Have you ever wondered where the friendships you make at university will take you? Whether you’ll still be friends in 10 years’ time or if you’ll even stay in touch beyond graduation? Everyone says that university friendships last a lifetime, but can that really be true?

“We used to say to each other, ‘Can you imagine doing this in 10 years? We might be married. We might even have children and mortgages!’” laughs Lynnie Porter née Beer (Chemistry, 1975). “Now the kids are grown up, and we have grandchildren. But we keep coming back every year.”

We’re sitting in Hallward Café reminiscing about the annual tradition that has kept this group of friends returning to Nottingham for 50 years. We’re a small group today, but tomorrow the Millenium Gardens will play host to 22 alumni, one former member of staff, and their extended families.

The tradition began in 1974 when a group of 12 university friends drove out for a picnic in Sherwood Forest to celebrate the end of their second-year exams. Since then, the celebration has grown to include partners, children and grandchildren explains Len Steed (Law, 1975) as he rattles off a list of Nottingham venues through which they’ve rotated over the years – Wollaton Park, Colwick Country Park, Highfields Park, and finally the Millennium Gardens, which has become their more recent spiritual home. Few Nottingham venues, it seems, have been spared their chaotic games of rolling pin rounders and intergenerational football.

It’s a tradition that has allowed them to reforge lost friendships, with people who had previously gone their separate ways now returning for the annual celebrations. This year even sees one attendee making the journey from Australia. There is always a whole weekend’s worth of activities planned, but the picnic is the lynchpin that brings them all together year after year. It’s a charming legacy for chance friendships that were first forged more than 50 years ago in hall bars over shared interests such as basketball, tennis and music.

When I ask them to share their favourite memories from their time together at Nottingham, there is no shortage of responses. From Wednesday discos and parties at Lakeside Pavillion, to waiting in line for the communal telephones for a weekly phone call with parents, through to wining and dining with Swedish Grand Slam tennis superstar Björn Borg.

There is, however, one memory that stands out, and that is the now legendary inaugural concert of Paul McCartney’s Wings. “They charged 50p a ticket and all proceeds went to the SU,” says Dave Porter (Physics, 1974). “They knew six songs and they played them each three times!” he laughs as he recounts the excitement that spread around campus like wildfire when the band’s van first pulled up outside of Portland Building.

What is it that keeps them coming back year after year? “Everyone loved their three years in Nottingham, and lifelong friendships have come together as a result. We never stopped feeling like students. As soon as we set foot back on campus, it’s like we’re right back there again in the ‘70s.”

Our university has seen a lot of change since this group of friends first arrived in 1972. Back then Ancaster and Rutland were the only mixed sex halls, and pints were being poured at 14p a pop. But there’s one particular experience that any resident of University Park can relate to, whether they graduated in 1972 or 2022.

“Oh, the 3am fire drills!” Lynnie shudders as she recalls huddling together in their pyjamas in the early hours of a winter morning. Some things, it seems, never change.