Three more stops on the Uni Tour and a night out in Manchester for the Old Salopians

More than a hundred undergraduates were entertained on the last leg of the annual university tour.

It started in Oxford where students from ‘Uni of’ and Oxford Brookes gathered at the King’s Arms for drinks. It was also a pleasure to welcome Professor John Newton (SH 1972-75) who is an academic epidemiologist at the University of Oxford. The younger Old Salopians enjoyed swapping stories and sharing different experiences of both Shrewsbury and Oxford with him.

Next stop was Exeter where Mr Toby Percival (Head of Sixth Form) and Mr Nicholas (Vice-Chair of the Salopian Club as well as an Old Salopian and former housemaster of Severn Hill and The Grove) met with around 20 students. It is our aim to engage with students from the top ten most popular universities amongst Salopians and Exeter has grown in popularity in recent years. Some Salopians made the journey from the Penryn campus which was impressive!

The following night Mr Nicholas and I were in Bristol for another reunion of Salopians studying at Bristol University, Bath, UWE and in another example of admirable commitment – Swansea!

There was time for a quick break before the highly anticipated return to Newcastle. We usually see the Newcastle students in Durham as part of the Northern Progress to Edinburgh and the north east of England in November, but an administrative error meant we visited during Reading Week. Such was the outcry that we added an extra date to the tour. It was well worth the trip, a record 45 students from the universities of Newcastle, Northumbria and Durham (going for the double!) came to the Cosy Dove pub to do some damage to the events budget. As an added bonus the landlord is an Old Salopian – Jo Loring (O 1976-81).

The night before I was in Manchester for drinks with the Old Salopians based in the North West. We enjoyed an extremely convivial evening in The Wharf pub. Two students joined us there, so we’ll count it as a request stop on the route.

Thanks to Mr Percival and Mr Nicholas for all their help and support and for clocking up the miles in the service of the Salopian Club.

Holly Fitzgerald, Director of The Salopian Club.