BU Back to the 90s

BU Back e h t o t

BU history and heritage BU’s origins can be traced back to the early 20th century, with the foundation of Bournemouth Municipal College. Our modern history began in the early 1970s, with the creation of Bournemouth College of Technology and the construction of new buildings on the largest farm in Talbot Village – the area now known as our Talbot Campus.

By the time the new buildings were completed in 1976, the Dorset Education Committee had reviewed the way it provided further and higher education throughout the county. The result was that our name changed again, this time to Dorset Institute of Higher Education.

In 1990, we successfully met the requirements of the Polytechnics and Colleges Funding Council and became Bournemouth Polytechnic, but that name only lasted a little over two years. Under the Further and Higher Education Act 1992, we finally became Bournemouth University, with an inauguration ceremony on 27 November that year. As a full university, we were able to validate our own degrees for the first time and we have grown steadily ever since.

Welcome It was the decade of Britpop, the World Wide Web and girl power. It was also the decade that Bournemouth Polytechnic became BU. If you studied at Bournemouth in the 1990s then consider this publication your trip down memory lane.

We asked our alumni to share their memories, photos and highlights to help us reminisce. And despite the fact that the decade predated camera phones and social media, we managed to unearth some real gems.

As the 1990s saw the birth of BU as we know it today, it also saw the birth of popular student venues, including The Old Fire Station and Dylan’s. It’s clear from our alumni contributions that these hold a special place in the hearts of 90s graduates, just as they continue to do for students today.

So sit back, pour yourself an alcopop, put on some Ocean Colour Scene and enjoy the read.

The Alumni Relations Team

Anna, Kelly, Michelle, Claire and Jonathan (Pictured here in the 90s)

Student life We asked our 90s alumni to share their favourite memories from their time at BU. Here’s what they had to say.

Teresa (Terry) Wright (Tourism Studies, 1994) “Bobbing up and down with endless energy to James’ ‘Sit Down’ at the uni bash. Crammed into the TV room (smallest room of the house at Pickford Road) watching Home and Away — the screen inches away from our face.

Everyone wanting to do dishes to keep their hands warm. Other contributions from housemates and friends for life include doughnuts in the kitchen, bopping at the Academy Boscombe and bubbly on the beach (with strawberries) after graduation!”

Caroline Daniel (née Lear) (BBIT, 2001) “The amazing lifelong friends I met and hung out with at Dylan’s Bar and The Old Fire Station. I studied BBIT and Andrew Powell, the lecturer, was a legend.”

Kate Vogelsang (Television and Video Production, 1996) “I was part of the original Bournemouth University Women’s Football Team, which was founded in 1994. The team members included Louise Howard (née Fletcher), Catherine Leckenby, Lynne Goodsell, Alice Rutt (née Mackay), Karen ‘Keeper’ Dennett (née Way), Karen Rosser (née Day), Lucy Brooks, Esther Eckley and Louise Howard.

I remember that Tony Pulis was the manager of AFC Bournemouth at one point during the 95-96 season, we went to nearly every game and stood on the terraces.”

Matthew Lawrence (Business Studies, 2000) “We lived in the Tivoli Hotel in Southcote Road in our first year. Monday night was always The Old Fire Station, Wednesday Zoo and Cage, maybe a cheeky Friday night in Berlins (dashing to the bar to make sure we didn’t miss Archers shots on two for one) and a monthly trip to the Showbar for Jazz Juice. Plenty of coloured shirts, white jeans and curtains.”

Tracey Blake (Multimedia Journalism, 1997) “Jazz Juice!!!!! Seemed so exclusive (buying your tickets at Richmond Classics) and glamorous!”

Parisa Zolfagharnia (BBIT, 2001) “Bonded with amazing, awesome people. Love them all to this day. Monday night at The Old Fire Station and Thursday at the Opera House were constants, with an occasional Wednesday at Zoo. Lots of fun to be had.”

Adam Leonard (Retail Management, 1998) “The nightlife – The Brasshouse, The Cage and Zoo and the summer ball with Dodgy.”

Louise Overvoorde (née Blackwell) (Food and Catering Management, 1993) “The B&B in Westbourne where 10 of us lived for our first year in 1989.”

Monique Miller (BAIMM, 2002) “£1 absinthe, comedy nights and I’m sure we had Craig David and the Artful Dodger at the Fire Station one night. All a bit of a blur.”

Sarah Luiz (International Marketing Management, 2002) “Best student halls experience – first year at Hurn House on an all-girls floor. I remember we set off the fire alarm to flirt with the local firemen after a drunken night out. As a second year in Cranborne House, I was the only girl on a floor with all boys. I put up a picture of a fireman in the kitchen/lounge and came back after a night out to find the whole wall covered with page three models in response. At the student ball, I pulled a guy dressed up as a fireman and made the survivors’ photo!”

David Hall (Archaeology, 1995) “The Academy, Madisons, Pumfreys cocktails, bands in the Sugar Mine, lunch in the Herb Garden, living in Winton with complete strangers, a 10-bed house share in Pokesdown. Loved my course, mates and lecturers. Studied archaeology and still doing that today.”

David Clark (Microelectronics and Computing, 2001) “Glenfern House 1998-99 – whoever thought putting student accommodation on top of a car park was a good idea! Wednesday night at the Zoo and Cage, comedy night at The Old Fire Station. Going into uni at the weekend purely to use the internet as affordable home broadband barely existed then – especially good room for that on the top floor of Talbot House or the tiddly Macs in Dorset House.”

Sarah Bidgood (Advertising and Marketing Communications, 1998) “Oh my goodness, sooooo glad there was no social media to record some of the more questionable outfits I chose to wear!!!!”

David Lassman (Scriptwriting for Film and Television, 1998) “Two key musical memories really stand out. First was hearing Pulp’s Disco 2000 on the radio in the breakfast room at the B&B on my own – as I was first down. And secondly, hearing ‘Alright’ by Supergrass on the uni bus going into campus. It was mid-morning, the sun was shining and the sky a glorious cloudless blue.

There were very few other students on the bus, I might have been on the top deck and looking out over Bournemouth, coming up from Lansdowne and thinking that it didn’t get much better than this. Whenever I hear either of these two songs it takes me right back there as though it was yesterday (not almost a quarter of a century ago!).”

Everard Cunion (Software Engineering Management, 1998) “Software Engineering Management students outside their final exam on 18 May, 1998. Notice the t-shirts bearing the course initials!”

Summer Ball – survivors’ photos The Summer Ball survivors’ photo is a BU rite of passage. See if you can spot yourself down on the beach in these shots from the 90s.

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The music, the movies, the television Do you remember when you actually had to check the TV guide to know when something was on? And unless you recorded it on VHS, you couldn’t watch it again!

Here are some of our favourite 90s shows.

Live & Kicking

Blind Date

The backdrop to Saturday mornings, hosted by Andi Peters and Emma Forbes at the start of the decade, and Zoe Ball and Jamie Theakston by the end. Although by then most of us had switched allegiance to ITV where Byker Grove favourites Ant & Dec had joined forces with Cat Deeley to host SM:tv.

Before dating apps or Love Island, singletons had to be put through their paces by answering personal questions in front of a live audience, before heading off on a date and reporting back to Cilla a week later.

Eurotrash

A Friday night staple which brought together a host of bizarre footage from How many PR students were inspired by around the EU, hosted by Antoine de Caunes and Jean-Paul Gaultier. the lifestyles of Bolly-swigging Eddie and Patsy?

Ab Fab

Gladiators

The Big Breakfast

Ready? Watching the likes of Wolf, Jet and Hunter as they set off on John Anderson’s second whistle. Contestants finished by running the wrong way up an escalator, of course!

From Chris Evans and Gaby Roslin, to Denise van Outen and Johnny Vaughan (together with Zig and Zag of course), this Channel 4 early morning show set us up for the day, all filmed from Lock Keepers’ Cottages, Old Ford Lock.

Dawson’s Creek

Friends

Teenage angst at its most glossy and gorgeous.

Still one of the most viewed sitcoms today, we tuned in every week to find out whether Ross and Rachel would finally get together. It was ‘The One that kept us all gripped…’

you There’s nothing like a song to take g back. How many of these best-sellin British singles of the 90s formed the soundtrack to your student days?

Source: NME

much, And when the studying all got too vided a these highest-grossing movies pro Odeon bit of escapism – best viewed at the or ABC on Westover Road.

Source: IMDb

1. Something About The Way You Look 1. Titanic Tonight/Candle In The Wind – Elton John 2. Jurassic Park 2. Unchained Melody – Robson and 3. Star Wars: Episode 1 – The Phantom Jerome Menace 3. Love Is All Around - Wet Wet Wet 4. The Lion King 4. Barbie Girl – Aqua 5. Independence Day 5. Believe – Cher 6. Forrest Gump 6. Perfect Day – Various Artists 7. The Sixth Sense 7. (Everything I Do) I Do It For You – 8. The Lost World: Jurassic Park Bryan Adams 9. Men in Black rs ea Sp y tne 8. …Baby One More Time – Bri 10. Armageddon th (wi y dd Da ff Pu 9. I’ll Be Missing You – rminator 2: Judgement Day Te 11. s) Faith Evan 12. Ghost 10. I Will Always Love You – Whitney 13. Aladdin Houston 14. Toy Story 2 11. My Heart Will Go On – Celine Dion 15. Twister 12. Wannabe – Spice Girls 16. Saving Private Ryan 13. Killing Me Softly – Fugees 17. Home Alone 14. Never Ever – All Saints 18. The Matrix 15. Gangsta’s Paradise - Coolio 19. Pretty Woman 16. Think Twice – Celine Dion 20. Mission Impossible 17. Heartbeat/Tragedy – Steps 18. It’s Like That – Run-D.M.C. vs Jason Nevins 19. Teletubbies Say Eh-Oh! – Teletubbies 20. Spaceman – Babylon Zoo

Campus life These photos from the BU archive include celebrity visits, Freshers gatherings and sporting celebrations.

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