Organised by Mark Lightowler (Production Engineering, 1978), we recently welcomed more than 40 Willoughby Hall alumni back to campus for a 50-year reunion. Mark and the cohort share memories of their time at Nottingham with us - and some excellent 70s fashions in their photos.

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Mark said: "A big thank you to all forty-one alumni who joined us for the reunion on Saturday 3 October. There were so many highlights, but what I particularly enjoyed was seeing how we came together through our shared bond of life at Willoughby in the 1970s.

"Many of us had not mixed all that much while we were in Hall, yet fifty years on, we found plenty to talk about. I came away feeling that I had not only renewed old friendships, but made new ones too.

"My thanks to everyone who helped make the reunion such a success, and especially to all those who gave their time and energy to the planning and organisation. Forty-one alumni, fifty year-old memories, and a weekend to remember."

My Willoughby story involves meeting new people and making friends. Regular gatherings for coffee after evening meals. Late night chats into the early hours. Queuing to make a phone call. Chef and his specials, including Hall formal meals and cold baked beans with salad!
Christine Brooks (Maths, 1978)
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Apart from friendships, flirting & football out the back, a few further memories persist. The night we stole a barrel from Ancaster and rolled it to, I fear, my ground floor window only to wake the next morning to an angry hall warden. Protestations of innocence were silenced when we were shown the 2-3 inch deep, barrel width, trench across the grass leading to my window. Then there were the annual Willoughby Hall table football competitions. I still have, somewhere a couple of medals. And of course there was the time a few 鈥榝riends鈥� relocated the entire contents of my room, furniture and all, laid out carefully, to the library flat roof. I was elsewhere; it rained heavily that night. The aforementioned hall warden wasn鈥檛 chuffed.
Ian Brooks (Geography, 1978)

Nigel Young (Hall President 1977-1978), addressed the attendees with a short speech, in which he said: "It’s a reminder of that very special time we had all those years ago. Perhaps we didn’t realise then just how lucky we were. Willoughby was a very active hall, taking part in lots of activities and with a culture passed down from those who came before us.

"During the course of this weekend we may encounter students at the university today, in 2026, and maybe let on that we were at university here 50 years ago, in 1976. Just imagine ourselves in 1976 and coming across a group of people then celebrating their 50 year reunion. They would’ve been here in 1926! To me that’s astonishing."

E1 always became the night coffee bar with Sean Kelly, Ian Hadfield and Steve Mascari turning up most nights for coffee. Fudge and garlic bread corridor parties - the only things we could make in the limited kitchen facilities. Queues for meals and for the TV room. Going to watch Nottingham Forest, taking a beer crate from the bar to stand on so that I could see! Annual themed hall parties, particularly the WW2-themed party with an amazing portrait of Winston Churchill. The boys of F floor regularly raiding the E floor bathroom and locking our toilet doors from the inside!
Mandy Eaves (Modern and Medieval History, 1978)

Looking to plan a self-organised reunion?

Contact our alumni team if you have any questions answering, or check out our reunions FAQ on the website!