Tuesday 17 April 2018

The last term begins: Summer 1958

It is now the beginning of May, 1958 and Alice sounds as though she is in good spirits following the Easter break and has returned to college safe, well and prepared to be run off her feet. She tells her family of her relief that she completed her thesis during the holiday as she is already swamped with essays and performance assignments.

The summer timetable is just as full as usual: classes begin at 08:45 each morning (including Saturday) and in the week they continue until 17:45 - with a few strategic breaks. In addition to the usual schedule there are a host of extra activities and visits coming up which Alice is looking forward to. Amongst those coming to visit the college is tennis celebrity Dan Maskell who is going to be running a coaching session for the students. In the annual Students' Association Report, produced at the end of the year, this event is described as  'The highlight of the tennis season'.

As the term draws to a close the students are preparing a number of 'Dems' (Demonstrations for family and visitors) and Alice hopes that Roy can be accommodated by the Bicycle Shop man providing Bed & Breakfast so that he can stay and make the most of seeing the range of creative arts and sport that the college students are involved in, from swimming to dance and gymnastics. The annual College photograph has also been taken in preparation for the end of the academic year.

Alice also gives an update on her health which suggests she may have been poorly during the holidays as she still has 'lumps behind [her] ears' and is waiting for spots to now appear; she realises that it could be worse though as four others from her year have not yet returned due to suffering German Measles (there was no vaccine for this until the 1960s).

The weather has been warm and sunny, but Alice still has much work to do and is making the most of her free time on Saturday to start writing another essay. 









Dan Maskell's visit was a hilight for all the tennis enthusiasts

3rd Year timetable: Summer 1958

The bicycle shop: essential supplies for the staff and students


No comments:

Post a Comment