Wantage Hall

*Feels nostalgic about Wantage*

I got so nostalgic (and so annoyed with the cost of the student village, and so bored of cooking) that I'll be heading back for the last year of my PhD (well, the last year of my PhD being funded...) Almost four years since I left there now... wow...

Is anyone out there going to be in Wantage Hall in the coming year? If so, congratulations, you'll be in the best Hall in Reading!!! It's the original one, built back in 1908 when Reading University was still an extension of Oxford. Go to the Reading Halls website and have a look - you'll see why I think so highly of it! It's built in the style of an Oxbridge college, with an absolutely gorgeous quad. Indeed some people know it as 'the Harry Potter' Hall for this reason! Wantage has far more formals than any other Hall, all of which include eating in the extremely atmospheric dining hall. Freshers' Dinner, Founder's Dinner, Christmas Formal, Burns' Night - the list goes on... There are also various traditions, such as Sheep Night (look it up on the site, it'll explain it better than I can!) and numerous special events organised by the JCR committee. Because it's quite a small Hall, there's a very friendly atmosphere, which is definitely a plus! (she says, stating the obvious). While I was there I felt so sorry for Wells Hall (which is next door), because though apparently everyone there gets on very well and there is good community spirit, the actual accommodation is dreadful - I've heard from a reliable source that they don't even have plaster on the walls in the bedrooms! Plus I've heard their food is dreadful. Though I suppose the food at Wantage is nothing to shout about either, except at formals... In one sentence, I think Wantage is the best Hall because it combines the community spirit of the other Halls with the sense of history, tradition and 'atmosphere' which adds such a spice to the experience of living in Hall.

Some people might accuse it of being pretentious, but it isn't. How can it be, when at the time it was built it was part of Oxford University???

Anyway, I hope I've shown my love of the place sufficiently - sorry for the rant!

xx

P.S. If anyone starting at Reading this academic year would like to ask anything, go ahead, I'll be willing to answer! I finished my first year there in July. Though I have been transferred to Royal Holloway because of the Music Department at Reading being closed down (which didn't deserve to be closed down, but don't get me started on that!), this still means I've had a year's experience of life at Reading.

Seconded - hope it still is the best hall - I left a few years ago, but I was resident there for every year of my degree, being on the JCR as Library and Computer Room Rep. in my second year - hope computer room's been upgraded and is still 24 hour access - that was me that got that going. Anyway, say hello to Dr MacD from me. Hope the library still has all the back issues of Libel! and you'll probably find me in most of the 1998-2001 editions - I was the only Marcus in Hall.

P.S. Is there a CJ O'Hagan or a Big Gay Ed still there?

Marcus

I'm not at Reading any more (see the end of my first post on this thread for the reason why), but when I was there, the computer room was still 24/7 - very handy for last-minute essay crises, I must say! I don't recognise the names of those people you mentioned, sadly. Was there a Matt Weller in Wantage at all when you were there? He was the head of the JCR when I was there, and went on to be President of the Students' Union the year after (ie., the year we've just had).

Well, it's good to see my legacy lingers on . It was certainly worth being the night keyholder to be able to get into that room at all times, the only downside being that there weren't enough computers at the ends of term. Luckily I had my laptop for the second/third years. I'm down in Reading occasionally as my girlfriend is studying for a PhD there at the moment, but haven't been back to Wantage really. Sounds really bad with the Halls review, even though I don't understand totally what's going on. Don't know Matt Weller I'm afraid. Here's another question - Is the bread roll still stuck on top of the beam above high table, and do you know the story behind that?

Marcus

When I was there you didn't need a special night key to get into the computer room at all times - your normal computer room key sufficed for that, even if it was 3:00 am! I've been back to visit Reading a couple of times since I left, visiting friends. The second time I went I visited the Music Department to say hello (it's closing at the end of this academic year - what do you think about that by the way?) and I also popped my head round the main door in Wantage. It made me feel so nostalgic!

I'm not sure if I ever noticed a bread roll stuck above high table, though I might have done but forgotten about it! Do tell me - what's the story behind it??

Some questions for you - did you have a Sheep Night at all when you were there?(I gather it doesn't happen every year). The one while I was there was particularly lavish, with live sheep and even a few live chickens! Were you the year too early to be at Wantage for the 90th anniversary, and the special Founder's Dinner in honour of it? I was there for the 95th - the Warden made a big thing of it (he could see the effects of the Hall Review coming up I daresay) and we had a commerative parchment, which I signed. It hadn't gone up on the wall with the rest of the parchments by the time I left, though, sadly. Did you hear the story about our Founder's Dinner that year??

By the way, I thought you might like to know, RUSU has an online forum nowadays which is pretty good - anyone can join, as you don't have to be a member of the university (though obviously most people are either current students or graduates). There's info about the Halls Review there. I post occasionally - my username is lmu03kew.

LOL - No, I had a special key that enabled and reset the alarm from the little black box on the right hand side. Occasionally went off at night when the porter wasn't around, so I had to come and switch it off instead.

As for the bread roll, this was thrown up there by the warden, when pigeons came into the dining room and he was trying to shoo them out. Eventually they were got rid of by water pistols, but made a hell of a mess in the dining room. It was still there when I left, so I imagine it must have been fairly stale. But then I guess the standard Wantage bread roll was fairly stale anyway. Do you remember Doreen?

I do remember the Sheep nights very well, but don't remember any chickens. I had an old court quad room in my 3rd year, and remember getting woken up by all the baa-ing. Made a difference to Japanese pop music from the two foreign students who I shared my block (R) with though.

The 90th founders dinner was in the year I started there, I got a guaranteed ticket since I didn't go to the fresher's dinner. I had to wear an academic gown, and as I had just come back from my Chemistry labs, I was fairly late when they were being assigned, and I got one that had a 42" waist on it, the last one. I signed the parchment which took about a year to go up on the wall. I think I signed two sheets, there was one for the 90th founders, and another one which I think was 60th Burns dinner or something. What happened at your founders? I thought there was only a parchment every ten years?

Thanks for the info on the RUSU forum, I'll check it out.

By the way, what room did you have in New Court? Being on the JCR, I was given (and still have) lists of who was in which room when, and some of them had interesting personalities!

Marcus

I was in room 231, in the corridor directly beneath the Penthouse. Yep there were a fair few personalities - Wantage certainly seemed to have more than its fair share! Funnily enough, in my year there were loads of Toms - in fact we had to give them nicknames to tell them apart in conversation, there were so many ('Yorkshire Tom', 'Sideburns/American Football Tom' etc...). Did any names crop up particularly like that while you were there?

Hehe, yes how could I forget Doreen? I'll never forget the sight of her walking into the dining hall at the Burns' Supper, bearing the haggis (which had two pheasant's tail feathers stuck in it for some reason!) and preceded by the bagpipes player. I think the year I was there was her last year there, though. To be honest I thought the Wantage food was ok, though some people disagreed with me. From what I heard about food in other halls, I think we had it lucky!

How come you had to wear an academic gown at Founder's? When I was there I think only some of the people at high table wore them. I feel rather jealous actually, as I would have loved to wear academic dress at a formal! The bread roll incident sounds amusing, by the way! At my Founder's Dinner the Warden forgot to propose the loyal toast, leading out the guests at the high table (which included the VC) as though nothing was wrong - you can imagine how disconcerted we all felt, particularly those who had been looking forward to smoking...the next day some rather amusing posters from the Warden appeared, saying that as a result of him forgetting the toast, from then on a student would be nominated at each formal to do it instead. So a new tradition was started from then on.

You're right that the commerative parchment is usually only every ten years; but the Warden decided to have one for the 95th anniversary because of the looming Hall Review - he could see that it would result in far-reaching changes, which will possibly result in there not being a 100th anniversary Founder's.

Did you have May Day singing from the top of the clock tower, or was that tradition started only after you left?

Now that is really really freaky. I was in room 231 for one of the years I was there! I also had room 232 for my other year - didn't go into old court as it was too pricey at the time, but noisy freshers in the second year made me decide against it for my third year, and I could afford it a bit more, so I went into R1 and got noisy japanese instead. I forget now, but I think 231 is the one that faces out onto Wells hall, but you can't see much of it for the trees. If it's the same one, were there still fluorescent stars stuck to the ceiling?

Personalities yes, we had plenty of those, just look through back issues of libel. Being the librarian, I had someone host them online, but I'm not sure if they're still available. Will check that and see if I can come up with a link for later. If not, I still have the original paper copies and 'll read them to refresh my memory and post back. Some of the notable ones were a T. Dalton, and Roger Moore (also of 231 when I was in 232) The James Bond link is obvious. Then there's Big Gay Ed, who'd been at Wantage for ages, and CJ, who wanted to rule the world, if not Reading University. She was still there when I left, don't know if she made RUSU President or not. Oh yeah, and Corey, the American who dressed up in drag for Halloween, and actually fooled the warden into thinking he was a woman. Our corridoor was very lively and I got on well with everyone there in my first year, but not so well with those in my second year, as they didn't respect my right to sleep after 2 am.

Doreen was quite a character, I'll admit. But the head chef carried the haggis at the Burns Supper that I remember, and the piper hit me in the head with the pipes as he walked around, which drew quite a laugh, as it almost knocked me off the end of the bench.

In the first year at Wantage, the food was generally good, getting worse in 2nd and 3rd years after the first few months as I imagine they ran out of budget. But friday's fish was always good. Shame I was nearly always late for it since Fridays was my lab day.

I think the only reason we had to wear the gown was because it was a massive occasion, we had all the really important uni people there. I actually got to sit on high table for a formal once, as I was on the JCR. Unfortunately I had to sit in front of the warden with my back to the hall and attempt intelligent conversation with his wife who was sat next to me. But we all had some nice drinks in the Warden's private area, which is where the door behind high table goes. I can't believe he missed the Toast either.

Yeah, we had the Madrigals from the clock tower - I've actually been up there too, but not to sing - when I was there, even though I only made it to two of them, the general turnout to see it was quite disappointing. But then, they were held at the crack of dawn, which is far too early for most students.

It's a real shame I think that there won't be a 100th Founders dinner. I think that I still miss Wantage, and I met my long term girlfriend there at the end of the second year, even though eventually she went off with someone else last year, I think as the distance was too great, I'm from Newark, and she's from Sussex.

Marcus

Wow, that's such a coincidence!!! Imagine that - you were in my room before me! You're right, it was one that looked out across to Wells Hall, though trees got in the way when they were in leaf. I used to imagine sometimes about the people who had lived in my room previously, wondering what they were like and so on. Yep, the glow-in-the-dark stars were on the ceiling, which made nice viewing once I'd turned the lights off. Funnily enough, once I happened to take the drawers out of my desk (to look for something that I thought had fallen down behind them), and found quite a lot of stuff that must have belonged to previous occupants, including a letter and a calculator. I didn't steal any of it though - I just put it back. Was the calculator yours by any chance??

We didn't technically have a Libel our year, as the Libel editors were too lazy and didn't get round to it in time - we did have some kind of (rather hurriedly put together) magazine instead though, which made up for it. To be honest, neither I nor most of my friends appeared in it, as it was a different 'set' of people who produced it. So a few Wantage personalities weren't really in it, though obviously plenty were in it too, of course.

The turn-out at our May-Day songs from the clock tower was rather sparse too, as it was too early for most people. I didn't actually sing myself, but I made sure to be in the audience. The standard was pretty good, with the songs sung in full harmony, though some were possibly a little bottom-heavy (not enough people on the top line). I was glad I managed to wake up in time not to miss it, though.

Did you attend the Wantage Concert in the Quad when you were there? I performed at the one my year. I performed one of the pieces I did for my recital, from memory, but sadly it didn't go quite as well as the recital did. First of all it turned out that the first person on was ill, so I had to unexpectedly start the whole concert off. Then after the first few bars I was forced to stop and start again, because I could literally barely hear the piano, what with it being outside and so on (and apparently she couldn't hear me very well either). Once I'd got going, thoguh, it went ok. Did you know Chris Smith, a euphonium player doing a performance Master's, at all? He was a great personality, and I think he was in Wantage at some point, though I'm not entirely sure. He did a fantastic solo later on in the concert, gobsmacking in its virtuosity in my opinion.

Our Sheep Night was on literally the last day of the summer term. We all woke up to find live sheep penned up, a chicken coop with live chickens in it, a miniature badminton net set up, a little sandpit and possibly some skittles (I can't quite remember) - all squeezed onto the lawn in the Quad. The Sheep council must have surpassed itself that year!

Aaah, the memories...

I used to think of the people who used to be in my room before me too, especially since the New Court goes back to the 70's. It was a big deal for some people, worried about what freaks might have been in their room before them, but not so much for me other than a casual interest. There were all the obvious jokes about it in Libel too, what a shame that doesn't seem to have been carried on. Libel was a big deal for people when I was there, and there was quite a lot of competition to be the editors and lots and lots of worthy material submitted.

By the way, I don't remember losing anything in that room, but it may have been the Roger's. I didn't find anything in the room when I was there either, so it may well have been from someone afterwards. I think I still have my calculator anyway - TI-80X it was!

Glad to hear you enjoyed the madrigals, definitely worth getting up for! Only went to one concert in the quad - other time I was busy at lectures or working. I had 25 hours of lectures/labs per week! Other times we got to go on the quad was when the warden got out the croquet set and let us play - only the players were allowed, and it used to be only on Sundays, but soon changed to whenever we had access to the croquet set

Last night I dug out some of my uni photos, found one of sheep night, just a rather boring picture of some sheep in a pen in the quad really, but I also found the professionally taken pictures from my 90th Founders. I've put it up online, not best quality or you'd be waiting ages to download it, but you can see the academic gear we have on. See if you can guess which one is me? I also found my old hall card for 1999/2000 - bit dialapidated as I washed it once. Was still good enough for Doreen, surprisingly enough.

The link for the Founders pictures is http://homepage.ntlworld.com/marcusfox/images/lowresfounders.jpg

Marcus

Don't worry, I think Libel is still generally a big thing - our year was just the exception to the rule, that's all.

I'd forgotten about croquet on the Quad lawn! I never actually got to do it myself, but a fair few others did. It all added to the summery atmosphere, hearing the sounds of ball hitting wood, and all that. I only had about 4-5 hours of contact time a week (doing Music and History), so it sounds like I had more leisure time than you, except when the deadlines were looming of course! (And reading for lectures/seminars, ahem... ) When it was that time of term again I would practically live in the computer room, working flat out on essays.

The photo looks good! I'll have to have a think about which is you! Are you the second chap from the left in the top photo? For some reason he seems to look like a Marcus...

Nope. I don't even remember that guy's name, lol. In fact, I haven't spoken to anyone from my first year at Wantage since I left in 2001. Couple of people from my course and the odd text message, but that's it. Think it's sad that I didn't manage to keep in touch.

Remember I said the academic gown is way too big, try again... But I've changed a lot since then. Do you have a pic?

I used to live in the computer room too. But doing chemistry, I didn't have to write essays and stuff - I was mainly there for the e-mail and internet, which was difficult at busy times, as there were always people waiting for work. But when the computer room went 24 hours...

Marcus