Into the Boarchive – Volume 48, Issue III

This section – looking back at stories from The Boar’s archive – originally appeared in Volume 48, Issue III of The Boar, published on Monday 8 December, 2025.

1967: Snowed out of beer

This edition marks a first for the Boarchive, as we travel far back to the late ‘60s when this paper was rather inspiringly known as Campus – still, not as far back as its Giblet days. Six years before The Warwick Boar re-christened Warwick student journalism, our News progenitors reported a notably seasonal campus crisis, one of meteorological nature.  

In mid-December, heavy snowfall rendered numerous campus sites inaccessible, with the uncleared build-up around the Library stairs concerningly branded an “almost lethal hazard”. Several students pledged to mobilise into a snow-clearing taskforce should the problems drag on for much longer. 

As students were relieved of lectures, a solitary ice cream van lodged in the snow outside of Rootes Hall continued its service for a mighty line of shivering students. Nothing like a Mr Whippy to cool you down in winter, eh? I’m just as confused as you are.  

Students meanwhile debated the best way to clear the “lethal” blanket covering campus, touting such whacky ideas as building a snowman to encase the Union President and staging a snowball fight between two of the University’s departments.  

After being challenged to a frosty duel by the 120-strong Econ department, Politics allegedly chickened out. ‘Twas a good move, perhaps, as there’s no telling how lethal the result may have been. 

Nothing was as calamitous, however, as the beer lorry failing to access campus, resulting in an extremely unstocked bar for some time. In blatant disregard of student needs, the snowplough was elsewhere engaged clearing a car park. Thankfully, though, snow does melt eventually, and the precipitation-enforced sobriety didn’t last forever. 

1995: A first class ball? 

Imagine the scene. A slightly exhausted News Editor, thanks to deadlines and articles piling up, finding a quiet space to eat lunch after a shift on The Boar’s stand at the Alumni 60th Anniversary Fair. A former Boar reporter approaches: “Do you know if I can get to the Airport Lounge that way?”. Of course, my response was no – thinking I had suddenly, somehow in my tiredness, been transported to BHX.

The Airport Lounge, it seems, however, was not the type that regular flyers frequent, glass of champagne in hand. It was instead a student bar à la T-Bar or Dirty Duck today. Three decades ago this week, it played host to the pre-drinks for the Pooh Bear Christmas Ball. How festive.

“One of the most popular events of the year” at Warwick, hosted at the Chesford Grange Hotel (now known as the first stop after the bypass on the U1), the ball raised £4,000 for charity and saw students lean into the festivities before heading home for the winter break. Jazz and dinner, both of which were complimented by The Boar’s Chris Clayton, entertained guests… perhaps a bit too much. One student commented: “This is the best night I’ve had all term. Of course, I may not remember that tomorrow”. 

It was unsurprising that the ball was the source of entertainment for the ‘90s students though. Protests and higher education funding debates, which splashed across that edition of The Boar’s front pages, were hardly set to stir up any pre-Christmas excitement.