151 photos on Flickr

Those who were at the reunion last weekend are gradually adding their photos to Flickr. So far we have 151 online. I'll select some of the best ones and post them to the blog next month. In the meantime, if you haven't posted your pictures yet, please do so - and if you haven't had a look at what is up there already, take a peek.

How did the reunion go? Comments on the day

• "I had a fantastic time... and it was so good to catch up with others again."
• "It was great to see so many familiar faces and catch up on old times."
  
• "It was great to be able to attend the reunion... and exchange news with old friends."
• "I enjoyed the day so much - what a turn out!"
• "It was a superb reunion last weekend."
• "I thought it was a roaring success."
• "I thought it went very well."
• "It was so lovely to see everyone at the reunion... a real trip down memory lane."
• "It really brought back some good memories."
• "I'm so glad I came."
• "... a memorable day."
  
• "It was really wonderful to everyone after so many years."
• "I am still enjoying the pleasant memories of Saturday and seeing all those nice people!"
• "It was wierd and great to see everyone again"
• "It was good to see and hear in person... just where people are and what exactly they are doing."
• "It was fantastic to see everyone again after so long, [and] a bit bizarre to see people looking virtually the same as 20 years ago."
• "[We] were reminiscing all the way home - it brought back lots of happy memories."
• "It was marvellous... it was great, although at times slightly surreal, to see everyone again... I'm really glad to have done it."
• "We had a great time!"
• "It was a special occasion."
• "It was a great day!"
• "It was superb being there and almost surreal meeting old friends again after such a long time like that! I had a wonderful time."
• "I thoroughly enjoyed the day."
• "It was great to see everyone again."
• "It was lovely to see everyone last Saturday and catch up on the last 10-20 years!"
• "I really enjoyed the reunion."
• "It was fab."
• "I really enjoyed it and it was wonderful to catch up with everyone."
• "It was a great day... I'm definitely coming in 2016."

Mission accomplished!
Thank you to everyone who came along on Saturday. Didn't we have a fantastic time?

News from Katherine Holroyd

Hello from Katherine. I was Holroyd and am now Neligan. After leaving University I completely changed track and went and did accountancy with Andersen's in Birmingham. (Obviously the French degree prepared me well for that.) Then, after qualifying and staying in Birmingham for a couple more years, I moved down south and went to work for an industrial gas company. I got married to Patrick and we have 2 boys: Ryan (11) and Peter (9). We moved about 8 years ago to Barcelona. We love living in Spain, so I am now fluent in Spanish, and I also moved into strategic marketing. I also get to use my French about 10 times a year when I travel to France! I hope you all have a great day. Sorry I cannot make it. I am going to get all the gossip from Sally afterwards. Katherine.

News from Claire Sussman

Hi everyone! I hope you enjoy the reunion. I am based in Chester, which is a beautiful city, near the North Wales rivers and mountains. I have been working in Liverpool for the past 2-3 years as an IT Lecturer in an FE College. After University, I kept my languages in trim by working as a camp site courier in France and Germany, and then as a ski rep in Switzerland and Austria. After a spell in publishing at Faber & Faber, I went to Leeds to study for a postgrad in Information Science. I got a job in London, but rejected it in favour of following my childhood dream and teaching outdoor pursuits: taking people climbing, caving and canoeing all over the Yorkshire Dales, to the Lake District, Lancashire and Wales. Ten years later, I finally decided I needed a change, (and a rest!), and switched to teaching IT! Zoe and I still keep in touch, and have had many mountaineering and climbing adventures in Britain and the Alps. I'm also a whitewater kayaker and I recently went on a canoeing trip to the French Alps. I also coach kayaking in Chester and North Wales.

News from Sue Olszowska

I'm sorry I can't make it on Saturday: seeing all the photos has made me wish I was! Were we ever so young?! It's great to hear what people are doing now. There are lots of great success stories. Sadly I have rather lost touch with all my old friends from the French department. However, I have heard from Beverley Neighbour since the invitation to the reunion went out, which is great. I also still exchange Christmas cards with Helen Embleton, although I haven't seen her for years. I am living in London with my husband Stephen and three children: Rebecca 13, Jack 11 and Elspeth 10. At the moment I'm a full-time mum, but I am working on a few business ideas so that I can work around the school day. After Birmingham I worked in PR until I married Stephen in 1990, when we moved to Tokyo. We lived there for three years. It was an amazing experience, and one which gave us the travel bug. At Easter we trekked through Bhutan with the children, and next year are hoping to return on holiday to Japan, where our eldest chikd was born. I hope you all have a great day on Saturday - and please post lots of photos on the blog! Sue (Olszowska) Down.

News from Howard Johnson

Sorry if you don't remember me. My attendance record at Birmingham was useless, being more interested in wearing ridiculously tight trousers and writing for the music press at the time. Still, I did end up in publishing, editing a number of music and sports mags for years before getting mixed up in the totally bizarre Internet gold rush running a bunch of sports websites. When we got the ache with life in England my wife and I packed up our two lads and scarpered to the South of France at the start of 2005. A better skin colour and working from home here as as editor of the English Rugby Union's official mag definitely agrees with me. God bless the Internet! I hope the reunion goes well and you all have fun. Sorry I couldn't make it. If there's another one in 10 years it would be great to catch up - though by then I might be too old and infirm to travel...

The picture above is of Howard with his sons. The one below is of Howard, his wife, son number 2, his mother-in-law, his nephew and son number 1.

Flickr update

Everyone who is coming to the reunion should now have received an e-mail from me inviting them to join the "20 years on" group on Flickr. Once a member of the group, they will be able to share photos in an online photo album with everyone else who is a member. My expectation (hope?) is that after the reunion everyone will post their photos to Flickr. Later on, I will download some of the best ones from Flickr to this blog. All this should be very easy to do and - I hope - a lot less work than other means of sharing photos from the reunion, such as e-mailing them to one another.

The "20 years on" Flickr group is private: only those who have been invited may join. If there are any people who are not coming to the reunion, but who would also like to be a member of the "20 years on" Flickr group, they should e-mail me, and I will arrange for them to become members.

NB don't forget your camera on Saturday! You may also want to bring along some photos to update everyone on your recent exploits, family etc.

News from Rachael Culver

In case you don't know, most of my study time at university was spent skulking in the Spanish department along with fellow Combined Hons girls Alison Fennah and Sally Ann Hall. I now live in Harrogate and teach French at the Steiner School in York. My route there has been convoluted and involved serving in the first Gulf War, heading up the marketing department of a major law firm and encouraging railway staff to talk to one another constructively! Then I had babies...Very little French, very little Spanish. However, the odd interpreting jobs on the side (property purchase and conversions) kept my hand in, and when I was asked to teach at my kids' school I happily began. Family photos seem to be the thing for the blog so here's mine. Thomas (7) is very cheeky and energetic. Miriam (5) is bright, loving and 'together'. William is a wonderful husband and even better Festival Director, and that's me with the lipstick. Sorry not to be with you on Saturday (only immense family duties keep me from you) and hope you have a fabulous time. Love to all, Rachael Culver Dodds.

News from Steve Hawkins

I hope you all enjoy the get together at the weekend. I expect some of this was shared before (ten years ago!), but - briefly - I have lived in Herts/Essex pretty much most of the time since University. After a brief, illustrious career with Pizza Hut, (I know, you could weep with pride), I then spent eleven years with Norwich Union Life Insurance. In 1998 I was made redundant and re-trained as a teacher in English as a Second Language, which I thoroughly enjoy. I work in Walthamstow, meeting students from all over the globe. Outside work I am part of a wonderful church in Welwyn Garden City. I've been abroad ("I'm on a mission from God" - Blues Brothers) to western and eastern Europe, and made a CD of my own songs in 2003. There's much more to come! :-) Currently I rent a house in Cheshunt but wonder for how long... For any of you who remember me - hello and a hug - enjoy the day!

STOP PRESS - WEDNESDAY 12TH JULY: Steve is now actually able to make it on Saturday. He has taken the place of someone who has been obliged to drop out, so we'll be able to chat to him in person about his news.

News from Louise Regan

Hi, I'm sorry I can't make it on Saturday, but hope everyone has a lovely time. I came down to London after we all left Birmingham, and am still happy here. I spent most of my career working in banking and insurance, and was lucky enough to use my French for a while when I worked for Abbey National's small French and European subsidiaries. I got to travel around quite a bit during this time, to places including Paris, Cannes, Madrid and Barcelona. I wanted a change a few years ago, and joined Camden Council. I work as a Business Development Officer in Environmental Health, which involves making sure we provide a good service. It's very different from the private sector, and I enjoy it a lot, even if I don't get to use my French too often. That's all from me, have a great time at the reunion. It would be lovely to hear from anyone. My e-mail address is louise.regan@camden.gov.uk.

News from Alice Wilkins

I've been living in France since 1990, first in Paris and since 1992 near Sens (north Burgundy). I married Philippe in 1992 and we have 4 children: Julien 11, Pierre 9 and twins Marius and Emilie nearly 3. After years in computers and then teaching, translating and interpreting, I now help Philippe with his company (fruit and nut brokerage) which is great as we work from home but, on the other hand, holidays are difficult to organise. I'm also on the town council, so life is far from boring! Sorry no photos, but apparently I haven't changed. Here's wishing you all a brilliant day on Saturday. I promise to try and make the 30 years!!! Best wishes, Alice.

Another guest on Saturday

I have just heard that although he can't be with us for lunch on Saturday, Ron Hallmark will be able to join us later on in the afternoon for a cup of tea/coffee/drink. So that means we will have three of our former lecturers with us at our reunion this weekend.

News from Ian Calvert

Sadly, Saturday will find me a few thousand miles south of Old Joe, so I won't be there to join in the fun. Having worked in advertising in London after leaving Brum, I transferred to the Cape Town branch of Ogilvy in 1990 when all the changes started happening in SA. I thought it might be an interesting place to spend a couple of years, and to continue my collection of rugby injuries. But I soon fell in love with, and in, the country, and still live here 16 years later with my wife, Marianne, and our beautiful daughters Hannah (8) and Josie (6). I still get injured a lot, but nowadays it’s from surfing, not rugby. Work-wise, I left Ogilvy in 1996 to start my own agency with the Lowe group, and then moved on in 2003 to start a youth trend-spotting company called Instant Grass. We do a lot of work in emerging markets, so I get to travel to exotic cities like Lagos, Kampala, Moscow and Mumbai…but unfortunately not to Birmingham this Saturday. I hope you all have a great time, and please drop me an email to tell me all about it on ian@instantgrass.com

Parking on Saturday 15th July

I have contacted the University about parking on Saturday. It will be possible to park on campus on the University ring road. The barriers are likely to be down. Guests should just press the visitor button to let security know that they are on campus for a reunion, and they will be admitted through the barrier.

You can see the location of the ring road relative to Staff House on the campus map held at: http://www.bham.ac.uk/core/core_picker/download.asp?documenttable=libraryfiles&id=31763. Both are in zone D. Staff house is building number 28. The ring road loops around the central part of the campus.

Reunion programme - Saturday 15th July, 12.00-18.00

Venue
Astor Suite, Staff House, University of Birmingham main campus
The room is available to us from 11.30 until 18.00

Drinks
The bar will be open from 12.00-14.00, with the possibility of reopening again at 15.00, depending on demand

Lunch
The buffet lunch will be served at 12.30

Afternoon tea/coffee
Tea and coffee will be served from 15.30 onwards

Evening activities
No "official" arrangements have been made for Saturday night. Those of us staying overnight in Birmingham can make plans with the others for Saturday evening when we are together on Saturday afternoon.

The final list

Ticket sales for the reunion on 15th July are now closed. The number for the day is 57. Here's the confirmed list of who will be there (as of 7th July - please keep an eye on the lists to the right for any last minute changes):

Sue Andrews, with Gary Fletcher
Sandy Barber (from France)
Helen Barrett, with Jon Goodwin
Sally Beven
Sarah Coyne
Madelena Cropley, with Patrick Gonzalez (from France)
Marie-Paule Davies, with Nick Perry
Valerie Duckett (from Venezuela)
Alison Fennah
Zoe Fletcher
Tsetse Fox (from France)
Axia Gaitskell, with Andrew Gaitskell-Kendrick
Jerry Gardner, with Breda Gardner (from the Republic of Ireland)
Catherine Gittins, with Steve Greenshill
Graham Grant
Hazel Hall, with Tim Read
Stephanie Hickman
Bryan Hollamby (from Greece)
Katherine Holroyd (from Spain)
Jo Langdale
Quintin Lever (from China)
Robin Meczes
Heather Monk, with Paul Savvides
Phil Nelson (from Germany)
Nikki Osborne (from the Falkland Islands)
Debra Paterson, with Michael Pearce
Alex Peet (from Italy)
Carolyn Penfold, with David Appleyard
Susanna Portman
Priscilla Rathbone
Chris Redman
Andrew Robertson
Kate Saunders
Dawn Sheridan (from France)
Jayne Smith
Julie Smith
Kirsty Smith
Jackie Stone
Mark Tentori
Helen Williams
Vivienne Williamson, with Alistair Pickering
Rachel Wills (from Germany)

University staff: Russell Cousins, Ian Pickup and Claire O'Sullivan.

French-German float 1984

Here's Boyd Vincent in his younger days, with Phil Nelson and Debi Paterson, entertaining the citizens of Birmingham as part of the Carnival in 1984.

News from Boyd Vincent

I moved over permanently to Toulouse to live with my future wife, Marie-Françoise, after graduating in 1986 - and I've been here ever since! We're not in Toulouse any more, but out in the country about 20 miles north of the city in an old house we bought 10 years ago. After doing a year as a "lecteur" in Toulouse, I became a translator almost by accident. And 20 years later, I'm still doing the same job, only as a free-lancer, working mostly for the French space agency and its affiliate companies. I'm still playing football, too, as the chairman of our local veterans(!) team. I am very lucky to have two beautiful girls, Camille (14) and Tess (11), as well as a beautiful wife.

News from Jennifer Westwood

Hi! I really wanted to be there on the 15th but am on the same contract in Germany Bayreuther Festspiele) as 10 years ago and can't get the day off. Such is the lot of a freelance opera singer! I have just been working in Toulouse for a month, so had the chance to speak (and eat!) French, so I can't complain. I've spent the rest of the year singing in the ensemble at The Royal Opera, Covent Garden, and will be back there in the autumn for Carmen…more French! While we were all at Brum I was also a part-time singing student at the Conservatoire, and from 1990 to 1993 trained full-time at the Royal Northern College of Music. I'm in the ideal job for me - music, languages, dance, travel and dressing up - and couldn't imagine another way of life. Anyway, it's better than working for a living!! Home is Sheffield with my husband Martin, a musician, and our 2-year old William. I love being a mummy, but sometimes I have to go to bed very early!

I hope you all have a brilliant time in Brum. I would love to hear from anyone. Do any of you live in London, South Yorks or Derbyshire?

Lots of love
Jennifer xx

News from Barry Ellis

After leaving University, I worked as a DJ for several years before finally succumbing to the pressure to "get a proper job". I joined Customs & Excise whilst looking for that proper job, and have never escaped the clutches of the Civil Service. I currently work for the State Veterinary Service in Worcester as Head of the Corporate Office. I am married with a young daughter. To see what I do in my spare time, go to www.silurianmorris.co.uk, scroll down to the picture and spot the big white toothy grin! I still see Keith Crockett (German) regularly, either watching rugby at Worcesteror playing cricket against each other in Somerset. I'm still in contact with Howard Johnson, although we haven't yet visited him since he moved to France 18 months or so ago. It has been good to see all the old photos on the blog. They brought back memorie sof care-free, reckless times. I hope everyone has a good time reminiscing at the reunion. Is everyone too old to relive the student days a little - even if only for one day? The photos below include pictures of Howard and Keith.

News from Gwynneth Edwards

Hi there. Greetings from sunny Scotland! I moved back up here nearly three years ago, and am now living in Perth. I'm working as a Brand Manager, back in Scottish Tourism, and love my job, even if I don't get to use those languages very often! Essentially, my role involves sales, marketing and web site management. I have two lovely girls, Helena (aged 6) and Susie (aged 4) and they are just loving the quality of life they have here too, after years of us living and commuting in the south east of England. (I previously worked for the Scottish Tourist Board in London, Historic Royal Palaces Agency and Eurostar.) My email address, for anyone who wants it, is gwynn@ppd-pinpoint.co.uk. I hope you all have a great day! Gwynn xx

My friend Flickr - part 2

OK, I think I have worked out how individuals can upload photos to a Flickr photo album. We now have a dedicated e-mail address to which any pictures should be sent. The pictures will then arrive in my 20yearson Flickr account. From there I will be able to extract them to the blog.

I will not make the Flickr e-mail address public just in case some clown comes across it and decides to bombard the 20yearson Flickr account with dubious content. If you would like to send me some photos in advance of the reunion, please could you let me know by mailing me at hazel_hall@hotmail.com? I'll then send you the Flickr account address. At the reunion itself I will publicise the e-mail address to which reunion photos can be sent.

Keeping in touch: news from those who are unable to make it on Saturday 15th July, and the University e-mail directory

A number of people who are coming along on 15th July have suggested that those who cannot make it might be willing to share their news using this blog. I have therefore sent an e-mail to the people concerned to see if they would be willing to do this. I'll post up the replies, as well as any links and/or photos.

Don't forget that the University keeps a password-protected e-mail directory at: http://www.alumniarchive.bham.ac.uk/alumnidatabase/. To save duplication of effort, I suggest that we use this rather than create a separate e-mail directory for our year group. Graduates are listed by course, e.g. single honours people from our year are listed under "French language and literature". So, if you are looking for the e-mail of someone in particular, or would like others to be able to find you, please go to this University page.

Who will be there?

The payments have been counted and verified, and I can tell you those who will be meeting on Saturday 15th July in the Astor Suite at Staff House are:

Sue Andrews, with Gary Fletcher
Sandy Barber (from France)
Helen Barrett, with Jon Goodwin
Sally Beven
Sarah Coyne
Madelena Cropley, with Patrick Gonzalez (from France)
Marie-Paule Davies, with Nick Perry
Valerie Duckett (from Venezuela)
Alison Fennah
Zoe Fletcher
Tsetse Fox (from France)
Axia Gaitskell, with Andrew Gaitskell-Kendrick
Jerry Gardner, with Breda Gardner (from the Republic of Ireland)
Catherine Gittins, with Steve Greenshill
Graham Grant
Hazel Hall, with Tim Read
Stephanie Hickman
Bryan Hollamby (from Greece)
Katherine Holroyd (from Spain)
Jo Langdale
Quintin Lever (from China)
Robin Meczes
Heather Monk, with Paul Savvides
Bev Neighbour, with John Banjeri
Phil Nelson (from Germany)
Debra Paterson, with Michael Pearce
Alex Peet (from Italy)
Carolyn Penfold, with David Appleyard
Susanna Portman
Priscilla Rathbone
Chris Redman
Andrew Robertson
Kate Saunders
Dawn Sheridan (from France)
Jayne Smith
Julie Smith
Kirsty Smith
Jackie Stone
Mark Tentori
Helen Williams
Vivienne Williamson, with Alistair Pickering
Rachel Wills (from Germany)

From the University staff we will be welcoming Russell Cousins, Ian Pickup and Claire O'Sullivan.

There may be a couple of late additions to the list. Details will be finalised next Thursday, when our final numbers need to be totted up for catering purposes.

Godot musicians

Here's another picture from Phil's photo album. It features Claire Sussman on drums, Heather Monk playing the flute, and Phil with his accordian.

Phil's photo

Here's a picture, supplied by Phil Nelson, of some of the year group who took part in the French department's production of Le Cid in 1983. Those from our year group are Kate Saunders (second from the left at the back) with George Katzaros next to her; Ian Calvert at the far right, with Mat Hindmarsh behind him and Andrew Farr in front of Mat. At the very front are Debi Paterson and Phil Nelson. I don't think they look very relaxed!

Finding Phil

Hurrah - we have tracked down Phil Nelson at last, and he is going to do his utmost to join us on 15th July. This is the story of our efforts that led us to him.

We last had contact with Phil in 1996. At the time he was just about to finish a contract working for a German publisher. Phil was one of the few graduates who had an e-mail address in the mid-1990s, as was I, so we had a few online conversations around the time that we were organising the ten year reunion.

Earlier this year, Birmingham University supplied us with an address in Germany for Phil. These details gave us the impression that he had returned to his old job at Linguarama in Stuttgart. First of all we tried to reach Phil using his 1996 e-mail address in the hope that he may still be using it. This bounced back. Then I sent an e-mail in English to Linguarama in Stuttgart. I sent this read-receipt from my work account in order to track whether or not it reached its destination. It did, but the recipient did not reply to me. The next attempt involved Chris Redman who "volunteered" to translate my request to Linguarama into German. We sent this off, but again to no avail. Determined to get Linguarama to at least speak to us, Rachel Wills, who lives and works in Germany, was then recruited to telephone the Linguarama office. Meanwhile I was working my way through Phil Nelsons on Google and had some interesting e-mail interactions with a friendly vexillologist who, unfortunately, was not our Phil. (If you are curious about vexillology, check out the other Phil's pages at: http://www.fotw.net/flags/index.html.) When Rachel discovered that Linguarama had no records of Phil, we thought we had exhausted all means of finding him, and so we declared him "lost" on this blog.

On Wednesday this week I received an e-mail message out of the blue from one of my 1995 graduates. (For those who don't know, in "real life" I am a university lecturer.) I have had no contact with Neil for 11 years. He had decided to take a Masters degree and needed a reference from his undergraduate tutor. Now, for someone who has seen hundreds of students graduate over the past 17 academic years it's quite an effort to remember the details of anyone who suddenly reappears to make such a request. However, I somehow managed to remember a slim, brown-haired boy with glasses, so I replied to his e-mail to ask if he could confirm that I had the right person. I also asked what he was up to these days. Neil replied with a photo - my memory of him was correct - and explained that he was a TEFL teacher in Germany. I agreed to write him a reference, and suggested that in return he might join the hunt for Phil Nelson.

On Thursday morning I received an e-mail from Phil! While I had been writing Neil's reference he had got on the phone to our former classmate. I was most impressed: someone who first learnt about information management from me had put his skills to very good use. The other happy ending is that Neil learnt on Thursday that he has been accepted on to the postgrad course for which I wrote his reference.