We're off to the seaside - even if it is raining heavily and a day for overcoats.

The weather didn't stop this group of Oxford people heading by coach for their annual outing to Southsea.

The picture was taken in August 1962, outside Brasenose College.

The party consisted of college servants and their families. The outing was supported by a grant from the college and contributions from undergraduates.

The servants, or college scouts, were part of a long tradition at Oxford colleges. The workers, almost exclusively men, looked after students.

Their numerous duties included cleaning rooms, making beds, tidying up, running baths, lighting coal fires and serving meals.

At one time, undergraduates dressed for dinner and the scouts serving at High Table would receive an allowance for the dress clothes they wore every night - collar and stiff shirt, bow tie and tail coat.

Many scouts became father figures to their students, some of whom were away from home for the first time.

It was said that some students respected their scouts more than the dons, and remembered them long after they had forgotten what they had learned in their studies.

The hours were often long. Scouts would serve breakfast and clear up afterwards as the undergraduates went to their lectures.

By 12.15pm, they would be back to prepare and serve lunch. After tea, the curtains were drawn, the fire built up to a fierce heat, and it was time for the young gentleman's bath. Later came dinner and often a round of supper parties to end the day.

The servants were well paid and were often able to enhance their income with tips.

Even when the Morris Motors' car factory at Cowley became the benchmark for local wages, the job of a college scout was much sought after. Generations of some families worked in the colleges.

The servants had their own club in Iffley Road. It organised outings and parties and also figured prominently in sport, running high-standard rowing, cricket and bowls teams.

But after the Second World War, colleges found it increasingly difficult to compete with industry and recruit staff.

Writing in Cherwell, the Oxford student newspaper, in 1956, one graduate complained that his old scout had become a bus conductor.

He predicted that soon women "will be doing most of the work and the few male scouts that remain will act mainly as supervisors.

"This is a deplorable situation. Oxford is renowned for clinging to its traditions".

Any memories of the Oxford college scouts? And do you recognise anyone in the picture?