Drinking games, 'pulling' and premonitions of death at doomed Owens Park tower

The demolition of a landmark tower block will mark the end of an era for student life in Manchester.

Built to house over 1,000 students, Owens Park Tower in Fallowfield's days are numbered after The University of Manchester (UoM) submitted a planning application to tear down the 19-storey tower. Built in 1964, the massive halls of residence has seen countless students call it home through the years including Radiohead guitarist Ed O'Brien, the late comedian Rik Mayall and stand-up comic Jack Whitehall.

The demolition of the tower, alongside other older halls of residence Oak House and Woolton Hall, would make way for new 3,300 bedroom student accommodation with facilities for a 'drinking establishment and hot food takeaway' and staff accommodation. If work goes ahead as planned it will be completed by 2030.

Since its construction, the tower has been the focal point for the student community in Fallowfield as part of the new student village built in the mid-1960s.

Just prior to the opening of the campus, the Manchester Evening News reported on September 25, 1964: "It will be moving-in day for Manchester's first student villagers next week, when more than 700 of them go into the most ambitious student housing project in the country at Fallowfield, for the start of a new term.

"The student village – to be known as Owens Park after the founder of Manchester University John Owens – will provide a new type of student living, which is expected to be copied all over the country. It will be run like an hotel with a manager, catering officer, matron, and staff of 200 to care for the undergraduates."

But it's the tower's place at the epicentre of student life - and their shenanigans - that have helped enshrine its legendary