Champagne and a buffet helped more than 50 people mark the 60th anniversary of a unique college.
Alumni gathered at an event which marked the 60th anniversary of the independent college University Hall Buckland (UHB) in Oxford. The event was held at St Edmund Hall, despite UHB never being affiliated with Oxford University.
University Hall Buckland was virtually the first co-educational college of its type that offered external London university degrees.
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Organiser and college alumnus David Young said: “This reunion was exceptional as it is one of the biggest reunions, the last one being in 2010, and it gave the opportunity for everyone to meet whoever attended UHB as it no longer exists.”
Mr Young added that the event, for which planning had been in the works for a year, had gone swimmingly.
Around 60 people attended the anniversary event.
UHB was formed in 1963 and closed in 1998 after it ‘fell upon hard times’.
Although, it was not formally connected to Oxford University, students were taught by Oxford dons and graduates of the University.
From 1963 the large Georgian stately home Buckland House was the site for UHB students taking the London external degrees.
There were approximately 200-300 students in Mr Young’s year of which 25 attended the reunion event.
The first intake of 1963-1966 comprised less than 100 students of which 35 attended the event, including the very first original in-house French tutor, Tony Drapkin.
Mr Young said it was difficult to accurately calculate the total number of students who went through the UHB ‘experience’ but that it could be upwards of two-3000.
Numbers dwindled after the late 1970s when UHB moved to Oxford and fell into different ownership.
Alumni at the event held last month intermingled, exchanged stories and shared stories at a celebratory luncheon.
Some guests had arrived the night before and stayed at St. Edmund College for two days.
UHB normally has a very small reunion annually at Buckland (near Faringdon) with the next one to be held in December 2023 at The Lamb in Buckland Village.
There are several alumni whose exact whereabouts remains unknown of which a handful have moved abroad.
Notable alumni include popular gardener Helen Yemm, David Phillips who is Emeritus Fellow of St Edmund Hall and British documentary film-maker André Singer.
Mr Young added that many alumni ‘came alive’ at the event reminiscing.
He is anxious to hear from anyone who has been involved with UHB over the years.
More photos can be found on the University Hall Buckland website.
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