1994 : A Year to Remember

I recently found some boxes of old photos and am going through and digitizing them before I lose them. Here are some of the memories that came out of the box for 1994.

This was a year of change. It started on a low note in January when I got a concussion, a cracking black eye and a broken jaw after being kicked and stamped on during a rugby match - eating was not fun for a while. Then in March the Wales rugby team (inspired by Ieuan Evans and Scott Quinnell) confounded the pundits to win the 5 Nations championship playing exciting running rugby. The night they beat France we had one of our most memorable nights out (and one of the last before finals) and did the "Mumbles Mile" (a pint in every pub along the seafront in Mumbles - there are a lot of pubs in Mumbles). Everywhere we went that night was crowded with happy people in party mood. In a rugby mad Country like Wales it's amazing what a good performance by the National rugby side can do for morale. It turned out to be a false dawn as Wales lost every one of their matches the next year, but it was good while it lasted.

One of my best memories of university days was going to Ellingtons jazz club on Thursday nights to see Mike Harries Root Doctors - a New Orleans influenced jazz group from Cardiff. Maybe this is where my love of jazz comes from. It was a small place with a great atmosphere - most of the lighting provided by wax candles in empty spirits bottles - and it served the best dark beer in Swansea. Ellingtons is long gone now, but Mike Harries and his band are still going strong. I have several of their albums and still listen to them.

Finals took place in May, and in July after 3 years of hard partying (and some studying) I graduated from university and moved away from Wales for the first time. In September I started working for a company based in Worcester in the English midlands.


Preparing to watch the San Marino Grand Prix with Twm, Dan and Nudd in the student village at Hendrefoilan. It was to be a tragic afternoon as Formula 1 racing legend Ayrton Senna was killed after crashing into a concrete wall at 190mph early in the race. He was the second fatality of a tragic weekend at Imola that had already seen Roland Ratzenberger killed during practice.


The end of an era - finals are over and we finally have a chance to celebrate the end of our university days. Good chinese food, plenty of beer and good friends on our last night together before going our separate ways.


Dressed up like Batman on graduation day with my dad.


Dada dada dada dada Batman!!!! Again. With my mum.