Alumni from 1958 share memories of their time at Chester

Professor Gordon and Mrs Kathy Bell viewed the important conservation work they funded to restore the College Bible to its former glory and see the 1921 etching of the College Chapel by Gordon’s former art tutor J W 'Nobby' Clarke, which they donated to the University and that now hangs in the Senior Common Room by the Chapel door. Gordon and Kathy met at a Rowing Club dance at Chester in 1958 when she was a teacher-training student at St Katherine’s College in Liverpool. As Chester was an all-male college at the time, Kathy was one of the students from all-female colleges who travelled to Chester for social occasions and the result is that Gordon and Kathy have now been married for 62 years.  

Gordon qualified as an art teacher and credits his extensive research and publications on Early British Watercolours back to Clarke's inspiration for the medium. Gordon served in a range of senior educational roles throughout his career, retaining a particular interest in art education and the MA art therapy course at Chester and donating an archive on teaching art in London in the 1960s to the University. 

 Rev Dr Gill Reeve, Dean of Chapel and Senior University Chaplain, said of the conservation of the College Bible and the donation of the etching: “At the University of Chester we are so privileged to have our beautiful Chapel, which is such a precious historic building. Chapel is also an important place of worship where generations of students and staff have gathered, and indeed continue to gather together, as a community. Our current students are fascinated to hear the story of the Chapel, and I am so grateful to Gordon and Kathy for helping us bring that history to life. The restoration of the College Bible and the etching are important reminders of our connectedness with our history and our alumni community, and I look forward to showing them to our students and staff in the months and years ahead.” 

A significant collection of early years reading materials dating back to the 1850s was the gift of Roderick and Brenda Hunt to the School of Education. Dr Roderick Hunt MBE, studied Divinity and English at Chester. Rod taught in schools at both secondary, middle and primary levels. While teaching English and RE at Matthew Arnold School, Oxford he met his wife Brenda who was Head of PE. They have been married for 58 years.  

Rod published his first educational books by Thomas Nelson in 1976. He went on to write for Oxford University Press, publishing The Oxford Junior Readers in 1976. He is the author of the Oxford Reading Tree (from1986) creating the ‘magic key’ stories with illustrator Alex Brychta to provide a fun and enjoyable way of learning how to read. Featuring Biff, Chip and Kipper, these stories have taught generations of children and the education students Rod met on this visit were no exception. The students also had the opportunity to see some of the historic teaching materials donated by Rod and Brenda. This donation to the School of Education is particularly fitting as many of these primers and early readers would have been used by teacher training students at Chester College from the mid-nineteenth century onwards. As a result, today’s students and staff will have the opportunity to study these and compare them with the abundance of resources they use today. 

David Cumberland, Dean of the School of Education, said: “It was an honour to welcome Gordon, Kathy, Rod and Brenda to the new School of Education on the Exton Park Campus and to show them the range of facilities enjoyed by today’s education students. We are especially grateful to Rod and Brenda for their kind gift of the extensive collection of early years reading materials and this will prove to be a valuable resource for the School of Education as it educates future generations.  

“It is always a pleasure to host the visits of former teacher training students, and especially those who have made such a difference to the lives of young people during their careers. This was shown by the excitement of the students who met Rod because his books had been such an important part of inspiring their own reading journeys.”