Our Oldest Fresher
Distinguished former High Court judge Sir Oliver Popplewell has become one of Oxford's oldest undergraduates at the age of 76.
The judge is famous for presiding over the trial in which Jonathan Aitken perjured himself and for asking what Linford Christie's lunchbox was. He is now facing the far more challenging prospect of reading PPE at Harris Manchester.
The move from the sumptuous surroundings of the Royal Courts of Justice, where he had a clerk and secretary, to a bog-standard student room and shared toilet hasn't been hard, Sir Oliver told The OxStu.
"I thought I'd like to keep my brain going," said Popplewell, who retired last August.
The PPE OAP had to have three sponsors for his degree and went through a gruelling written exam before being interviewed by three dons and the college principal.
"I don't know whether the three dons who interviewed me for PPE were more afraid of me or if I was more afraid of them."
Popplewell added: "I'm finding the course very hard work. I haven't worked so hard in years. And the students are much cleverer these days. All the dons seem very young and terribly clever too."
The alumnus of Charterhouse and Queens' College, Cambridge, who is also a former chairman of the Monopolies and Mergers Commission, has been taking an active role in student life.
At the Freshers' Fair he resisted the temptation to join the Oxford Stunt factory, opting instead for the university rugby club and the Law Society.
He said his children were "absolutely hysterical" when he was accepted, and added that he is looking forward to the challenges that lie ahead.
Photo: David Genn
30th Oct 2003