University alumni celebrate 50th reunion in Liverpool: Decades of friendship and memories
A group of nine University alumni who studied together between 1959 and 1962 have recently celebrated their 50th reunion in Liverpool.
The group met at the ‘original’ Rathbone Hall which opened in 1959. Four members – Eric Brindley (BSc Hons Mathematics and Physics 1962), Jeremy Dunning-Davies (BSc Hons Mathematics 1962), Peter Lee (BSc Hons Mathematics 1962), and Derek Waller (BSc Hons Mathematics 1962) – studied mathematics together, while the other five were Tim Bell (BSc Botany 1962), Mike Goodfellow (BSc Hons Botany 1963, PhD 1966), John Livesey (LLB Hons 1962), Ernie Savage (BA Hons Geography 1962) and Barry Thomas (BA Hons Economics 1962).
Eric explains: “One evening in May 1962 I suggested that we should consider having annual reunions after our graduations in July. Everyone was keen on the idea, and we agreed to hold our first reunion in Liverpool, where several members of the group would still be studying the following year. The reunion took place in March 1963 with a second, (also in Liverpool), in June of the same year. From then on reunions took place each year, and by 1983 we had held 23 reunions in various locations. In addition, there had been seven weddings within the group, a Christening and sadly a funeral for our friend Derek Waller in 1978."
“During 1984, three of us, (including myself), separated from our wives, and unfortunately the reunions went into abeyance, but the friendships made continued on a one-to-one basis. Then, one evening in 1996, Tim Bell and I had dinner together and we discussed the possibility of having reunions again. Most of the others were keen on the idea and we ‘kicked-off’ again at Cardiff in May 1996. Sadly, since then two further members of the group have died, Peter Lee in 2017 and John Livesey in 2023. We held our latest reunion recently in Liverpool when five of us met for our 50th reunion."
“Whilst we all share many fond memories from our time together at university, reminiscing plays only a small part in our reunions. As well as visiting places of interest, we go out for dinner and talk, discuss, and argue about all sorts of things, (particularly politics!), and as friends, we are as close now as we were over 50 years ago. In fact, as we get older reunions become increasingly important to all of us. We are very keen to continue meeting for as long as possible - hopefully, we may even get to our 60th reunion, at least our 55th anyway!”
If you would be interested in organising a reunion with your University friends contact the Alumni Relations team on alumni@liverpool.ac.uk to discuss how we can support your event and help connect you with former classmates.