Did you have a first date?
Yes, very romantic. A £10 eat-all-you can on Princess Victoria St in Bristol. I have improved since then.
Is there a place in Bristol that is special to you?
The viewing point of the Suspension bridge. It was beautiful looking out over the bridge at night. Just the place to make up for my poor chat!
Have you been back to Bristol?
in February of 2010. It is the perfect place for a young family - even if there are a few drunken students! We cannot wait.
Anelisa Lambert (née Mills) (BA 1992) met Julian Lambert (Meng 1991)
We got engaged when I was on my year out in Florence. We got married just after my graduation, – September 12th 1992, after Julian had spent a year working for an oil company up in Aberdeen. So, we’ve just celebrated our 17th Wedding anniversary, out here in Dubai where we live and work, with our 8 year old daughter.
My first impression of Julian was of a wild, drunken, beer monster, with the most amazing eyes I’d ever seen. Not sure what he thought of me! We got engaged when I was on my year out in Florence. We have been back to Bristol since, several times, as some of our friends stayed on to do PhDs etc. Hardly romantic, but we were very fond of the Epi bar, and also Colonel Jaspers. We still meet up with a group of friends from Hiatt Baker several times a year, even though many of us live out of the UK. We had the best time at Bristol, and made fantastic friends for life.
Paola Mariotti (Erasmus) met Thomas Perotti (Meng 1995)
How did you meet?
In Hiatt Baker Hall, I (being Italian) heard there was another Italian. I sought him out only to find he had an American accent and thought he was anything but Italian. Still, I invited him in for an Italian coffee. He couldn't believe his luck at drinking Italian coffee in Hiatt Baker, especially after months without any 'real' coffee!
Who asked who?
We actually started dating after I returned to Bristol after graduating in Italy. I was teaching when one night I had a frontal collision with another car. Whilst taking care of the repairs of my car (being an engineer) he and I just started going out every evening with the excuse of getting an update on the status of the car's repairs....
Did you have a first date?
There wasn't a 'first date' as such, but we did start going out as a couple on Valentine's Day :-)
Is there a place in Bristol that is special to you?
Brown's restaurant (where the Refectory used to be) is where we used to go every night, although the Downs and Clifton Bridge hold special memories for us!!
Have you been back to Bristol?
Yes, but only shortly after my husband graduated (class of 1995) for a BBQ at a friend's house. We now have two beautiful daughters thanks to Bristol. We'd love to come back soon!
Anthoula Nolan (née Kalava) (BA 1996) met Matthew Nolan (BDS 1999)
How did you meet?
We met in halls - The Hawthorns to be precise. Mat was a first year and I was a second year. I thought he was gorgeous,but, he was introduced to me by my friend who fancied him, so I considered him to be out of reach as I hated competing with friends for a guy. He says he thought I was "Good looking, confident and experienced"!
Who asked who?
One night our JCR organised a Toga Party in the Hall bar; Matthew got drunk and professed undying love for me! One thing led to another…I told my friend about it the other day and she gave her blessing!
Is there a place in Bristol that is special to you?
The Hawthorns, 14 The Mall in Clifton Village (our first flat as a married couple), Rocotillos and Pizza Plus on Park Street (Pizza and chips for £4.50!). We also did wine waiting for many big events and got to meet some very interesting people - or serve them wine anyway!
Have you been back to Bristol?
A few times; my sister studied there too, so we went back to visit her and for her graduation. We also make sure we drive through and explore our old haunts in Clifton Village whenever possible. We now live in London, so any trip to Wales always warrants a Bristol visit!
We got married in Bristol Registry Office in December 1997, half way through Mat's degree. I am Greek Cypriot and since Cyprus was not then part of the EU, once my student visa was up I had to leave the country. We couldn't bear the thought of being apart so decided to take the plunge, and this December we'll be celebrating our 12th anniversary! We also had a baby girl in October 2008 and look forward to taking her round Bristol when she's old enough to appreciate the role it played in her creation!
Matthew Sica (BDS 2006) met Melanie Trickett (BSc 2003)
I started in 1999, I think she did too? I enrolled in Swimming and Waterpolo and there she was, slim, lithe, blonde, in black lycra and very very very fast! She would dive off the blocks and start swimming in mid-air! I could never get in a lane close enough to bump into her as she was so much faster than me, but then we started to meet on swimming socials- I must have missed her the first few times though, the swimming girls all looked so different with their clothes on and without rubber swimming hats!
She became social secretary, I remember the night, long blonde hair, short skirt and enthusiastically rousing everybody to the Christmas social. Needless to say, the waterpolo team got me to loose my inhibitions in their own commendable way (a couple of rounds of the legendary waterpolo drinking game ''Ooo-argh!'') and we got chatting. I found myself hunting for a partner just before the end of the Christmas term for the Annual Dental Ball. She'd just finished her swimming session, I was just about to start a waterpolo session and I blurted out an invite on the side of the pool. She said yes! I got so excited I didn't know what to say, and lost for words I just threw myself into the pool. (I think she was baffled!)
Mel went to Cardiff for her second degree (Physiotherapy) whilst I finished my Dental degree and when she graduated a second time moved back to Bristol and moved in with me. We have now been together 7 years, eight months and fifteen days and on Valentines Day next year are getting married just outside Bath, 8 years 1month and 12 days after meeting. Needless to say, the water polo team of then will be amongst the guests!
Karen Simmonds (née Barker) (BA 1994) met Chris Simmonds (PhD 1995)
We met through the Underwater Club, both joining in 1991 as Novice Divers. Chris was a post grad and I was an undergrad.
We were sort of friends for a couple of years and ‘bumped’ into each other in Gozo where I was on a ‘dig’ with the University and he was on a diving holiday with friends - we had a few dives together. We actually got together on New Year’s Eve 1993 – Chris asked if I wanted to come along to the White Bear for the evening and I turned up almost too late (having started celebrating early!) before the doors were closed (Chris was waiting with the landlord making sure he didn’t close the doors before I arrived). We went down to the Victoria Rooms for a crowded ‘Auld Lang Syne’ start to the New Year and I asked Chris if was going to kiss me – he did and there we have it – fifteen years later, one daughter aged ten and a wedding last ‘Christmas’ as close as we could get to our ‘going out’ anniversary!
For our ‘first date’ we had agreed on New Year’s Day morning (in our drunken state) to meet at the White Bear in the evening – the pub was empty apart from us, the barman and a cute little mouse scurrying along the skirting board – not exactly atmospheric!
Have we been back to Bristol since then? – we’ve never left!
Lucy Williams (née Stead) (BDS 2004) met John Williams (BDS 2004)
How did you meet?
met in the first week of our dental degree at Bristol, in October 1999. Our eyes met in the dissection laboratory at the Veterinary School in Southwell Street! That evening we walked home to Clifton (John stayed at Manor Hall's Richmond House Annex and I was at Clifton Hill House) and spent hours discussing music and our mutual admiration of David Bowie.
Who asked who?
I asked John out the following January- at a Mexican bar in Park Street, which is no longer there- Tequila Worm. He said yes of course!
Is there a place in Bristol that is special to you?
The Dental School in Lower Maudlin Street was where we spent a lot of time but not 'together'. Some of our favourite memories of Bristol Uni are the Jazz Funk Soul Connection jazz nights where a considerable amount of pino grigio was consumed!
Have you been back to Bristol?
John and I have been together through the five years of University and the five years we have had since graduating. We moved back to Bristol in 2006 and bought a house in Bishopston, where we are very happy. John has returned to Bristol University to study Medicine and I have returned to the Dental Hospital as a Registrar in Paediatric Dentistry, and do some undergraduate teaching there as well.
We married at the Bristol Register Office on Corn St on 4th July this year (centenary weekend). To continue the Mexican theme we started with, we honeymooned in Mexico.
2000s
Edward Kay (Meng 2003) met Caroline McCart (BSc 2003)
How did you meet?
At a party in Redland, organised by members of the Explorers club (that I was in) and the Conservation group Caroline was a member of.
Who asked who?
I asked Caroline out while walking home after the party
Did you have a first date?
Yes - to a pub on the Gloucester Road.
Have you been back to Bristol?
Yes, quite regularly to visit friends who still live in Bristol and the annual Explorers club alumni Christmas meal at Micawbers. We have also both run the Bristol Half Marathon in 2006 and 2009.
Helen Lamper (BSc 2004) met Jim Carter (BSc 2002)
How did you meet?
We met through the Pantomime society at the union. He was the president of the society and I was a first year so I was a bit in awe of him and very excited that a third year was even giving me the time of day.
Jim, however, remembers the very fist time we met (I was too over excited at the time to really remember it). It was at my freshers fair (2001) and he was sat at the panto sign up desk; he says that no one had signed up for ages and then all of a sudden I come bounding up to the stall and asked very loudly where to sign. He says he was very scared!!
Who asked who?
We don't remember, even though we've had the conversation several times. We did the typical student thing of going to a nightclub, getting drunk then snogging on the dancefloor. We then drunkenly revealed that we'd both liked each other for ages and decided to meet up the next day.
Did you have a first date?
About a week after we first got together Jim surprised me with a trip to the hippodrome to see Beauty and the Beast (it was just before the Christmas break), I was very impressed because I love the theatre!
Is there a place in Bristol that is special to you?
The Winston theatre in the union; we spent so much of our time there- we even both got life membership of the union so we could go back and be in a few pantos after we graduated!
Have you been back to Bristol?
We never left! Not only did we find each other but we found a new home. We both love Bristol so much, we got married here, bought a home here and Jim even now works for the university.
Adele Mariette (MEng 2003) met Tom Westley (MEng 2003)
met while we were both studying Electrical and Electronic Engineering at Bristol.
The scene:
It's early October 1999. Freshers week. The Students Union is full of slightly lost-and-nervous-looking undergraduates, winding round the hall in long queues to register for their courses.
Tom’s Story:
Thinking ‘WOMAAAAAN!’ (a rare occurrence in the Engineering queues)
Adele’s Story:
It’s at this point I realise I’m being followed. Every time I turn around, the same cheerful face -topped by copper-red hair- is smiling at me. Three weeks later, on the way to celebrate Tom’s birthday at The Works, we got together. It was a mutual thing -it just happened. Unfortunately, this does mean that the place in Bristol we most associate with our relationship is Nelson Street at 12am, on quite a cold and miserable evening!
On 22nd October this year we’ll be celebrating 10 years together. In the intervening time, we’ve lived and worked in Japan, circumnavigated the globe 3.5 times, and have ended up back in Bristol (well, all our stuff was already in storage from Uni days!).
Angelica Sola (LLM 2006) met Daniel Schoch (LLM 2006)
I am a lawyer from Argentina and my soon to be husband is a lawyer from Switzerland.
We met at Bristol in October 2005 whilst studying for an LLM, at a meeting organised by the law school to elect a representative; from 100 students, only 4 of us showed up at the Wills Memorial building, including him and me.
I guess it was love at first sight; months later one of the other guys told us he went home that day and told his girlfriend "I've met two students who are having an affair!" It was very clear to him that we really liked each other, though we hadn’t realised it!
However, it took a linguistic misunderstanding (English not being our first language) to get us together for a date. I was very excited about the Guy Fawkes celebrations, so one day after class I asked him whether he was going to go see the fireworks. He thought I was asking him out, and replied “yes, we could go for dinner before”, and that’s how it all started.
After finishing our LLM we each went back home and met again for graduation (see picture attached). A few months later I moved to Switzerland where I’ve been living for two years now.
We haven’t been back to Bristol yet, but I secretly hope he will surprise me one day with a trip to Bristol to see the Guy Fawkes fireworks on our anniversary!
Heledd Wyn (LLB 2001) met Simon JH Foster (Meng 2001)
How did you meet?
We met via a mutual friend & were impressed with each others knowledge of black & white films.
Who asked who?
It was a mutual decision!
Is there a place in Bristol that is special to you?
The Hope & Anchor - Hotwells.
Have you been back to Bristol?
Yes, on a few occasions both to visit friends and to enjoy going back to the city!
We received an overwhelming number of 'We met at Bristol' stories and would like to thank all alumni who took part. Any additional submissions from alumni may be made available online at a later date.