Bullseye Jim’s college memories

Jun 27 2008 by David Holmes, Chester Chronicle

When studying to become a teacher in Chester in the 1950s, Jim Bowen (right) could never have dreamed of the cult status he would go on to enjoy in showbusiness. He spoke to RICHARD AULT about life in Chester before ITV’s game-show Bullseye turned him into a household name

IT’S a little known fact that before he became a TV presenter, Jim Bowen was a teacher who trained at what was then called Chester College but is today known as the University of Chester.

There were few signs of what lay ahead for Jim during his time in the cathedral city in the late 1950s.

He could certainly never have guessed that one day contemporary students would lovingly recite the catch-phrase he made famous on Bullseye: “Super, smashing, great”.

It was after completing National Service that Jim decided to pursue a career in teaching. The first year he spent in Halls of Residence on campus in Astbury House and he recalls a time when students all sat together at meal times on long tables.

He said: “I look back at my time at Chester with affection. I had a fair time there but scrambled through really. The college had a really good reputation. Chester and York St Johns were like the Oxford and Cambridge of teaching institutions back then.”

Jim moved out of halls and into digs in Chester for his second year and was also one of only three students in his year to own a car.

He recalled: “I got my first car at the end of my first year in 1958, it was a Ford Prefect.

“The principal at the time wouldn’t let me park it on the bottom of the field on campus. I wasn’t happy with that! I spent my second year in digs in the city centre.”

Jim started a jazz band during his time at college. The College Allstars played regular gigs in the bars of the city centre.

After completing his studies, Jim became a PE teacher in Lancashire. The post-war baby boom meant a surge in pupil numbers and jobs aplenty for budding teachers. Within a year he was head of PE at Caton Primary School in Lancashire, and subsequently he became deputy head of the school.

But his first real steps into showbusiness came a few years later.

He continued: “In 1969 I started doing some stand-up in local clubs to get a few quid. I could earn £5 a night compared to £12 a week teaching. By 1972 I could get up to £25 a night, which was crazy.

“I told the school, ‘I’m going to have to have a go at this’. I was glad to see the back of it. You’ve got to be dedicated to be a teacher now. I got out of it before it got to the stage where kids were nailing the teachers to the desk!”

Now aged 70, Jim’s popularity remains enduring with old and young alike.

An Audience with Jim Bowen is a hit at students’ union bars up and down the country, he has appeared on BBC’s The Weakest Link: Celebrity Edition four times and joined good friend Peter Kay for a memorable episode of Phoenix Nights.

But he is generally taking things easier these days and spending more time at home with his wife.

Jim explained: “I’m in a fortunate position where I don’t need to go out and work to get money. It’s not the money I need now, it’s time.”