Alumni Reunion Weekend
Saturday 3 October 2009


Programme

Saturday's programme will focus on Queen Mary, University of London's main campus at Mile End. Click here to download a programme [PDF 340KB].

Please note that all activities for the day will be based in and around Mile End. Click here for full information about travel to the Mile End campus.

Advance booking is essential for all paid events
.

10.15am (departure at 10.30am) Coach tour of the 2012 Olympic site at Stratford: 'View the Sporting Vision'

Please note that this tour is now fully booked
This coach tour with Blue Badge Guide Rachel Kolsky and a second guide, will transport you to the area of Stratford where the disused rail depot of Stratford is being transformed into the Olympic Park, home of the showcase Olympic Stadium, Aquatics Centre and Olympic Village. You will hear how the building project is progressing and background to the remediation and legacy for the area.

Stratford has its own rich and diverse history which will also be showcased as you travel to the Royal Docks where you  will see the Excel Centre and a view of the O2, both venues for 2012 sports. On the way back to Queen Mary's Mile End campus, you will have the chance to hear how different the plans were for London's previous Olympics in 1908 and 1948.

Please convene at The Curve for 10.15. We will depart by coach at 10.30am promptly for our tour. You will be brought back to the Mile End campus by coach in time for lunch.

The Curve is located on the ground floor of Richard Feilden House, part of the Westfield Student Village. You can access the Westfield Student Village via the East Gate on Westfield Way which comes off of the Mile End Road and runs along side the Regent's Canal..

Refreshments will be available to purchase from 9.30am in The Curve.

or

10.00am (departure at 10.15am) 'Food and Fire': A walk around the East India Company

Please note that this walk is now fully booked
Led by a Blue Badge Guide, Reginald Denny, this walking tour will start and finish at Aldgate East tube station. Please meet outside the Whitechapel Art Gallery by Aldgate East tube station.

This tour will explore numerous aspects of the rich history of this part of London, covering comestibles, religious establishments, shipping companies and overseas trade. The site of the original premises of a famous London grocer will also be revealed.

Aldgate East tube station is on the Hammersmith and City and District lines. Please take the exit for the Whitechapel Art Gallery.

For those coming to Queen Mary for lunch and the afternoon's programme of activities, you can either take the tube from Aldgate East to Stepney Green (turn left out of the station and keep walking until you reach the Queens' Building), or you can take a short bus ride on the number 25 or 205 buses (alight at Queen Mary, University of London).


12.30pm Welcome Drinks
Held in the foyer of the Octagon in the Queens’ Building.

The Queens’ Building is located opposite the Clock Tower on the Mile End Road. Please access the Queens’ Building via the main entrance at the front of the building.


1pm Lunch
Hosted by Professor Simon Gaskell, Principal of Queen Mary, University of London, a three-course lunch will be served in the splendid setting of the restored Octagon.

Over lunch you will be able to hear and overview of developments at the College by Senior Vice-Principal, Professor Philip Ogden.

Designed by the Victorian architect E R Robson and inspired by the Reading Room at the British Museum, the Octagon was originally the library of the People's Palace, a complex which was built at the end of the nineteenth century to bring education and entertainment to the impoverished people of East End London.

In 1921, the Library was taken over by the East London College as a library for students and venue for exams and graduations. In 2006, the Octagon underwent an extensive restoration programme which has returned it to its previous grandeur.

Access to the Octagon will be via the main entrance to the Queens’ Building (opposite the Clock Tower) on the Mile End Road.

£25 per person; if you have not already done so please inform us in advance if you would like to be seated with your contemporaries and advise us of any dietary requirements. Click here for information on how to book.


3pm Campus and Departmental Tours
Tours will run from the Octagon following lunch; these will be led by Student Ambassadors and members of staff.

If you have not booked for lunch but would like to join a campus or departmental tour, please arrive at the Octagon at 2.45pm.

See all the new developments on Queen Mary's Mile End campus, including the Westfield Student Village and the newly refurbished Students' Union complex, including Qmotion, our brand new Health and Fitness Centre.

Departmental tours will run in parallel to campus tours. Please note that these are subject to availability and demand.


3.30pm Kirkaldy Society AGM
The Annual General Meeting of the Kirkaldy Society will be held in the Robert Tong Room (E113), on the first floor of the Queens' Building.

The Kirkaldy Society is named after Professor J F Kirkaldy, former Head of the Department of Geology at QMC from 1947-74. The Society is open to former staff and students of Geology at Queen Mary, including all those who followed Special Honours, General Honours and Ancillary courses. New members are welcome to join. Please contact alumni@qmul.ac.uk for more information.


4.30pm Afternoon Tea
Enjoy tea, coffee and cake in The Curve, on the ground floor of Richard Feilden House, part of the Westfield Student Village.


5.15pm Alumni Lecture: All about Almodóvar
With Peter Evans, Professor of Film at Queen Mary, University of London.

This lecture takes a look at the critically acclaimed Spanish film director Pedro Almodóvar whose latest film Broken Embraces, starring Penelope Cruz, is currently on general release.

This lecture will be held in the Clinical Lecture Theatre, in the Francis Bancroft Building, on Queen Mary's Mile End campus.


6pm (approx) Close