ENV75 at 50: An alumni return to campus
By: Alumni Team
In September a small group of the ENV75 cohort gathered in Norwich for a reunion to mark 50 years of starting at UEA. This is their report of their reunion, as written by Ian Woods (ENV75).
This group had met in 1988 to mark 10 years since graduation and a follow up was rather overdue. Sadly we were never going to have the full group as we had already lost Fiona Goodhead (nee Hemming) in 2007 and so rather than waiting until 2028 to mark 50 years of graduation a starting celebration was in order.
How do you mark such a date… when so many things have changed, careers diverged and hair lost or gone grey? A light touch of organisation was in order so a pub – The Golden Star - and beer as an ice-breaker before heading to the Namaste for a curry. After the initial surprises of changed appearances etc conversation flowed as it did for the weekend thereon.
Namaste for a reunion meal
Saturday saw the group split into two ‘teams’ and a mildly competitive treasure hunt through the streets of Norwich in search of the “Golden Canary” whilst taking in corners of the City we knew from off-campus trips including half remembered shops etc like Just Johns for coffee and best cheesecake in town, Johns the Butchers for cheap mince (how did we escape BSE?!), and Captain America’s for cocktails whilst waiting for a table, burgers and hot chocolate fudge sundaes. The weather was mostly kind and only drove us indoors at the Adam & Eve with a downpour and therefore a second round at the bar!
An evening BBQ with a composite photo reel of images from the 1970’s brought conversations around themes of ‘who’s that’, ‘where’s that’ and ‘which field trip was that’! Lecturers, subjects, places, events bounced around and were added to by the addition of folk on Zoom from Guernsey and Northern Ireland to nearly bring the group to its full strength.
An ENV Field Trip in the 1970s
Sunday, it was time to go into full nostalgia mode and visit the campus. So after a coffee in the Sainsbury Centre (which opened in our final year in 1978) it was time to wander the grounds and walkways. Fifer’s Lane and the Village (as we knew it including the much lamented Barn) are long since gone so it was Ziggurats, Teaching Wall, Library and Union House to take our minds back 50 years.
The gravel pit is now The Broad, Suffolk Terrace Squash Court is accommodation, Waveney Terrace replaced, the small shared TV in Union House gone – as is the bookshop! 
UEA Students playing Tug of War in the 1970s
The entrance to Environmental Sciences moved, the stream and ‘pond’ in the square no more … but the concrete, as do our friendships, endure.
Our reunion weekend ironically fell on arrivals day for the new intake of students (freshers) so we pondered how many of those arriving in 2025 will gather in 2075 to reflect on their 50 years?
Attendees
Ian Woods
Mark Thompson
Robin James
Cathy Jones (nee Jordan)
Wendy Fancourt
Lesley Healey
Andrew (Knowles) Harrison
By Zoom
John Robinson
Ann Blease (nee Jennings)
Absent (with permission!)
Chris Ashford (nee Harris)
Judith Dobson (nee Dodd)
Sadly Missed
Fiona Goodhead (nee Hemming)