The academic session of 1967/68 was a year of major social change. In 1967, well-publicized student demonstrations during San Francisco’s ‘Summer of Love’ signalled a shift in social mores which reverberated across the world. France underwent a period of volatile social change and almost came to a standstill during the May 1968 student riots. Stephen Williams (BA Hons Geography and History) came up to Hull in 1966 and in this piece he reflects on the changes and the events that occurred during this tumultuous time, including Hull’s own student demonstrations and the change in social mood they introduced.
2016 will be the 50th anniversary of going up to Hull University, although I have to admit it does not feel anything like that time span. In many ways my memories are still very vivid of a wonderful three years. Yet on further reflection one is left with the feeling of an entirely different student life from that, for example, more recently experienced by my son. One also realises that some of the most significant seeds of this change were sown during the late 1960’s. Let me try and illustrate what I imagine are some of the main differences, by reflecting on how things were at that time.
To put things in context, in the mid 1960’s about 50,000 students were awarded University places annually, as compared to over ten times that number, currently. These figures clearly had a significant impact on the realities of student life in the 1960’s especially as the ratio of academic staff to students was far more generous. This enabled weekly tutorials and one to one discussions with tutors, as well as the normal lectures, for which one had to wear an academic gown. This rather quaint practice was stopped during my second year but I still possess the said black gown for posterity’s sake. In comparison my son’s experience was of far fewer contact hours with his lecturers. In the 1960’s at Hull one regularly ‘sat at the feet’ and appreciated the intellect of such revered legends as Prof John Kenyon in History and Prof Jay Appleton in Geography. The former exhaled pipe tobacco through his nostrils whilst conducting tutorials (it was an era when smoking was not frowned upon), and woe betide you if you didn’t have a thick skin. The latter, who was also my personal tutor was a wonderfully wise and kind man, whom I had the pleasure of subsequently meeting on several occasions before his death earlier this year, at the age of 95.
Student accommodation was also a far simpler issue given the lower numbers. Most first-year students were offered places at one of the four traditional halls of residence, located in Cottingham. These were Needler and Ferens for the males and Thwaite and Cleminson for the females. There was supposed to be strict curfew hours when visitors were not allowed to venture into these single sex establishments and rumours that the female warden at Cleminson used Alsatian dogs in the grounds at night to discourage male intruders were not put to the test by many. The Lawns site was just being constructed and the non-traditional halls such as Morgan, Lambert and Grant only became available in the late 1960’s and then on a strictly single sex basis.
In traditional Halls there were ‘bedders’ who made ones bed and cleaned ones room on a daily basis. In addition meals were provided: breakfast and evening meal during the week and three meals at weekend. The evening meal was a formal affair, requiring a jacket and tie and the whole assembly stood up when the Warden and his entourage entered. The first course was always soup served at each table from a huge silver cauldron; then there was a main course served with ample tureens of vegetables, a dessert and finally cheese. The proceedings were started with a rushed grace of two words – ‘Benedictus, Benedicat’ which was the cue for the waitresses to fly out of the kitchen ‘en masse’ like a football team running onto the pitch, under the watchful eye of the Domestic Bursar.
I spent all my three years in Needler Hall and was elected President of the JCR (Junior Common Room) for the third year which gave me the ‘privilege’ of attending the SCR (Senior Common Room) for a glass of sherry prior to each evening meal. To be fair the academic staff residing at Needler were an excellent group and included Bob Chester,(The Warden) and also Don Kendrick, Chris Walker and Fred Burton, amongst others. The Hall had a wonderfully varied social life with its own music room (donated by the Needler family who owned the local sweet factory), a library, a large games room for table tennis and table football, two outdoor tennis courts and the JCR itself with a TV and plenty of reading material. The Hall also had its own football team which during this era reached the final of a local Cup competition against a team from the Fish Docks. We were unbeaten all year but made the fatal mistake of meeting up for a tactical talk the night before the match, in the rooms of one of the tutors, the aforementioned Fred Burton, who played for the team. He had had a recent delivery of his annual wine order and the next day several of the team, including our star player were ‘hors de combat’ and we lost 1-0 and poor Fred also had to re-order.
Other events at Needler included an annual film festival and twice yearly dances with live music. We were particularly fortunate in this respect, as on our JCR committee we had a certain Ed Bicknell, as Social Secretary. Ed, who went onto mange Dire Straits, had an incredible knowledge of pop music and was able to identify little known artistes who were on the ‘up’ and also secure their services for a relative pittance. One such was the Jethro Tull group and another, Ralph McTell. He used to do the same for the University Union and it was the era when the best known groups played at university campuses on a Saturday night and such as The Who, Manfred Mann, The Moody Blues and many more come to mind.
One other notable event for each traditional Hall was the annual Rag Day procession. For weeks prior to this, students would sell the Rag Mags, (a collection of tame, smutty jokes) to the general public and the Hall who sold the most, was rewarded with a barrel or two of beer. It was a major strategic exercise to ensure victory was achieved at the expense, particularly of arch rivals, Ferens Hall. In addition each Hall constructed a rag float, many of which were of quite complex design and these were paraded from the University right through the middle of Hull City Centre and back. I still have a cine-film of the proceedings and very ancient it looks.
In those days ‘Town and Gown’ relationships were strong and friendly, although events in the late 1960’s were to change this relationship forever. In the early to mid -1960’s students at Hull were regarded as a little wild and eccentric but relatively harmless and probably good for the country. As such great tolerance was shown by the public and the authorities and for example the policeman at the Haworth Arms’ corner, who directed the traffic on Rag Procession Day, took his flour bombing with good humour. Then there was the Student Demonstrations of 1967 which changed everything.
At the time, the demonstration did not seem at all significant. A few hundred students occupied the Administration building and the vast majority who were not involved could not understand what the demonstration was all about. In truth it seemed that most of the demonstrators were not sure either and it appeared they were demonstrating because they wanted to demonstrate about something, in line with a trend that had started a few years before in American universities. Supposedly the reason was to gain representation on University bodies but in all truth very few students were really concerned with this issue. However the reaction from the University, from the Press and from the general public was immense and the image of the student, nose-dived literally overnight. Added to this were exaggerated stories about drug taking and so any student flour bombing the policeman at Haworth Arms corner the next year would have been arrested on the spot, such was the transition. This was a great pity for there was something very special about Hull and how the then University Librarian, Philip Larkin so wonderfully and aptly described it as:
“I never thought about Hull until I was here. Having got here, it suits me in many ways. It is a little on the edge of things, I think even its natives would say that. I rather like being on the edge of things.”
The two main routes into Hull were the A63 and the train line into the terminus of Paragon Station, as the Humber Bridge was still a thing of the future. When you arrived you were at the end of the line, surrounded by countryside and part of a unique atmosphere. Then it was still a major port and had a huge fishing industry. Early on a Saturday morning at the fish docks one could see rows of women gutting fish and in the afternoon the same women standing on the terraces of the adjacent Hull RL ground, cursing the referee, far more viciously than their male counterparts. At this time that there were two or three major trawler disasters and the whole City including the University were in absolute mourning. It was as though grief had engulfed and numbed the total population, as deep sea fishing and Hull were then synonymous.
As to the University itself in those days, it comprised a set of buildings to the left and right of the main walkway from the Cottingham Road. The Administration Building to the left and Arts buildings to the right and then the Brynmor Jones library on the left being extended with its equivalent of a tower block and the science block to the right. At the end of the walkway was the student building with its ‘Buttery’ bar and a couple of eating places and the hall that served as the entertainment hub on a Saturday. There was no grand Student Union and everything was a little bit disorganised but somehow none the worse for that. The building housed the various societies and organisations and predominant amongst those was HUSSO, which was a major organisation in providing positive support within the community. It is good to see that this still exists.
There was also the University Newspaper then called ‘Torchlight’ and the editor was one Chris Mullin, who went onto be an MP for many years. I worked for him in the capacity of Sports Editor and still have my ‘press pass’ which allowed me free access to Hull FC and the two Rugby League grounds. Sadly this is no longer serviceable.
Yes, the memories flood back and I am left with the same feeling that inevitably time has significantly changed the university experience of fifty years ago from what it is today. But that should not come as any great surprise, as every aspect of society has changed radically in that time in so many ways. Why then is it so difficult to appreciate that it really is all of fifty years ago that I was there? Perhaps the answer is that ‘time flies like an arrow; fruit flies like a banana’.
© Steve Williams, BA Geography and History 1966 – 1969.
University of Hull Alumni Association 
Thanks for writing this Steve as it brought back many memories for me. I was also there from 1966 to 1969 (I was BSc Geology 1966-69). I took part in the sit-in and blamed my presence there having been noted by the warden of Loten Hall – the on-campus hall of residence – for refusing me accommodation for the following year. Happily I got into one of the Student Houses on Cranbrook Avenue for the last two years – so much freedom! I remember Philip Larkin well though to me he was just the grumpy librarian – I had no idea about his writings.
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Hi David,
Glad it brought back memories. I would be intrigued to get your ‘take’ on the student demonstration of 1967. Was it about just having a demo and doing something a bit different or were there some genuine grievances?
You geologists with your beards and little hammers, were always a bit wilder than us more staid geographers…..or is my dreadful generalisation, a bit unfair?
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It was partly the mood of the times, the questioning of the establishment, the stuffiness of the old regime, but also there was a bit of just going along with the crowd and I guess a bit of curiosity. There’s a lovely quotation from Larkin that when he heard someone was taking the names of all the students in the demo he said it would be useful to “Have the names of all the pricks at the University”!
I failed Geography which I took as one of the two ancillary subjects we were required to do. I thought it would be easy as it was just “a branch of geology” but the lecturer we had (can’t remember his name) was only interested in “urban geography” and had us carrying out surveys of local shops when I was expecting geomorphology.
After completing chemistry as my other ancillary I then did psychology and there are some stories about that . . .
. . . and yes we all had hammers and some of us had beards – except of course the one lady in our year.
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Steve,
Fascinated to read your account of university life in the late sixties. I share many of these memories, I was there with you! Do you remember me, Mick Lewin graduated 1969 with a degree in Geography and History.When the results were published,I remember you shook my hand and commented that we had both gained a gentleman’s degree! I also remember you being given permission to leave a field trip in Shrewsbury to attend a Man.City game! Many more memories from those times.
Mick. Nicholson Hall and Cranbrook Avenue.
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Mick
Of course I remember you from our very select Joint Geography and History Group. I think there were only about eight of us including Anne Burr (nee Newling) with whom I still exchange Christmas cards and Trevor Cooke. I never understood why as a joint course we only had a total of eight lectures a week but certainly non of us complained and my golf certainly improved, especially as club membership at Hull GC was free to members of the University Golf Club! Can’t imagine that now.
I well remember the field trip to Shrewsbury with the wonderful Prof Jay Appleton. I mentioned to him that my beloved Man City were playing Everton in the semi final of the FA Cup, just up the road at Villa Park and that I had a ticket. He immediately replied that I must go and I duly did and they won. I returned in the evening and if you recall, we all went to watch another match being played at Gay Meadow, then the home of Shrewsbury Town and I remember Jay giving me a £20 note and telling me to buy everyone a drink after the match. He was a brilliant guy as you know and funnily enough it was his comment about the gentleman’s degree, as he informed me before the finals that I was on for a 2/2…..a gentleman’s degree…. that if I had bothered to do some work it would have been better but that I had had a wonderfully enjoyable three years and he reckoned that was better than a 2/1. I think you also put enjoyment before graft with the same end result! Mind you in those days less than 20% got a 2/1 and less than 5% a first. The only people that seemed to be bothered about a 2/1 were those wanting to do a PhD, as jobs were plentiful.
Incidentally I met Jay a few times after graduation and he was still the same total gentleman. Once was a lunch that John Franks at the Careers Office organised for me with all the old History and Geography lecturers in attendance and coincidentally the BBC were there doing a documentary which I still have….somewhere! It looks so dated but mind you it was 50 years ago…….makes you think!
The other wonderful characters I recall were Prof John Kenyon and Prof Bertie Bassett in South East Asian History, who was also such a kind man. Do you remember we invited them all to a drinks party in the Needler Hall music room….something that nobody had done before ……and everyone, including the academics, drank far too much and we all had a great evening and got on famously as a group. Happy days.
Trevor Coooke, Mike Lewin and Steve Williams on the Shrewsbury field trip
Steve Williams, Ann Newling, Mike Lewin, Perry McIntyre, Trevor and Sue Cooke 1966-69
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Hi David
Thanks for that which helps clarify the reasons behind the Hull demo. Your points about mood of the time and of questioning the establishment ring true. In retrospect, although I did not have the perception then, certain groupings in society were challenging the norms and this led to a kind of social volatility on a global basis. Most students didn’t have the responsibilities of marriage, kids, mortgages and jobs and thus could be far more unfettered in their reaction. Freedom and liberation were on the agenda and people expressed that in different ways, one of which was by demonstrating. Mine was more by just having a great time, as it was an era of lack of restraint, especially if you were a student. If truth be known I don’t think I have ever got over this reaction!
So, there was even one female geology student at the time……who either didn’t have a beard or a little hammer. I will just have to use my imagination as it was the 60’s.
Steve.
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Hello, I’m an American tiddlywinks player and historian. (I maintain tiddlywinks.org .)
I’m looking to contact Hull and Antrincham Grammar School winkers to garner their recollections on the tiddlywinks front.
By the way, Stephen Williams’ record of potting 24 winks from 18 inches in 21.8 seconds still stands today! (see: http://etwa.org/records.html)
– Rick Tucker
RickTucker@alum.mit.edu
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I was at Hull during the Second World War. The army had taken over the women’s hall (Thwaite), so Needler accommodated both men and women. We had seperate common rooms plus a joint one.
The evening meal described by Steve sounds familiar, especially the grace of ‘Benidictus Benedicat’. (Bless us and bless the cat).
We had to cope with the blackout, do fire-watching on the College roof (!), and of course we had to produce our ration books at the start of term.
Happy days!
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Hi Geoff
I would love to hear more about University life at Hull during WW2. How many students were there? What restrictions and implications were there? What was the bombing of Hull like and how did the population react? What kind of social life was there?
If you get the opportunity I would really enjoy hearing about this era, which in one sense was only twenty years before my time there but I imagine would be hugely different again?
Best regards Steve
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Hello Geoff – thank you for this extremely interesting reply, and like Steve we would be very interested to know more of your memories of campus in the wartime! best, Chris Cagney
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Hello Chris
I’ve sent an article about the Aeronauts (as we were known) and sent it off to the Alumni Association, but it hasn’t been published yet. It tells something about life in during the War, but it’s mainly concerned with the way we had to compress three years study into two years! (During the War, male students were limited to two years and three months.)
Hull was a University College under London University, and since London didn’t offer a degree in Aeronautics, we had to be content with a Diploma. For the more ‘Engineering’ based subjects, we had to go to Hull Technical College, which had suffered somewhat in the blitz.
But we got our degrees eventually, as you will read when my blog gets published.
What else can I tell you about life in Hull at that time? There was the blackout, of course, which meant that our study-bedrooms had to have black cloth curtains. A patrol in the evening made sure that no chink of light could be seen. Some students joined the local Home Guard (Dad’s Army) while others were in the UniversitY Air Squadron.
Occasionally we would have a dance (to gramophone records) at Needler. Since the men outnumbered the women, local girls including nurses from the local hospital were invited. Walks to the summer-house in the grounds were not unknown!
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Thank you Geoff, these are fascinating memories. Are photographs available of these times? Would love to share them.
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Hi Geoff – I have emailed you, if you would like to send the Aeronauts story directly to me my email is c.cagney@hull.ac.uk. Looking forward to reading! Chris
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Hi Chris – Still hoping to see my story on the website.
Geoff
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Hi Geoff – I have emailed you; we don’t seem to have received it yet and want to confirm where it was sent? Your story will be our earliest contribution so we are keen to share this, Chris
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Hi David
This brought back many good memories. I was at the university from 1965-1968(Pure and Applied Maths) and spent my last 2 years at Morgan Hall on the Lawns.
We had no formal dinners, indeed the cafeteria was not built so we had 2 baby belling ovens and hot plates on each floor for 9 people to cook on.
We did not have to wear gowns. I bought one as it was on the list and then threw it away many years later. The only gown I wore was when I got my degree.
I spent many years in the student union (it was called that) and attended the weekly dances (more like a market for inspecting the produce).
I was also in the sit-in in the administrative building. I think because exams were finished and there was very little to do.
Had a great time during the 3 years
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Historic reminders – in 1966-69 there were around 60 Economics students and one woman, but subjects were critically important. I had my 21st birthday in Nicholson Hall with a chum studying Psychology and Drama, and he was outnumbered about 10:1 with women, which made the party go with more of a swing. Does anyone else remember the stainless steel wastepaper basket in each Lawns room? Great for making party punch, especially if your girlfriend had an uncle on the docks who could get “broken” bottles of spirits for very small prices. My girlfriend also had a father working for a frozen food company, so we also got 36 T-bone steaks and 25kilos of frozen chips – a bit much for our Baby Bellings.
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I, too, was at Hull at the end of the 60s and a resident of Needler. I well remember a certain “Springs” Williams as not just an adept at table football, but as a world-beater at tiddlywinks, he having won a place in the Guinness Book of World Records by winking a number of tiddles (or tiddling a number of winks) in an amazingly short time. To most of us at the time that was more significant than any academic achievement. At the time of the sit-in Hull was labelled by (I think) the Express as the most militant university in the UK. Hurrah! Memory says that the meeting that started the sit-in took place at an un-studently early hour on a Saturday morning, advertised (as was required) through a tiny piece of paper on an obscure noticeboard in the depths of the Students’ Union building, and attended by barely enough militants to make a quorum.
The vast majority of students knew nothing of the sit-in taking place in their name until the Press descended and the alcohol fumes cleared. At the scheduled Union meeting on the following Wednesday, a packed hall was treated to the reading of a congratulatory telegram from Bertrand Russell and hours of heated debate in which the militant few attempted to outlast the moderate many so that a vote on continuing the sit-in would be in the militants’ favour. And it was heated: a blonde Irishman, whose name now escapes me, made a long and turgid ‘oblique’ (his word) speech and wore a smart, chalk-stripe suit in a (successful) attempt to defuse violent reactions. I was taking photos – for my own use or possible inclusion in Torchlight, then edited by Chris Mullin – until someone grabbed a mike, pointed in my direction and denounced me as a possible spy for the national press! I can’t quite remember whether the vote that ended the sit-in took place that day or at a subsequent meeting, but I do remember that the then leaders of the Students’ Union agreed that the militants could end their protest with a triumphal march from the Admin building to the Union several days later. ‘We’ve all agreed that you have to stop beating your wife, but you can beat her black and blue for another three days and we’ll pretend it isn’t happening’. Hmm.
The sit-in and the general level of unrest at the time did have an impact unexpected by the militants: the moderate majority began to realise that the Scarlett O’Hara approach to all or any aspect of politics wasn’t guaranteed to bring the looked-for, comfortable outcome. Indeed, several of us who were uncomfortable (you know who you are) set up the Political Apathy Group, dedicated to letting people know what was going on in the local, student, political arena and to pre-empting minority votes that committed the apathetic majority to uncomfortable policies. No prizes for knowing or guessing what put paid to the PAG.
Spring’s article features photos of one of Needler’s Rag floats; he and all of us involved at the time can be forgiven for omitting one or two key details. Needler and Ferens were bitter rivals in sports, party-throwing, and the battle of the Rag floats; Needler was most often the underdog. The float in the photos was beautifully conceived, magnificent in its construction and glorious in its failure to impress the judges. Yet again, Ferens trumped Needler, on this occasion by presenting a float in the form of a giant turd topped by massive flies. Brilliant and, surely, in 1968 way outside the ceramic box.
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I was amazed at what was thrown at us at Hull – as a spectator at Rag in Sheffield all that we ever threw was money! I only went on a float once at Hull put off by the memories of trying to wash the flour out of my hair so I could get to the Rag Ball (with Peter Cowan) – the Kinks were heading thd line up I think.
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Hi Andy
I too remember you from the blur of too many years and too many Hull Brewery bitters which I recall was one and three pence a pint…..old money. Sounds like an old dosser but for a pound on a Friday night one could have the customary ten pints and a Chinese ….four shillings and sixpence for the fullworks……and have enough to lurch on the top deck of the Cottingham special bus, back to Needler. Yep always a connoisseur of the best food and drink!
I vaguely remember going to a meeting called to end the strike but alas by then the damage had been done for good and the days of the eccentric, drunk undergrad who was tolerated as a good old clever clogs went for ever.
You mentioned tiddlywinks and for many years I was mentioned in the Guinness Book of records as the fastest winker ……others used a different vowel….but they stopped using it, even though it has never been beaten.
I have just had an email from Ed Bicknell which was a great, as he was a real character who was just regarded as Mr Music in Needler…..you never questioned his ability to get the best band at the best price, but instead just gave him the date and the budget…..he did the rest and never failed.
Nostalgia, nostalgia……where’s the zimmerframe.
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We had a reunion a little while ago in which two we met of the guys who beat Cambridge at tiddlywinks in 64/65!
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Hi Chris
Yep I played for the Hull Winkers team in the mid sixties and was actually selected to play for England in the Guinness trophy…….Sky Sports were not around then, so a sporting superstar hit the dust!
Thanks for putting me in touch with Ed Bicknell.
Best regards Steve
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My pleasure Steve. Do you recall a player called Gary Proctor?
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Hello, I’m an American tiddlywinks player and historian (I maintain http://tiddlywinks.org).
I’d like to contact Stephen Williams and other winkers from Hull and Antrincham Grammar School to hear their recollections on the tiddlywinks front.
Oh, and by the way, Stephen Williams’ May 1966 record, potting 24 winks from 18 inches in 21.8 seconds, still stands to this day! (see: http://etwa.org/records.html)
All the best,
– Rick
RickTucker@alum.mit.edu
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The article about life at Hull in the 1960s and the additional comments, particularly Geoff Heath the aeronaut of the 1940s, made me think of my time there from 1952 to 1956, especially as there was no mention anywhere of the very large Camp Hall which was an ex-army camp. In Geoff’s time it would have been still in use for its original purpose and by the 1960s will have been dismantled to make way for The Lawns. This camp consisted of ( 70 plus ? ) 4 and 5 room nissen huts, the rooms being divided by non soundproof breeze blocks. There was a corridor down one side which led to the outside small ablution block which could be a bit cold in winter. The camp was in a large figure of eight with the dining room and kitchen in the middle, with the only telephone. Breakfasts were informal but evening meals were formal which, of course, meant jackets and ties.
Ladies were allowed as guests in Camp Hall on Saturdays and Sundays from, I think, 4.00pm to 8.00pm but this was pretty hard to check ! We chaps could collect a pre-ordered tea tray from the kitchen and carry it back to our hut. I am told, mainly by my wife Ann Naylor ( History 1956 ), that Thwaite Hall was run like a residential public school for young ladies. In the 1950s we were very conformist in our dress and general attitude although there were a few exceptions ! There was a dance in the student union hall/dining room every Saturday to the Norris Walker band ( Mr Walker had a local bicycle shop ), with the rather drunken rugby players ( of which I was one ) coming in somewhat late.
There were only about 750 students in 1952, including quite a few ex-army chaps who considered themselves ( rightly ? ) rather superior to those of us straight from school. The university was fully residential and I believe that it was only in 1955 when student numbers passed 1,000 that senior students were required to go out into ‘digs’; there were then no student houses.
The building to the left as we came onto campus had, I think, lecture rooms for the arts, some senior staff offices and the university administration. The main entrance area was known as ‘Crush’ and contained the pigeon holes for our mail. The opposite building was mainly science, but also had the library ( The Brynmor Jones library was to come somewhat later ) and the staff common room. There were many huts both for lecture rooms and lecturers’ offices.
Rationing was still in force until, I believe, 1954 and we had to hand in our ration books at the beginning of term, and, if my memory serves me correctly, we had to book out and in if we wished to eat our evening meal in the student dining room on campus.
My memory may not be as good as it should be (!) and I would be happy to be corrected by those whose faculties are somewhat better than mine and who might perhaps add other memories of those happy days.
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Thanks Graham, this is an amazing account. Did the Norris Walker Band play the hits of the time? Chris
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Steve’s account has awakened many a memory of my life at Hull in the 1960’s. I became aware of the university when quite young and by the time I finally attended as a student I already had had much contact with the place. My family moved to Hull in 1959 with my father’s job and we lived across the road in Newland Park. My first encounter was as a 15 year old when I attended my first formal dance – Hogmanay with the Scot’s Society of St Andrews – in one of the Nissen Huts on campus!
I followed that by attending a lunchtime lecture a year or so later, where the speaker was Enoch Powell MP – conveniently I attended the girl’s high school next door. For a rather left wing establishment I don’t recollect much heckling or disruptive behaviour though I am sure he was challenged through questions. My next memories are more personal as I regularly attended the Student Union Saturday night dances as a “townie” and where I acquired a number of student boyfriends over the next two to three years. Fond memories! Sadly, however, the year I took my A levels, the latest conquest failed his first year exams as we pretended to ourselves that we really were studying whilst sunbathing in Queen’s Gardens! My results weren’t great either!
A year later I took two new subjects – economics and economic history – and sailed through with double A’s ( I sat for two exam boards just to make sure). I finally gained entry into the institution in my own right. Here I must thank a marvellous tutor from the College of Commerce, Mike Brown, who two years later joined the university staff himself. I studied my B.SC (Econ) from 1965 to 1968 where there were 110 students, I believe, in my year, of whom only 10 were female. This 1965-1968 year group went on to get two first class degrees, something quite unusual in that subject previously and the whole university celebrated.
I have many a fond memory of both academic and social experiences whilst at Hull – I took economic geography as part of my course and remember Jay Appleton as well. My Profs were JG Wilson and Barbek (?), the latter once apologised to myself and my friend, as we walked into the chemistry building for a tutorial, for the inclusion in our group of a certain John Prescott and his merchant seamen cronies. They were very disparaging about us middle class girls who couldn’t possible understand the deeper aspects of economics etc. As I recollect, we actually enjoyed arguing with them and didn’t feel at all threatened by their opposite views to our own. Our final reward was that both Pat and I achieved a higher degree than he did ( he got a third) – I note he rarely mentions attending Hull University whenever his education comes up.
I also enjoyed the social life and many an afternoon was spent in the upstairs bar of the Student Union playing bridge. On Rag days we had a float named The Bar Lounge Beer Mugs! I met my husband, Rob, (Pure Mathematics 1964-1967) in my first year though we didn’t marry until 1971. and are still going strong!
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That’s a really atmospheric account Jane, thanks!
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Thanks, Graham, for mentioning me. As I recall (over 70 years on!), Camp Hall was the site of an army camp for American soldiers, many of them black.
Then suddenly in June 1944, they all disappeared. We learned later that they were taking part in the D-Day operation.
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That’s a really interesting addition Geoff, it’s amazing when we learn how history on the grand scale has played out locally.
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Geography 1966-9. I found Steve Williams article very interesting, appreciated his comment on Jay Appleton- great memories of his part in the Historical Geography field course, as well as his fascinating lectures.
One thing puzzles me -surely the great sit-in was in 1968, the year of the student revolts? Pleased to hear HUSSO is still going strong.
Yours Robert Draycott
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Thanks for the article Steve and all of you who have commented so far, it brings back a lot of memories. I managed to squeak out a BA Drama (with some side-wanderings into American Studies and Philosophy) from 1967 – 1970 and I remember the sit-in very well. Mostly because I had to keep leaving it for rehearsals, which wasn’t very political of me. (I think it was in 1968 rather than 1967?) As a Drama student the centre of our world in 1967 and 1968 was the Theatre Lab – an old gymnasium at the end of Salmon Grove, where we rehearsed, put on shows and sweated through Saturday morning theatre exercises with teachers from big, bad London. Replaced in 1970 by the huge, sleek and well-appointed Gulbenkian Centre, we felt like we had been relocated from an old narrowboat to an ocean liner, most disconcerting. Apart from nightly forays to the Buttery for general sustenance, we were a pretty insular crowd and the sit-in opened my eyes to all sorts of new people. I have no idea what we were demonstrating about but I remember it was all tremendously exciting and meaningful at the time. Of course I was a drama student, so that doesn’t surprise me.
Sadly I never visited any of the traditional Halls. My first two years I lived in student housing on Cranbrook Avenue and my final year in a greatly loved but completely dilapidated flat on the top floor of a condemned building on Newland Avenue. Checking Google Earth I see that my student house looks exactly the same as it did 48 years ago. There is no sign of the condemned building. I did visit Loten Hall (on campus) a lot because that’s where my boyfriend lived, but the Halls were a misty and unknown country somewhere down the other end of Cottingham Road.
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This is a great account, Gil – did you know the Gulb recently was attributed grade 2 listed status?
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That’s great news and I’m very happy for the Gulb and for the university – even if it does make me feel older than old that I was around when it was a hole in the ground!
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Well I’ve since discovered why the dilapidated old flat on Newland Avenue didn’t show up on Google Earth. It’s because it was actually on Salisbury Street and is now a very smart building full of very smart little flats. Age and a dodgy memory – what a combination!
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I was at Needler at the same time as our Tiddlywinks Champion and spent all three years there , so remember many of the incidents . Compared to others I must have spent a boring and conventional existence , involved in RailSoc and often aided and abetted by Jay Appleton and George de Boer of the Geography department .
I acquired a girl friend from the formidably guarded Thwaite …they really did have a guard dog ..and even ended up marrying her !
I recognised everyone in the photos …is it really that long ago ? Bruce Palmer
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Hi Bruce
Remember you well. Still in touch with a lot of the ex- Needler group mainly through John Marshall. They include Jerry Kemp, Steve Clarke, Paul Hermiston, Martin Ruddock, Andy Park, Al Black and Chris Scott amongst others. Some of them still meet up regularly for walks across the Pennines ……far too arduous for me. Glad you avoided the guard dog and finally won over the fair lady.
All the best Steve
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The various posts do seem to have captured the sprit of the times and of Needler in particular. Your group were actually a year ahead of me ..I graduated in 1970.
From the Geography /History joint I kept in touch with Alan Wilkinson who ended up as Head of History at Bishops Veasey school in Sutton Coldfield after trying his hand at being a tax inspector . He died about 10 years ago .
I do remember the *sit in *and although I didn’t take part I visited one of my friends there to see was going on . He ended up being a public school headmaster and is still working !
Lost touch with everyone else . Bruce
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Hi Bruce
It would be fascinating to map out what became of our contemporaries, like your public school headmaster et al. I suppose at that time we were the favoured 5% and very roughly populated the best 5% of jobs whether they were in business, the professions or academia. A huge contrast to today where a lot nearer 50% gain a degree and have to compete a lot harder for similar level jobs. Just one of the many changes that have occurred over the last 50 years and which we inevitably took for granted. It is only one reflects what differences have occurred that one begins to comprehend the vastness of the massive change …….goodness knows what 2066 will be like! Let’s hope Hull alumni continue to have a positive influence on our ‘progress’.
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Although it was such a long time ago I have taken the opportunity to visit Cottingham/Needler over the years when in the area …most recently last November .It really hasn’t changed that much , at least superficially, but Needler does look a bit run down and has done for a while now .Security means I cant go for a wander round any more but I expect everything we knew is still there …if not the *bedders * and waitress service at dinner .In those days living there was really like staying in a half decent hotel and students were certainly treated as basically Gentlemen.
Cottingham still seems a nice place to live…just as it did in 1967.
One person I lost touch with was Malc Parker a fellow Needler resident and a Footie man as well as Railsoc .
Just been drinking a coffee whilst typing this ..and the spoon is rather *modern * and has a N on it …now where did that come from ? Bruce
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Hi Bruce
Two points to add to your latest mail. I believe Needler is now up for sale and will thus no longer be a residential hall. I suppose the days of the ‘gentleman’ student in a provincial university are now long gone. However I totally agree it was like being in a half decent hotel with your room cleaned, your bed made and your meals cooked and served. There was a lounge, a library, a games room, a separate music room with the best stereo equipment donated by Needler Sweets, tennis courts and lovely grounds. Very very different than the Lawns which were just getting completed and although very comfy were regarded by us traditionalists, as a bit modern and do it yourself.
As to Malcolm Parker, I heard about him recently and he is now retired but still leads holiday groups in both bird watching and I think rail holidays. I will try and find out more.
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You might be interested to know we are planning a ‘Goodbye Needler’ residential reunion in June 2016, to celebrate Needler’s part in the history of the Hull experience.
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Hi Chris
I would be interested to know the details and date. Thanks Steve
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Hi Steve, I’ll be sure that you have the details once they are confirmed. By the way,
I read a novel offering a very detailed fictionalised account of the Hull sit-ins by a pseudonymous Dart Travis called The Women Came and Went. I will put you in contact with the author as he was your contemporary and you may know him, but the novel is here:
http://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/aw/d/1908103175/ref=mp_s_a_1_6?qid=1453877538&sr=8-6&pi=AC_SX236_SY340_QL65&keywords=dart+travis&dpPl=1&dpID=51YEoElRk9L&ref=plSrch
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Thanks Chris, I will send for a copy. best regards Steve
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Hi Chris Have now read the novel, which I got from Amazon but didn’t recognise the author from his contemporary picture. Interesting but not exactly as I remember it….mind you it was a long time ago! I will forward your link to Ed Bicknell, as I am sure he will be interested in the musical references. All the best Steve
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Warden Mr Treherne, Domestic Bursar, Miss Saxby. During my two years at Ferens, 1969-70 and 1970-71, I recall that Miss Saxby was a large lady with a wonderful personality, Mr Treherne a well spoken but quiet man. Breakfast was a ‘full English’ and we were each issued with half a loaf of bread and a quantity of butter so that we could provide ourselves with toast during the day or evening. Each floor had its own toaster and other cooking facilities, though fair to say, the evening meal, a sumptuous affair when compared to today’s university canteen offerings, was extremely filling. I recall that several residents would often engage in a ‘bread fight’ prior to tucking in to their evening meal. This would involve flicking dry pieces of white bread at each other across the the bench tables!
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Henry
As you may well recall Ferens and Needler were old enemies, as they were the only two male traditional halls of residence. Many tricks were played on each other in my time with one of the better ones being a nocturnal raid by Ferens on the Needler library. This was a fair size room but when we awoke we discovered that the whole space from floor to ceiling had been filled by rolled up newspapers. This was a gargantuan task to have undertaken and one that did result in retaliatory raids on the Ferens laundry but this was not in the same class, as the Ferens raid which they acknowledged was their doing.
Another such trick that must go down as a mystery was the placing of all the Needler refectory tables, chairs and cutlery arranged al fresco on the lawn one summer morning. I was president at the time and I will always remember the caretaker, employed at Needler, coming upto me and congratulating me on such a good initiative. I explained I could not take credit but unlike the library incident,nobody ever claimed responsibility for this. If you were the instigators do let us all know and solve the mystery of the phantom furniture removers.
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I remember the “raid” on Needler. It took many months of preparation in collecting the newspapers. It always amazed me that the planning for the “raid” never leaked out. Complaints were made and culprits sought but Jim Treherne the Warden of Ferens could not take the matter seriously. Likewise, Miss Saxby use to complain about young ladies to be found on the premises at week-end, especially those visiting from other colleges and universities, again the view was turn a blind eye. At week-ends Ferens would often have the sweet smell of Vesta Curries as young lovers cooked their evening meal, although the male would have ensure he had a proper meal with the rest of the male residents. A long time ago.
JOHN O’DONNELL
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Hi John
It was a brilliant ‘coup’ as nobody in Needler saw the perpetrators, arrive, depart or in the course of their incredible feat. The library was of quite a size and to have filled it with rolled up paper from floor to ceiling still beggers believe. A commando raid of great skill and daring……well done to all involved……even if they were from the second besrtmen’s hall at Hull.
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John, you’re right about Miss Saxby turning a blind eye! I recall her asking me if that was my laundry cleaning lady leaving Ferens in the early hours of one Saturday morning!
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I’m not sure we ‘acknowledged’ the raid. As I remember, we forgot to rip off the Ferens Hall address from the newspapers. Bit of a giveaway.
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Dick Pond a name from one’s past. Dick had many skills of which if memory serves me correctly, ballroom dancing was one but more importantly, the leading of communal singing in the JCR of Ferens and in particular McNamara’s Band. Again if memory serves me well Dick was also one of the original persons in the famous sit in. More than fifty years ago and you wonder where the time has gone.
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Time passes, but weren’t you supposed to be Pope by now? Or at least his private secretary?
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The powers that be in the Vatican failed to read Frederick Rolfe’s 1904 novel Hadrian V11, although I was never a failed candidate for the priesthood. But I still wait.
jodonnell737@btinternet.com
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I shall keep watching with interest.
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Hi, I was in Needler 1967/8 on the same corridor as Ed Bicknall and Mike Ormorod, a couple of doors down was Graham Buchanan reading law an East London man with some style who often were a smoking jacket and was considered to have connections with London gangsters. There was also Stepphen Katz and a lad who had badly broken his arm in a motorcycle accident. Does anyone remember who else was on this corridor.
I well remember Steve Williams as the tiddlywinks champion.
While at Hull I worked on Torchlight with Chris Mullin, who was succeeded by Jim Driscoll as Editor. I became the news editor and have a couple of issues of Torchlight from that era.
I gained a poor degree in Geography but remember a trip to the Netherlands with Prof Appleton in 1968.
I was very active in the student union and was the chair of its welfare committee 1968/9. I stood for President in 1970 but was well beaten by John Rope.
I married Patricia Young who read English 1968/71. We are still together.
A number of the 1967 intake are having a reunion lunch in Beverly on 4th June 2017 to meet up after 50 years including Hugh and Murray Maccartney, Jane Stillwell, Mick Simler, Mick Yarrow, Pat Walker, Vicky and John Mills, Shey and Sarah Drake both couples also met at Hull and subsequently married, and one or two others.
Hull University seemed to be one of the places to be in those days.
Tony Hewitt
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Hi Tony
Thanks for the memories of Needler which as I found out a few weeks ago , just consists of the main building where Bob Chester had his flat and that is a shell. The rest is an Aldi supermarket.
I met up with Ed Bicknell and Les Eastham recently. Very regrettably, Mike Ormerod, who you mentioned, was killed in a truck accident in America when on a photography assignment. He had become one of the ‘greats’ of UK photography and if you go on the web you will be able to see examples of his work which was iconic. As you know he was a great character.
I talked with Chris Mullin last year and as you probably know has now retired from being an MP …..his three published diaries are a fabulous read, as they give an amazing view of our political system, written by someone with great moral dignity. It helps to have known him and thus to have known that there was at least one MP that told the truth.
Like you I worked for him on Torchlight, as Sports Editor and like you I got a bad degree in Geography…..but as I did little work, what could I expect!
All the best
Steve Williams
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Hi,
Fascinating reading all the posts – I was at Hull 1966-69(economics) – I well remember Chris Benham and his part in the sit in. Anyone still in contact with Lisa Watson(economics)?
Richard Rode
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Sad to see the recently the death of Tim Poston.
I can still remember him turning up at Ferens Hall to sing on the occasion of one of its Folk Evenings in his sandals and staff in his hand. If truth be told and this was seen in his short time as President of Union, that he lived in a different world to the rest of us. He did however, contribute to the knowledge of the world of mathematics.
JOHN O’DONNELL
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Just came across these postings and noted John O’Donnell’s post re the death of Tim Poston. Was he the guy in sandals and a beard and glasses no socks who I recall walking around the campus. Think he was reading Maths or doing research?
I read Maths 1966 to 69 and resided in Loten Hall for my last two years. Never got to the Lawns.
Loten now used as offices I believe.
Have tried to track people down but generally failed !
Names from the Maths course included John Dewhurst; Steve Maltby; Barry Spur; Terry Hakes but failed to make contact with any of them.
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Yes is the answer to your question re: tim
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I remember Tim very well. Quite a character. A very gentle person. He had a bit of an obsession about the Magic Roundabout.
I remember taking him to my parents home (I’m from Hull and lived at home the first two years) for tea and biscuits and to listen to my Incredible String Band record collection. My parents didn’t know what to make of him!
George Gray Biochemistry 1967-1970
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Hello all, I was at Hull 1966-7o and was instrumental in the “Sit-Ins” as I was Regional Chairman of the N.E. NUS!. I think a Tony Edwards was Union President at the time or was it Neil King? I still have my Hull Uni Student Union card. Its a pity I cannot post a photo of it here! I am very sad to know about Tim Posterns death, he was a friend of mine so I knew him very well. My son liked my stories (mostly true) about Hull so much that in 1990 he also went there to study Sociology and Anthropology. He loved it. I have been in touch with John Konrad who was a fellow student. I wonder if anyone knows Paul Raymond who studied French? Last heard of in Grenoble, France.
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Tony Edwards a man who could hold an audience in his hands. I am sure many of the persons who knew him remember his bushy beard. By 1968/9 He was said to be a research student which is when I first knew him. He was said to have had a girl friend from Cleminson Hall but that part of his life he kept private.
JOHN O’DONNELL
Former Chairman of Welfare
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I attended the 90th Anniversary Celebrations of the University last year and one of the sessions specifically focused on the ‘sit in’ but I neither attended that or the original sit in, as that rather passed me by.
Also present at the event were Ed Bicknell, who contributed an excellent talk of his days running Ents Comm); Liz Gill, Marilyn Leconte, Peter Viney, Andy Trotman and others whose names I forget…..well we are all over 70 now!
Talking of which it is now 50 years since my group graduated ….they were the 1966-1969 Joint Geography and History set and there were 12 of us including Trevor Cooke, Mick Lewin, Ann Newling and Peter Isted. We are all meeting up in May this year at Beverley and should you read this and be part of that select group, such as Perry McIntyre, Paul Croft, Bill Allinson etc do get in touch.
It is a reminder of how things have changed in University life , for now Ist Class Honours appear to be awarded rather easily. Of our group of 12….there were no first class, three 2/1’s, eight 2/2’s and one third…….or perhaps, due to the influence of our wonderful politicians, standards have improved sharply and we were just thick!
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Coming back to this thread after a few years I’m sorry I missed the Needler reunion …but a bout of illness put me out of it for 12 months at the critical time .Thats well in the past but reading the comments reminds me again of my own experience of Needler and the Uni c 1967 to 70.
I suppose I can now reveal that my friend the *sitter inner * and later public school head master Berkhamstead , Kings Canterbury and latterly *conduct * of Eton was Keith Wilkinson who lived at Loten Hall . Hes finally retired so if hes reading this my apologies for *outing * him at last !
My conquest from Thwaite , Margaret Spencer who read English and French parted after 20 years together …again apologies if shes reading this ..but she went on to be part of the *Great and the Good * of the Academic Library world and is still working ….
I’m absolutely appalled at whats happened to Needler …an Aldi no less ! Bruce
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Hi Bruce
Malc Parker as asking after you recently. He has a facebook account
All the best Steve
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Re Malc Parker …Im sorry that being a Luddite I don’t do Facebook. Contact via e mail ?
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I went back with a few of my compatriots to celebrate the 5oth anniversary of graduation. Apart from meeting my colleagues the highlight was lunching with one of our Professors Howell Lloyd of History. He was just as sharp and impressive as he was in 1966-1969 …..it must be the East Coast air!
I also learnt that the Lawns are closing….so not just Needler but the whole of the cottingham connection.
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I was very surprised about the Lawns …and lack of demand for this type of student accommodation …must be a very different culture these days . More overseas students perhaps ? Bruce
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I have only just happened across this wonderful trip down memory lane at the University of Hull and what a great read it is!
I too was there 1966-1970, Annie Davies now, but Anne Lusher then and we were quite well acquainted, Springs! I have such fond memories of those student days and all those friends we made, although sadly I am now only still in touch with one, Martyn Offord.
I studied German and spent my 3rd year abroad so graduated a year later than many contemporaries and lost touch. I was also on the Entertainments Committee so hung out with Ed Bicknell and rather a lot of the guys from Needler!
I have never revisited Hull and the University must be greatly changed from back in the day…..think I prefer to remember it the way it was!
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Hi Anne
Will e mail you and so great to hear from you
Springs x
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What always made me smile was the good residents of Ferens leaving their “guests” to make their own way home from an overnight stay as they went themselves went to breakfast. Often from the dining room and looking out of the windows, a trail of “guests” could be seen heading for the bus stop.
JOHN M. O;DONNELL
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Great to se this Anne. I was then Elaine Russell (jnt Geog & Sociology) with you for 2 years at Thwaite before you went off to a year abroad. We had great fun in first year breaking curfew by clambering through the ground floor windows. I married my very tall zoologist and after grad study in Canada we lived in Scotland and then Libya. We have a daughter Anne-Marie. He moved on to an academic life in Kuwait and Oman as a desert biologist still loving birdwatching and pop music! I joined him in Oman after my retirement from Aberdeen Uni. Sadly he died last year, just a week after our 50th wedding anniversary. Would be great to hear from you.
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Wow….of course I remember you, Elaine…..next door neighbours at Thwaite as I recall! How absolutely lovely to hear from you and to get the catch-up e-mail! Just getting ready to go and see our families in Surrey and Hertfordshire over half-term, so will e-mail you in the week when I’m not on Nanna duties! Thanks for getting in touch! Annie xx
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Hi Annie
Great that you replied. Enjoy half term and grandchildren. Hope to hear from you again soon.
Best wishes
Elaine
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I have only just happened across this wonderful trip down memory lane at the University of Hull and what a great read it is!
I was there 1966-1970, Anne Lusher then but Annie Davies now and I was well acquainted with Springs aka Stephen Williams.
I studied German and spent my 3rd year abroad so lost touch with most of my contemporaries and am now only in touch with one Martyn Offord, an English graduate.
I was also on the Entertainments Committee and hung out with Ed Bicknell and many of the guys from Needler in my second year.
I have never been back to Hull but I know that the University is much changed, so perhaps I will just remember it the way it was, together with all the fun times and great people…..
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In 1968 I was a member of the Students Riding Club. We used to take the horses out from stables in Walkington one afternoon each week when possible. After the rides we then went to the Ferguson Fawcett pub in that village and enjoyed a few pints. Whilst quaffing the ale, one of our group who was an accomplished folk singer and guitar player used to entertain us and very soon quite a few locals joined us. I cannot remember that girls name, (she was a mature student) and if possible would like to hear from any other members of the group. I remember one member, Hilary Goldberg, but over such a long period have forgotten the rest of the 6. Anyone with a better memory? BTW, the pub is still there serving the elixir of life as well as offering a nice carvery, but sadly no longer any folk singing.Ah, those were the days my friends.
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Steve , it’s the Election Day at Needler … we had our 5 mins each to say our bit. To this day …. and being just a non-literacy physics student , I had to contend with your phrase of a lifetime, that no mere mortal running against you could combat … and I quote … “I am imbued with the love of Needler Hall” wonder if the memory stuck with you Springs as it did with Chris Underhill. It was game over. So glad I came across this .. thanks Google. And greetings from Carmel Bay, California.
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….and now its a supermarket ! How could they !
197/8was certainly the years to be at Hull …glad I was there , if only as an observer taking no part in student politics .
It feels like a different world though and the learning process felt like a *sausage machine *…very little mixing in my subject group anyway ..after a lecture everyone vanished ..no discussion of the finer points afterwards .
Heaven knows what it’s like now . Bruce
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I sent an email dated 23 October (see below).
Whilst I accept that it may not be of interest and hence you feel it’s not worth posting I would have expected as a courtesy a reply which I never received.
Begin forwarded message: > > From: malcolm finney > Subject: Re: [New post] “My degree taught me the importance of detail in the analysis of a legal argument” > Date: 23 October 2020 at 17:54:46 BST > To: University of Hull Alumni Association > > Would you be interested in the following? > > > Ramblings of a Maths graduate from the ’60’s > > They say (not sure who says it?) that going back is a bad idea; leave the past in the past and memories unsullied. > > However, despite such sage advice I have been back twice over the years and walked around the campus. It brought back a lot of memories, all good, but for reasons I can’t explain discovering Loten Hall is now used for offices, no longer a hall of residence, was a bit depressing. Not sure why that is? Is it just getting older and aversion to change? Is it because it somehow has destroyed part of my past? Any psychologists out there? > > I graduated in 1969 in Pure and Applied Mathematics. I have memories of Professor Cockroft: Dr Dunning-Davies; Dr Brian Pearson; Dr Thompson; a bloke with beard and glasses who taught vectors and stuff; a great bloke who taught Fluid Mechanics (Thompson?); a really good bloke who taught in the Pure Mathematics Dpt, (Denning?). Then all goes blank. Is that really 50 years ago? Am I really this old? Wonder where they are all now; hopefully not all in the blue yonder. > > Spent my first year in digs (pretty grim) out near Hull FC ground; took ages to get to the Uni’ on the buses and my bedroom was freezing cold even in Summer. Used to spend as much time in the central library in the town (which I must say was excellent) before heading back to my cold and, am convinced, damp bedroom. My mum and dad gave me an electric blanket for Christmas (do they still exist?) which, when I switched it on, caused steam to rise from the bed misting up the small window through which wind would blow even when it wasn’t windy. > > I had never liked eating breakfast but the landlady wouldn’t have any of it. I recall on a number of occasions the bacon on my plate would be swimming in one to two inches of grease. Once it really was much worse than usual; all soft fat and no lean bits; so whilst she was in the kitchen I threw it on the coal fire which resulted in an unbelievable spitting of bits of coal all over the hearth rug which cost me 50% of that term’s grant to replace. The next two years were spent in Loten Hall where I had a great time. Loved living on campus. Don’t think I ever left It during term time apart from visiting members of the opposite sex (well, maybe just one woman and just one visit) in the College next door. > > I must admit, and I know it’s not cool to say, but all that sit-in stuff passed me by probably due to complete indifference and total apathy. My goal was always to try and get a good degree as I had always wanted to do research for which, from memory, required at least a 2-1. I decided others could be left to sort out the planet and the politicians. > > What is a bit depressing now is trying to remember names. As you can see, I can only recall the names of a couple of lecturers, which is pretty bad and embarrassing. > > Unlike the complete lack of demand today to study Maths, in my day there were between 100 and 150 of us in each year mainly males but also I believe a sprinkling of females. I’ve racked my brains for names but due to senility or whatever I’ve struggled. I apologise if anyone is reading this who knew me whose name I have long forgotten. The paltry number of names I can recall, or believe I can recall, are Terry Hakes (for some reason I believe he may have been from Maltby but can’t be sure). Where are you now Terry? He had a friend called Barry Spur; Steve Maltby from Armthorpe near Doncaster; Dewhurst also rings a bell. But that’s it. How sad is that?? > > In Loten Hall the only names I recall are John Bailey who studied chemistry; he had a mate also studying chemistry, a really nice guy, from Newcastle (I think), a bell ringer but no idea as to his name. Bill Tate, in the year above me, from Saltash who drove a little Riley which we took to Hornsea late at night trying to impress women (didn’t work of course). > > So 1969 came to a close and we all went our separate ways our paths in general never to cross again. > > For my part I headed off to Sheffield University for a post-grad year followed by a year working in the steel industry as a statistician. Bought my first car, a clapped out Morris Traveller (£40 I think). From there I returned to Bradford University’s Management Centre to do an MBA and thence to the big city, London, where I remained for the next 30 or so years. > > Did all the usual; got married; had two sons; got divorced !! > > There’s no doubt, looking back, my memories of my time at Hull are some of the happiest. The 1960’s were very good to me and I thoroughly enjoyed them. I think my generation is/was one of the luckiest; free studies in brand new settings and freedom to do as we wanted. We have also been fortunate not to have been dragged into wars unlike our parents and grandparents. > > Anyone who’s reading this and may feel that we might have know each other please get in touch. > > Malcolm Finney > > > > > > > > >>
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Hi Malcolm, sorry about this. I’ve just been looking back and it seems that the comment was approved and posted under the article where it was submitted. I apologise, I had thought it had been posted to be a comment, but re-reading I see that you may have been submitting it for consideration as an article? Would you like to send me an email at alumni@hull.ac.uk to discuss this? Best wishes David
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Hi Bruce
My motto was to try and avoid lectures and in fact I had a very nice fellow student, who used to use a piece of blue copy paper under her notes and she gave me the second copy. I am still in touch with her and she has now retired to Wakefield after a very successful career at M&S.
That left more time for a lie in, a lunchtime pint and golf in the afternoon, followed by a good Needler dinner …..benedictus bendecat ……and a bit of TV and then the pub opposite …..it was a hard life to get a 2/2. I wonder if they still do that these days.
I remember once coming down to breakfast in my dressing gown and being thrown out by Mrs Gravestock …..quite uncalled for I thought!
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Hi Chris
Great to hear from you ….the phrase sounds like Boris but the scriptwriter was none other than Bob ‘The Rubber’Jones. Still in touch with such as John Marshall, Ed Bicknell, Pete Godfrey, Chris Scott, Gerry Kemp, Ian Smethurst, Malc Parker.
Do you remember Perranuthnoe?
Keep safe.
Springs
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Steve – I remember it so well – -tents on a hillside…beach and pub down below…footy on the beach…and my good old Morris Minor 1000 wrecked on the way home after dropping off Pete Gregory in Newton Aaaabut. A few years ago I actually revisited the scene of the crime). I have some great photos taken at Needler of all the aforementioned chaps… if you are meeting again… please send my wishes to them all. I was sorting out stuff the other day, and came across a letter John Marshall wrote to me after we graduated. …for me that was 1970. (I remember those study sessions in the library when all anyone wanted to do was get out back and play footy). How , or where could I post these pix
Cheers Chris
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Chris
Can you send via my e mail and I will distribute to the boys.
It is stephenwilliams147@btinternet.com
best regards
Springs
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If you have Malc Parkers contact details could you pass them on ..bpalmer498@btinternet.com …….
Study in the library …..never did that ! Bruce
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I went to Hull to read Chemistry in1962. I had worked for British Plasterboard so I was classed as a mature student. First Registration was a manic shambles but I ended up with ancillary Physics and compulsory German. Hull Univ. was small compact and great fun. The town was not always as appreciative of students, but the docks were a good source of fags and strange bottles of booze.
We students were finding our feet and Hull University provided a fabulous platform for all to meet the challenges of the massive changes in society being generated from the early 60’s.
I met my wife Julie who was at Endsleigh and have been married for 54 years. I left Chemistry relatively quickly and spent my career in Manufacturing retiring reluctantly on my 70 birthday.
Hull University and the City played a major role in my moulding me for which I have always been grateful. Thank you.
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Great to hear ……yep Hull had a lot to offer and was non pretentious, friendly and a great place to spend one’s first years away from home. Like you I will be eternally grateful for the experience.
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Oh, I agree! I love reading this thread. I was at Hull from 1963-1966. Does anyone remember those three years? I read history -Prof Kenyon. Decie, Stephen Watt, Richard Vaughn, Freddie Brooks et al. I lived in Holtby House then Wellington Stables.
Sue Allenby
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Remember Prof Kenyon, he was my history tutor and in tutorials used to smoke a pipe filled with St Bruno, which was a strong tobacco and he used breath it out of his nostrils. He was definitely of his generation and a ‘mans man’ and in my era did not favour the ladies …..there was four of us in our tutorial group….three males, one female and on a Friday he might say to the three men ….drop into the Duke of Cumberland tonight and I will buy you a pint …..and totally ignore Ann. There were two other great historians, both who gained professorial level …..Dr Lloyd ( Spanish History) and ‘Bertie’ Bassett ( SE Asian History) ….. all of a level that made ones mental inadequacies obvious!!! Lets just be kind and say we were developing and that their ultra sharp minds had been developed!!
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Oh yes – the Prof and I had a run in or two! Do you remember Decima Douie’s gown – so old it was green? I have thought about Richard Vaughan a lot lately – his lectures on Matthew Paris – I have been writing a (researched) novel about the rebel priest who built Becket’s shrine. I can almost still hear him talking about him. I guess you did modern history? (Where did DrLloyd end up ? I remember him vividly – I don’t know why. What about Peter Heath? Always seemed dry as a stick but he mercifully lost all our Medieval Latin papers at the end of Year One – we were all pretty bad and could have been sent down I guess had we failed!
I remember pub crawls in old Hull and Bob Carver’s fabulous fish and chips -and trying to keep Dominic Behan tanked up so he wouldn’t leave City Hall before he was due on stage at the Folk Festival in 1965. Random memories!
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I graduated from Hull University in 1967 with a second class honours degree in Geography. Trying to trace two of my contemporaries, Sue Hudson and Lucy Hickford, I came across Stephen Williams recollections of Hull in 1967 (but I think he means the academic year starting in 1967 after I had left) and have thoroughly enjoyed spending the morning going down memory lane reading not only his recollections but also the associated correspondence from others who were there at the same time or from other eras. My first reaction to the photographs was to wonder where all the girls were but then remembered that of course there were not many of us in those days.
I came from an all girls direct grant grammar school but it was the norm for pupils to go on to University or College or some form of professional training. Our Headmistress was very enlightened and recommended Hull for Geographers because Professor Wilkinson had achieved great strides in the subject at Liverpool Uni. I also came from a family of five C of E clergymen nearly all with Oxbridge degrees (the only escapee from the Church was a solicitor). However my father was a very earthed and practical priest and worked closely with the Police and School Attendance Officer and had the attitude that ‘boys will be boys’ and you just had to stay one jump ahead of them (which with choir boys who used to, on their own admission, “play him up something rotten” was probably a good thing). His family, both men and women, were also supporters of the Suffrage Movement and he treated me as an equal in every way from learning skills normally attributed to boys to being able to have a battle of wits with him. Hull in some ways was a culture shock but I thoroughly enjoyed my time there but none of the boys in the correspondence has admitted to jokes they used to play on us girls apart from the all male fooling around. I vividly remember walking around after one lecture with a cutting from a Kleenex box stuck to my back ‘For Men. The softness you like with the strength you need’ and having it removed by one of the lecturers with “I think you can do without that”. And then of course there was the Rag Float. I wore a one piece swimming costume with a long Rugby shirt over the top but was thoroughly hosed down by a joker with cold water before the float even left the University grounds. Good old Pa, at least he taught me to take jokes against myself.
I was in Cleminson Hall with the redoubtable Miss Pinthus. I don’t know anything about Alsatian dogs patrolling the grounds but I wasn’t aware of any out of hours activities. However, memories of Jay Appleton did bring tears to my eyes. Sue Hudson and I used to babysit for two of his boys, Mark and Charlie, and one night Charlie appeared at the sitting room door saying he couldn’t get to sleep because Mark had stolen his teddy bear. I went up and sorted things out but didn’t realise until years afterwards that from then on I had become Charlie’s heroine. I met Jay and his wife Iris quite by accident at a concert in Bradford Cathedral in 2001 and we had a happy time catching up. When I told them I was about to go to Australia with a friend Jay gave me Charlie’s address and said we must call because he would be so thrilled to see me. Jay sent me a copy of his book How I made the World: Shaping a View of the Landscape afterwards. It was like reading my own story, Jay’s father was a clergyman and he started his interest in Geography exploring the Rectory grounds. It also has a lot to say to today’s youngsters about following your dream and that interrupted education is not the end of the world; his had been curtailed by the War. I did specialise in Economic Geography in my final year because I knew I could garner all the information I needed to write a dissertation on the paper industry in Lancashire from contacts in my father’s parish but I know my natural leanings are towards Human Geography. Economic Geography did teach me to take all the diagrams and statistics churned out by the Government with a pinch of salt and, as I wrote at the end of an essay on the subject, ‘Lies, damned lies and statistics’.
Well, Epistles flow freely from the pen of clergy daughters but I will end with a cheer and “Let’s hear it for Hull!”
Government with a pinch of salt and take them, as I wrote on one essay on the subject as ‘lies, damned lies and statistics’.
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