Five things to do during your next Ripon reunion

Reunions are an important part of remembering our past: the good times had whilst studying, the friends you made for life and the memories you made all those years ago. We might not have a Ripon campus anymore, but that doesn’t mean the experiences our alumni had there are less important!

We know that our alumni either attend reunions frequently, or make once in a lifetime trips back to see their old haunts. So, next time you’re in Ripon, here are five ideas for what to add to your reunion itinerary!

1. Visit the old campus buildings

Now people’s homes, you can still walk around the grounds of what used to be the Ripon campus. This is a great way to see how the space has been repurposed. What once was once a place of education is now a place for families of all sizes. Thankfully, the grounds are still open access, so there’s no reason you can’t stop for a quick picnic!

Most of the main buildings are still intact from the outside. This makes them the perfect space for a group photo of your reunion group! Just remember to be respectful, you wouldn’t want a parade of strangers posing outside your home for hours!

2. Learn more about Ripon’s history

Ripon has a few fantastic museums and local sites that can help you discover more about the history of Ripon. If you want to show younger family members more about where you studied, visiting one of these museums is sure to keep them entertained.

Ripon’s Workhouse Museum, Courthouse Museum and Prison and Police Museum are all places you probably walked past as a student, so this is also a great way of seeing how Ripon’s changed since you were there.

3. Relive your student days at local hospitality venues

When you studied in Ripon, you probably had a few favourite places. This could be:

• a particular pub for its atmosphere and low prices
• your favourite takeaway for it’s hangover-stopping chips
• the place you went with your family when they were paying

No matter where you loved as a student, food and drink were a big part of your experience!

Your favourite pub might have changed and prices have probably increased, but reunions are a great time to make new memories. Your favourite takeaway might just be a fond memory, but that doesn’t mean food and drink shouldn’t be a part of your reunion!

The Yorkshire Press recently listed the best five places to eat in Ripon if you’re stuck for ideas! Visit Harrogate also has their own list of places to eat and drink if you’re looking for inspiration. TripAdvisor is also a useful tool for seeing how people rate Ripon’s local cuisine.

If there’s a large group of you for your reunion, we’d recommend you book a table, or at least give where you’re visiting a call to give them notice of a reunion group popping by!

4. Take a trip down memory lane

Including ancient burial sites, a ghost walk is great way to make some new Ripon memories if your reunion group is brave enough! Although Ripon isn’t as haunted as York, it still has its fair share of grisly stories, terrible happenings and spooky circumstances to fill a ghost tour. Run by the Ripon Museums group, you know you’ll learn some serious history too. Lasting around one and a half hours, the tour ends with you watching the Ripon Hornblower at 9pm, a perfect trip down memory lane!

If this sounds like your idea of a fun reunion activity, private bookings are available for groups over 10. Find out more on their website.

5. Visit Ripon Cathedral

Free to enter, our Ripon alumni have a long history with the cathedral. Did you know that one of Ripon College’s earliest principals was made a Canon of Ripon Cathedral? Ripon’s first students also worshiped there weekly until their own chapel was built, and later generations of students celebrated important milestones, memories, and people with services in the cathedral too. We even held some of our graduation ceremonies there before the closure of the Ripon campus, so it’s well worth a revisit to see what has, and hasn’t, changed.

Plus as one of the oldest churches in the country, there’s a lot of history to absorb and enjoy. It’ll also be a good place to escape the wind and rain in winter, or the summer sun in warmer weather!

Find out more about Ripon Cathedral on their website.

+1 Tell us your plans

It’s a bit harder to learn about Ripon reunions organically because we don’t have a campus presence in Ripon! Too often we’re contacted asking if we know anything about a reunion in Ripon, and we have no details to share with our alumni.

But we’d love to hear about your plans and even include them in our Ripon newsletter, so we can share them within our Ripon alumni community. You can tell us about a recent reunion, or about an upcoming one, by emailing alumni@yorksj.ac.uk .