This October marks 60 years since Derwent and Langwith officially opened as the first colleges on campus. From the day the Queen visited to open the colleges, to the first student bedrooms and memorable college nights, we take a trip back in time to discover what student life was like in those early years of the University.
The Day the Queen Came to Open Derwent and Langwith
As the University’s first completed buildings, Derwent and Langwith had the honour of being officially opened by Queen Elizabeth II on 22 October 1965. At the time, the campus was still small, and only around 200 students were enrolled. Accompanied by Prince Philip, the Queen toured the new buildings, met students in the Common Room, and was introduced to the Archbishop of York, Dr Donald Coggan, alongside the University’s first Vice-Chancellor, Lord James.
The royal visit drew large crowds from both the campus and the local community. Alum Julie recalls how her family came to watch the momentous occasion:
“My family were there because we all lived in Heslington. Just before the Queen arrived, my dad ran across the road outside Heslington Hall and I ran after him — I was nearly run over by the Queen’s car!”
The Royals spent time chatting with students. Prince Philip, known for his humour, remarked on the unusual design of the Chemistry water tower, comparing it to a golf tee, and joked about the University’s scarf, remarking: “Bloody awful scarf isn’t it!’ So typical and so right – it was orange with a black stripe and I kept it for many years as a momento.” — Lesley, 1967
“Four students who followed the Queen throughout her tour performing an energetic parody of British patriotism by grinning inanely and furiously waving little paper Union Jacks. She wasn’t amused and neither was Lord James, the Vice Chancellor. I also remember that several students involved in major student organisations were invited to stand in line, shake hands with Her Majesty and exchange platitudes. The then chair of the SRC declined the honour. — Alasdair, 1967
A Derwent student bedroom
The First Bedrooms
The first student bedrooms were simple but comfortable, and by the standards of the day, rather luxurious. Rooms were arranged in single-sex corridors with shared dining and social spaces. Every study bedroom had light wood furniture, and its own sink.
“It was great to be a resident in the very first year — a corridor of brand-new rooms each with a well-equipped kitchenette. There were many all-night conversations in those rooms putting the world to rights.” — Lesley, 1967
“I shared a massive double room in Derwent where we had the luxury of a sink each! The kitchen was basic — a kettle chained to the wall and a Baby Belling, but no fridge.” — Liz, 1971
Early student rooms at the University
With the close-knit atmosphere of the university at the time, rooms became social hubs for students to gather after hours and discuss political issues into the night! Of course, life in those early years wasn’t without mischief either, with alumni remembering:
“During the occasional ‘jolly japes’ of students attempting to get around the college without touching the ground, a broom came in handy for pushing passing students into the pond below. These days it’d require a risk assessment!” — Ray, 1967
“A memorable visiting lecture was given by A.S.Neill. He concluded his talk with an appreciation of his perceptions of the campus, commenting that it seemed a very free sort of place. As we returned to our colleges we found we’d all been issued with a new rule book; until then there had been no rules, however the only one that might affect our behaviour said men should be out of women’s rooms and vice-versa by 12 midnight each day, but it didn’t specify when the next day started, so we reckoned it wouldn’t affect us.” – Michael Escreet, 1968
Derwent dining room in the 1960s
Dining and socialising
In the early years, dining was at the heart of college life. “Although around half the students lived in digs in the city, most ate in college, so the dining rooms were de facto social centres, and it was common for a whole table to get invited to someone’s room for coffee.” Michael, 1968
With staff and students encouraged to mix freely, it wasn’t uncommon to find yourself eating alongside professors, administrative staff, or even the Vice-Chancellor himself. This also led to some funny, surreal memories too:
“I recall seeing Leavis drifting around the area near the Lake in a monks habit fastened, loosely, with a circ. Which of his two cultures he was absorbed with I don’t know.“ – Michael King, 1967
One popular item on the menu was egg curry, for the reasonable price of 1/3d! Meals were served by staff who lived above the porter’s lodge, and after dinner, many would head upstairs to the Senior Common Room, where a young sociology lecturer named Laurie Taylor, later of BBC fame, was a regular.
Student Nightlife
When night fell, Derwent and Langwith truly came alive. Dining halls transformed into venues for concerts, parties, and theatre performances. Local and touring bands performed regularly, and the small but vibrant student scene drew impressive acts, including most famously in Langwith: Jimi Hendrix.
“Although I was never a great fan of popular music I inevitably got dragged in as Pete’s roommate and was one of the “bodyguards” that Hendrix demanded to be placed in front of the stage to prevent him being mobbed. 75 minutes stuck right in front of one of the loud-speakers!” – John, 1968
“Those that stick in my mind include T-Bone Walker, Graham Bond Organisation (with Ginger Baker on drums), and of course Jimi Hendrix. Classical concerts were held in the New Building, opened a year before the colleges.” — Michael, 1968
“Rod Stewart and Manfred Mann played the June Balls. We even organised a coach trip to Sheffield to see Bob Dylan on his electric tour.” — Simon, 1968
And then there were the more homespun entertainments, like the student’s attempt to break a crisp-eating world record:
“We decided to organise an attempt on the world record for crisp eating. Derwent bar was the venue. Come the hour, the bar was packed making it very hot: not ideal for crisp eating it must be said. The attempt was not successful but it was fun. It was financed by a raffle type procedure:if he ate the number you had in the raffle, you won. It was ad hoc. Must be rules re duration, weight of bags, drinks allowed. Such things didn’t trouble us. Or the Guinness book of records!” – Colin, 1966
We hope you’ve enjoyed reading this and taking a trip back through time! A huge thank you to the alumni who contributed their memories and photographs.
As a Derwent postgraduate Sociology student in 1967-69, I recall the Amadeus Quartet – then one of the leading string quartets in the world, and York’s quartet-in-residence – rehearsing in Derwent Dining Hall. I also remember Benjamin Britten and Peter Pears performing Schubert’s Winterreise in the Lyons Concert Hall. What a privilege!
I was at York in 1976, as an English student with Education as a second part under Harry Rae. Among tutors I most admired were Sandy Cunningham, Geoff Summerfield and John Hunt. Sandy was a miracle of jokes and humour and a fine poet. His lectures were off-beat, with cartoons he put up on the board and jokes about the most famous poets and classic philosophy which had us, his very large audience, screaming with laughter at times, and he was the only lecturer to be applauded at the end of each lecture by the students. He was nothing short of brilliant. We stayed in touch later after he moved to Leicester University where I also took a further degree under George Fraser. We last met in 1979 outside Leicester for a dinner with him and his wife shortly before he retired and moved to Northumbria.
F. R. Leavis was still on his bike then, pedalling down hill to give a seminar to a dozen or so students.. He was, of course, quite famous and appearing in the Sunday papers every other week after his battle with C. P. Snow. Leavis was correct about Snow and the dangers of Science. He was equally ‘correct’ about Lawrence in terms of factual evidence and detail, and I had been a Lawrence fan for a while. But he didn’t understand the poetry and subsequently misled a generation on the subject. Also, oddly, he didn’t speak about Lawrence’s The White Peacock, his first book, which was a direct steal a from a real gamekeeper who had published a few books.
I was there when the Queen opened the university and watched her from a distance. Sandy was with the group. He told me she spotted two black students nearby and went across to chat to them. ‘Hello. And where are you from?’ she enquired good-naturedly. ‘Somali,’ they replied. ‘How lovely!’ she said. ‘And when do you think you might be going home?’ — I have no doubt she asked in all innocence, but it raised a few eyebrows.
It was about that time a student was chased by a peacock across the grass – they could be quite vicious. The student ran across to the hall, through double doors, slamming them shut behind him, unfortunately breaking the peacock’s neck.
I edited the student magazine for two years while studying. It was then called ‘Yorick’, not ‘Nouse’, as it became. I must thank York University for a really good liberal and liberalising education, spanning early English, Medieval French and English literary history in general, plus some science and philosophy as well. The lecturers were on the whole brilliant, most of them fleeing from Oxford and Cambridge, along with Leavis of course. I remain grateful. – Which reminds me. Going to a party in town one day I rand across two fellow students I recognized but didn’t know well but who had elected to come to York rather than Oxford. We exchanged hello’s and I asked whether they were going to the party. They shuffled their feet and looked at each other, and then one said: ‘Ah, no.’ Why not, I asked, it will be fun. ‘Ah, oh, well, it’s because we’ve never spoken to girls.’ he said at last. ‘We come from a public school.’ In this year of 2025, we all at last know what that means if we didn’t know before.
My then girlfriend and now my wife of 56 years watched the Queen and Prince Philip at the official opening of the University. We were in our first year and are actually in the photo showing Her Majesty walking into Derwent College. Great times.
Tony Hand
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Maya Bewley 
As a Derwent postgraduate Sociology student in 1967-69, I recall the Amadeus Quartet – then one of the leading string quartets in the world, and York’s quartet-in-residence – rehearsing in Derwent Dining Hall. I also remember Benjamin Britten and Peter Pears performing Schubert’s Winterreise in the Lyons Concert Hall. What a privilege!
I was at York in 1976, as an English student with Education as a second part under Harry Rae. Among tutors I most admired were Sandy Cunningham, Geoff Summerfield and John Hunt. Sandy was a miracle of jokes and humour and a fine poet. His lectures were off-beat, with cartoons he put up on the board and jokes about the most famous poets and classic philosophy which had us, his very large audience, screaming with laughter at times, and he was the only lecturer to be applauded at the end of each lecture by the students. He was nothing short of brilliant. We stayed in touch later after he moved to Leicester University where I also took a further degree under George Fraser. We last met in 1979 outside Leicester for a dinner with him and his wife shortly before he retired and moved to Northumbria.
F. R. Leavis was still on his bike then, pedalling down hill to give a seminar to a dozen or so students.. He was, of course, quite famous and appearing in the Sunday papers every other week after his battle with C. P. Snow. Leavis was correct about Snow and the dangers of Science. He was equally ‘correct’ about Lawrence in terms of factual evidence and detail, and I had been a Lawrence fan for a while. But he didn’t understand the poetry and subsequently misled a generation on the subject. Also, oddly, he didn’t speak about Lawrence’s The White Peacock, his first book, which was a direct steal a from a real gamekeeper who had published a few books.
I was there when the Queen opened the university and watched her from a distance. Sandy was with the group. He told me she spotted two black students nearby and went across to chat to them. ‘Hello. And where are you from?’ she enquired good-naturedly. ‘Somali,’ they replied. ‘How lovely!’ she said. ‘And when do you think you might be going home?’ — I have no doubt she asked in all innocence, but it raised a few eyebrows.
It was about that time a student was chased by a peacock across the grass – they could be quite vicious. The student ran across to the hall, through double doors, slamming them shut behind him, unfortunately breaking the peacock’s neck.
I edited the student magazine for two years while studying. It was then called ‘Yorick’, not ‘Nouse’, as it became. I must thank York University for a really good liberal and liberalising education, spanning early English, Medieval French and English literary history in general, plus some science and philosophy as well. The lecturers were on the whole brilliant, most of them fleeing from Oxford and Cambridge, along with Leavis of course. I remain grateful. – Which reminds me. Going to a party in town one day I rand across two fellow students I recognized but didn’t know well but who had elected to come to York rather than Oxford. We exchanged hello’s and I asked whether they were going to the party. They shuffled their feet and looked at each other, and then one said: ‘Ah, no.’ Why not, I asked, it will be fun. ‘Ah, oh, well, it’s because we’ve never spoken to girls.’ he said at last. ‘We come from a public school.’ In this year of 2025, we all at last know what that means if we didn’t know before.
My then girlfriend and now my wife of 56 years watched the Queen and Prince Philip at the official opening of the University. We were in our first year and are actually in the photo showing Her Majesty walking into Derwent College. Great times.
Tony Hand