In July, Mildert came alive to the sounds of the 70s, 80s, 90s and 00s, as alumni returned for our annual reunion weekend.
The weekend began, as all the best memories do, in Mildert bar. After checking into their college rooms, alumni from throughout Mildert’s 59 years gathered for pizza, conversation and astonishingly cheap beer. A large cohort from 1984 settled into a corner to reflect on how Mildert has evolved over the last four decades. More televisions, mainly.
I left the nostalgia in the bar and headed into town to watch Public Service Broadcasting and the NASUWT brass band peform in Durham Cathedral as part of a jazz festival. It is more than 20 years since I first stepped into that cathedral as a matriculating fresher, yet it still blows me away with its grandeur. The opportunity to see one of my favourite bands perform in that magnificent building was too good to miss.
I woke on Saturday morning with a surprisingly clear head, so I walked down to Maiden Castle Sports Centre. For a ‘social’ sportsman like me, Maiden Castle is far more associated with exams than with athleticism, but this time I was actually there to exercise.
The Durham Parkrun starts at Maiden Castle, does a few laps of some nearby fields, then rounds the bend of the river to finish on the racecourse. Few Parkruns can have a backdrop as beautiful as our castle and cathedral, and jogging along that stretch of river took me back to memories of racing there for VMBC.
While many alumni used the afternoon to reaquaint themselves with the city, those who remained in college enjoyed croquet and giant Jenga on Tees Lawn, accompanied by a BBQ.
The evening entertainment began when Trent Alexander-Arnold slammed England’s fifth penalty home, firing the Three Lions into the semi final and sending a bar full of Mildert alumni into raptures. The reunion dinner had been delayed a few minutes, allowing both alumni and kitchen staff to see the penalty shootout reach its conclusion.
Buoyed by the result, we took our seats in the hall and enjoyed a delicious three course dinner. No points system, no meal cards, no gently frozen desserts. Afterwards, the kitchen staff, some of whom remain familiar faces after all these years, received a well-earned round of applause, and we took our bottles of wine through to the bar to continue our conversations.
Sunday morning brought one final, if not entirely welcome, bit of Mildert nostalgia. Waking up in a college bed with a bleary head and the aftertaste of red wine, it took a few seconds to remind myself that no, I’m not 20 years old and yes, I do need to go to work tomorrow.
So Van Mildert College is 59 not out… which means that next year is the big one. VM60 is a year long celebration of this wonderful community that has shaped so many lives over the last six decades. The centrepiece will be the next reunion weekend, which promises to be spectacular, so save the date: 4th to 6th July 2025.
Van Mildert College Alumni Association 