A valentines tale: Married at Reed Hall

MY EXETER, YOUR EXETER A

lumni Roger Peek and Tish Maguire were students at Exeter in the 1960s. They became firm friends over a shared passion for West Ham United, hitchhiking to games together. After leaving Exeter they lost touch for many years but 50 years on from graduation they were married at Reed Hall. We talked to them about their memories of Exeter and why there could only be one place to tie the knot‌

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Roger Peek and Tish Page (née Maguire) Class of 1966, Wed in 2016

Roger: I studied Maths at Exeter from October 1963 and left in September 1967.

Tish studied Physics until June 66 but returned to Exeter in 1967 to teach at King’s School Ottery St Mary until 1968, whilst her husband, Chris Page, was completing his PhD in Maths. When we went to Exeter there were 2,000 students in total. There were 42 of us in the Maths group so you knew everyone and walking around campus you’d at least recognise most people.

I was in Murray Hall, Duryard in my first year – back when it was brand new. Tish was in Bradninch (in digs in Alphington) as the womens’ hall, Jessie Montgomery, Duryard wasn’t finished. All the halls were single sex then with a 10pm curfew – and it was a hanging offence to break that curfew!

Reed Hall was the Maths department so we both had lectures there. After that it became a postgrad social centre.

We were both West Ham supporters and used to hitchhike occasionally to games.

In 1964 West Ham were playing Swindon Town in the FA Cup and four of us were planning to hitch to Swindon for the game – two men and two women. We tossed a coin to decide who went with whom and I went with Tish. We got to the game 20 minutes late and by then West Ham were leading 2-0 and went on to win 3-1.

For the semi-final, against Man United, I couldn’t go so Tish hitched to the game without me. I asked her to bring me back a programme which she did. She signed it ‘see you at Wembley’ and when we got back in touch with each other three years

ago, I showed it to Tish – she couldn’t believe I’d kept it for all these years. I didn’t see Tish at Wembley but West Ham did win that final against Preston North End and we were FA Cup Winners!

Tish: After University Roger and I lost

touch for a very long time but we’d both stayed in touch with Exeter friends and had some friends in common. A few years ago, after my husband Chris had died, I decided to fulfil a lifelong ambition and go to Antarctica – it was an incredible experience.

The following year there was an Exeter get-together at a friend’s house. As I left one of these friends said to me ‘Give Roger Peek a ring – he wants to see your Antarctica pics.’ I didn’t have Roger’s number but I remembered he had sent a condolence email when Chris died. So I contacted him and we arranged to meet in Winchester. I suppose the rest is history…

Roger: Tish had said if we ever get

married we should do it at Reed Hall, so of course we did. We had just 18 guests at the wedding including our children, grandchildren aged 9, 11, 12, 15 and 16 who were all bridesmaids, and six Exeter friends.

team we used to run around the netball court at Lopes Hall to stay fit!

Roger: I played football for the University but I would probably struggle to scrape into the team now as the standard is very high. St Luke’s were our rivals back in the 60s but today they’re teammates not the competition.

Tish: The halls are very different now.

When I first came back to campus about 3 years ago the living accommodation was a revelation – en suite bathrooms, and double beds! I had a tour of the Physics building – all my Physics lectures back in the 1960s had been in Washington Singer as the Physics block was built just after I left. I’m really impressed with how Exeter has developed over the years. Now research is more linked to the real world and global issues.

Roger: I’m very proud to be an Exeter

graduate and so is Tish – it means a lot to us. We are very glad to be involved in the alumni community, catching up with friends at events and supporting the University all these years after we studied at Exeter.

Tish: It was a fantastic day and wonderful to be back on campus where we had first met. The place still has a great atmosphere – the ambience hasn’t changed even though there are more buildings. It’s a fantastic campus and the sports facilities today are second to none. When I was in the netball

exeter.ac.uk/alumni

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