Tag: University of Keele

“John White The Only One Dancing”, Learning How To Do The Keele SU Disco And Other Late August 1984 Happenings

Photo by: Henk Snoek / RIBA Collections

The Students’ Union Ballroom is a big place. In our day (the early 1980s), I believe it was still the largest venue between Birmingham and Manchester. If I remember correctly we were allowed to cram in 1,000 people, many of whom would have been smoking.

In truth, it was far too large a venue for discos during the summer vacation, when there would only be a few hundred people, mostly Open University (OU) summer-schoolers, on campus.

But we wanted to generate some income for the Students’ Union, we wanted our friends from the KRA (postgraduate) bar, who were temporarily running the SU bars, to try out some ideas for the bars, plus John White and I wanted to learn how to do the Union discos so that we’d be able to “take on” the cartel of student DJs that was charging for services that we felt they would and should do for the love of it during term time.

Doing discos for the OU crowd was a low risk way for me and John to learn on the job. Pady Jalali, who was the sabbatical social secretary that year, gave us confidence that we were qualified to fulfil the role:

Honestly, fellas, any idiot could do it…

…without providing any specific guidance.

Actually we quickly learnt that there is quite an art to it. Admittedly, almost any idiot could soon learn how to play records for a few hours on twin-decks without too many jumps, false-starts or awkward silences. But putting together a thoughtful playlist that keeps the dancing atmosphere going, mixing the pace and genres appropriately, is non-trivial.

John and I learnt quickly enough and loved doing it.

Let’s see what else I was up to at that stage of the summer and then return to the disco topic.

Late August 1984 Happenings

Sunday, 19 August 1984 – Nasty day (especially morning came into work – Ralph etc) – spent afternoon going over Ringroad stuff with Frank. Performed Ringroad in evening.

Monday, 20 August 1984 – Quite a busy day in the office – spent evening in union and KRA with Frank and John.

Tuesday, 21 August 1984 – Busy day in office – UC in afternoon. Frank cooked – did Ringroad and disco both went down rather badly.

Wednesday, 22 August 1984 – Loads of meetings and things. Busy day. Went to KRA in evening with Frank.

Evidence, if it were needed, that our DJ-ing (and indeed my comedy performance) skills needed work. One aspect that Frank and I realised for the Ringroad comedy was that the Union (even the upstairs Room 14) was too large a venue for the Open University crowd. I think we did our subsequent Ringroad gigs in the Lindsay bar, where most if not all of the OU lot were based.

But John and I needed to try and make the SU Ballroom work for the discos, as it was that set up that we needed to learn and revenues for the SU that we wee trying to generate.

After interviewing for the replacement bar managers on the Thursday, I then took a short break in London.

Thursday, 23 August 1984 – Interviewed for bar managers this morning – came down to London – went to Grandma Jenny’s after dinner for evening.

Friday, 24 August 1984 – Went to West End this afternoon – shopped etc. Stayed in in the evening – lazy day.

Saturday, 25 August 1984 -Another lazy day. Paul came over in the afternoon – stayed in evening – taped/listened and watched TV.

Sunday, 26 August 1984 – Went Angela & John’s [Kessler, cousins] in the afternoon – took Mum and Dad to Joy King Lau in the evening.

Monday, 27 August 1984 – Had Il Carretto lunch and left for Keele in the early evening – spent eve down union and up flat.

John White and others who hung around with me that sabbatical year might like to know that that the taping I did with Paul Deacon that weekend ended up as a favourite mix tape, which I have recently replicated on YouTube Music for all to hear. The first 45 minutes is softer/more danceable stuff, the second half more alternative/new wave:

ON THE SCROUNGE PLAYLIST

Don’t be put off by the auto-crossing out of the above link – I believe you can click and enjoy the play list whether or not you are a YouTube Music subscriber.

I don’t remember ever taking my parents to Joy King Lau, in Leicester Street. John White, Bobbie Scully and many other friends will remember eating with me there. Forty years later, in August 2024, the place is still there and some people are even giving it good reviews on TripAdvisor.

Tuesday, 28 August 1984 – Busy day (early start) – exam time. Quite a lot of people through office. Boozy UC meeting. Went back to John Boy’s for dinner – did the disco in the evening together.

Wednesday, 29 August 1984 – extremely busy with resit people all day – Kate cooked dinner for John Frank & I [sic] in eve – very pleasant.

The Union Committee meeting will have been boozy to celebrate the fact that it was my birthday and would, the next day, be John White’s birthday.

We suspect that the disco we did together that night will have tipped just past the midnight licence. Given that it was the night after bank holiday Monday, I don’t suppose there were all that many people there.

Not only did that evening kick off the long-standing tradition of John and me spending our birthdays together…

Forty Years Of Celebrating Birthdays Together: Dinner With John White At Lita Marylebone, 27 August 2024

…but for our sabbatical year it kicked off the tradition of us playing exactly what we wanted in the earlier part of the evening, making the most of the enormous dance floor to have a dance work out alone or with just one or two friends.

Later in our sabbatical year, the Geordie Mag (which was a Keele Geordies’ tribute to Viz Comic, produced a cartoon which depicted John White, in the ballroom, as “the only one dancing”. In the next frame, someone asks John to help them light their cigarette: “have you got a match, John?”, to which, in the next frame, John replies, “not since Errol Flynn died”. Maybe you had to be there.

I asked a couple of artificial intelligence image generators to produce pictures of two DJs at a student disco in the 1980s with very few students in attendance and even fewer of them dancing. Most of the attempts were risible. The AI simply cannot get its artificial head around the idea of a near-empty dance floor.

This is the best of the AI images – from DALL-E, but the Keele SU disco looked nothing like that.

Better to feast your eyes on the gorgeous headline image of the Keele SU Ballroom, with thanks again to the RIBA Collection for permission to use.

When The Keele Students’ Union Bars (aka Tommy And Ralph) Saga Came To A Head, Early August 1984

University Of Keele Students’ Union Bar, Early 1980s, with grateful thanks to Peter Meade, Keele Alum & Photographer – check out his amazing work through this link.

There was a great deal to learn when we started our Keele Union Committee roles, not least our own portfolios (in my case Education & Welfare) but also the general management of the Students’ Union as a business. One issue dominated those early weeks of our tenure in the summer of 1984 – the matter of significant stock losses across the three bars in the union – sums that were turning a potentially profitable (or at least break even) business into a significantly loss-making one.

The subject was well covered in Concourse by Vanessa Kent while I was busy doing my finals:

I recall that we were advised by the Unions’ Permanent Secretary, Tony Derricott, that our predecessor committee had started but not concluded a disciplinary process against the bar managers, Tommy Armour and Ralph Newton. It was, we were advised, imperative that we concluded that process one way or another in a reasonably timely fashion.

I don’t mention the problem directly in my diary until the matter came to a head, but some of my diary notes indicate roughly when things panned out.

I mention a long Union Committee meeting 8 June and use the word “corruption” to describe a central topic. I want to say from the outset that we concluded in the end that management/permanent staff corruption was not involved. The problem, as we identified it, was to a large extent, management’s inability to control part-time student bar staff, some of whom would support their friends’ drinking habits through low charging or no charging.

The sums of money were very significant. We estimated the stock losses to be running at £10,000 to £15,000 per annum at that time – in beer purchasing power terms that’s more like £100,000 to £150,000 per annum in 2024 money.

Each mention of Union Committee in my June and July diaries talks about the meeting being long and/or “dragged on”. It was this topic that dominated the agenda, although there were of course many other items to discuss as well.

At least one or two of those meetings in July were also interim disciplinary hearings. We took the view that our committee needed to examine all the evidence and allow Tommy and Ralph time to explain the substantial stock deficits and their plans for rectifying them. This required us to allow enough time for subsequent stock takes to occur and then be reported back to us.

Measure for measure

Kate and I visited the Union’s solicitor in late July for advice on process, knowing that the matter almost certainly could not fairly be concluded before Kate Fricker was going to be in the USA on holiday.

The upshot was, a meeting on 31 July at which the committee agreed to issue a final warning based on incapacity – i.e. that the managers seemed incapable of explaining the losses and/or producing a plan of action to solve the problem.

We set a deadline and meeting to review any subsequent findings/explanations that the managers might produce, in consultation with their trades union reps, timetabled for 3rd August. We (Union Committee) agreed that I would chair that meeting in Kate’s absence. I recall that Kate was not at all happy about needing to devolve that responsibility, but it was clear from the legal guidance that we needed to progress using that timetable, rather than wait for Kate’s return..

My diary page for the preceding day, the day of the concluding hearing itself and the day after reads as follows:

Thursday 2 August 1984 – Busy day at the office – getting things ready for tomorrow etc. Melissa [Oliveck] came up – cooked her a meal and went down union after and [Melissa] stopped over.

Friday 3 August 1984 – Gruelling day. – UC [Union Committee] meeting went on for over four hours – sacked Ralph and Tommy. Changed locks etc – then went out in evening with Ashley [Fletcher] Frank [Dillon] and Melissa to KRA [Keele Research Association – postgraduate bar].

Saturday 4 August 1984 – Most of the day in the office sorting stuff out – came down union in evening.

I put a great deal of effort into making sure that I was fully prepared for either eventuality – a decision to dismiss or a decision not to dismiss. While we thought it unlikely that Tommy and Ralph might produce explanations and or plans of significantly higher quality than before, I wanted to be ready to announce either possibility with clarity and conviction. I wrote quite detailed notes on “what to say if we dismiss” and “what to say if we do not dismiss”, not least because I was so darned nervous I thought I might freeze without prompts. I wrote those notes slowly in block capitals too, to ensure that I could read my own handwriting, even when feeling nervous.

The fact that I note cooking for Melissa and her “stopping over” at the flat suggests that Pete Wild, the Treasurer, must have been away at that time, as Pete also lived in that flat. But apart from Kate and Pete I think the rest of the committee was there for that gruelling 3 August meeting.

The matter came to a head

I didn’t shirk from my responsibility – looking those employees in the eye – Tommy who had served for 16 years, Ralph for six – telling them that they no longer had jobs and explaining why. I firmly believed and still believe that it was absolutely the right decision for the Students’ Union. But I, along with the other members of the committee, felt a great deal of sympathy with the sacked employees, who, we felt, were victims of circumstance. The scale of the Students’ Union bar business “had got big on them” and they simply were incapable of managing a large three-bar outlet of that scale. Both had started as part-time bar mangers.

I spent a long time in the office the following day, Saturday, not least formally typing up the decision and getting that into the post that day, in order to comply as fully as I knew how with the rule in the staff handbook that letters of dismissal should be sent as soon as possible after a dismissal hearing.

The matter was far from resolved in early August. Tommy and Ralph’s NUPE (National Union of Public Employees, now part of UNISON) rep, Derek Bamford, told us in no uncertain terms that they would be pursuing every possible avenue of appeal, which they did. There will be plenty more about this matter in my Ogblog pages covering the period right up to the end of 1984.

The experience has had a profound effect on my attitude towards employment matters for the decades since. In my management consultancy years, late 1980s until around the turn of the century, I was always hard on colleagues who “played fast and loose” with company reorganisations, especially in circumstances when they would not have to see through their recommendations and were disparaging about clients’ reluctance to dismiss people. “Have you ever looked long-standing employees in the eye and told them that they no longer have jobs?”, I would tend to say, to ensure that such decisions were well thought through, made only when necessary, and delivered sensitively. In my own firm, we have very rarely dismissed a member of staff – I could count the times over the decades on the fingers of one hand – and I consider such rare occurrences primarily to be a fail on our part as employers.

I’d be really interested to hear from other members of that Union Committee on how they remember this aspect of our work together, and how it affected them. Either privately or in a form that I might publish as a postscript here.

What I Did As Keele Education & Welfare Officer In The Summer Holidays Part One: One Or Two Tough Cases, Getting To Know Colleagues, A Short (Unexpectedly Sad) Visit To My Family, Plus, Least Interestingly But Most Importantly, Sorting Out The Filing System, July 1984

The headline image is from Watergate. Keele SU ones looked startlingly similar. Cornellrockey, CC BY-SA 4.0

You want to know more than the headline reveals? Bless you.

Sunday 8 July 1984 – Rose late – Kate came over for lunch (curry) looked into PS&D [Policy Staffing & Development Committee – the main sub-committee of Senate, the latter mostly rubber-stamping recommendations from PS&D] stuff – watched tennis & video. Truda [Smith] came over later – went to union after.

I hope Kate (now Susan) Fricker remembers the magnificence of that curry. In those days, my curry recipe tended to be either mince or chicken, with lots of onion, tomato puree and (luxury item) sultanas. Usually the curry would be based on garam masala or madras spices, with a sauce base of chicken stock. I would sometimes add bhindi (okra) – if I could get hold of them. Patna rice, almost certainly – the budget didn’t stretch to basmati on student grant money. Basic, but tasty.

The tennis on the TV would have been a very short final between John McEnroe and Jimmy Connors. We might also have watched John Lloyd and Wendy Turnbull win the mixed doubles, while preparing for our first major University Committee meeting; PS&D.

I have no recollection of ever having a video machine in the flat – someone must have left it with me for safe-keeping over the summer and I don’t suppose I used it very much.

Kate (Susan) Fricker with Truda Smith in 1985 – thanks Mark Ellicott

Monday, 9 July 1984 – Busyish day – Hayward [Burt] et. al. came to VC’s garden party in early eve – all went back to John’s [White – presumably still in his Barnes flat at that time] and on to union after.

Tuesday, 10 July 1984 – Busy day – meetings [not least that PS&D, presumably] etc – went to union committee afternoon etc. John and Hayward came back for curry ->to Betley boozing.

Wednesday, 11 July 1984 – Busy day at work – worked late – went NSP [North Staffs Poly – presumably to meet their union committee sabbaticals] for lunch. Played tennis with Kate -> McDonald’s – worked late – stayed in bar.

John White recalls us all going out to Betley in someone’s car [Hayward perhaps?] for a booze after dinner. But did we go to the Hand And Trumpet or The Swan Inn? My diary is silent on this and, sadly, John took a sabbatical from diary writing as well as a Union sabbatical that year.

I don’t remember ever playing tennis with Kate, but the diary says that we did, so we did. It almost certainly won’t have been the sort of exhilarating, nail-biting experience I was used to with Alan (Great Yorkshire Pudding) Gorman and I was certainly not yet experienced enough to deploy handicapping to enhance the excitement of a tennis game.

Thursday, 12 July 1984 – Horrid day – [name redacted] theft case took most of the day. Went to Kate’s for dinner – very pleasant evening – late night.

John White remembers that horrid day well, although his angle on it was somewhat different. John heard a kerfuffle by the pigeon-holes and went out to interrupt a ferocious argument between two students, one of whom had caught the other student red-handed stealing his incoming mail from the pigeon-holes. I ended up spending much of the day providing pastoral care, initially to the victim (who was easily placated once the police had been called) and then to both the culprit and the police. Suffice it to say that the culprit’s room was chock-full of evidence that the pigeon-hole incident that had been interrupted was far from a one-off.

I only had a handful of those very difficult and emotionally draining cases during my year – that one was an early baptism of fire.

I didn’t run away to London as a result of that trauma – the week off in Streatham with my family had been planned, although the sad event that occurred while I was with my family was not part of the plan.

We Interrupt This Sabbatical For A Ten Day Break In London

Friday 13 July 1984 – Fairly busy day at office – finished early to travel to London with John – long haul due to strike. Got back late.

Saturday 14 July 1984 – Lazy day – shopped in Streatham – spoke to people – taped etc. Stayed in evening.

Sunday, 15 July 1984 – Lazyish day – went for Indian lunch – went on to visit Grandma Jenny and Uncle Louis. Stayed in evening.

Grandma Jenny, Grandpa Lew & Uncle Louis, late 1930s

Grandma Jenny was my step-grandmother, although you would never have known the “step” element from the amount of care, love and attention I received from her and her (Barst) family. My Grandpa Lew died before I was born. Uncle Louis was Jenny’s brother, my step-great-uncle. Louis was widowed in the early 1980s, soon after which he and Jenny, who were great pals, decided to live out their days together in a flat in Surbiton. Uncle Louis was a really lovely man; I’d be surprised if anyone had a bad word to say about him.

Grandma Jenny, mid 1980s, in the Dolphin Close, Surbiton flat

Monday 16 July 1984 – Lazyish day – Shopped in Streatham etc – met Jimmy {Bateman] for drinks in evening.

Tuesday 17 July 1984 – Went to town late morning – went Annalisa’s [de Mercur] (met her from hospital) [If I recall correctly, Uncle Louis was taken ill and hospitalised just a day or so after our “regular” visit that weekend]. Met Simon [Jacobs] after in afternoon – went home. Stayed in evening.

Wednesday, 18 July 1984 – Lazyish day – did some taping – read etc. – went to Brixton in afternoon – stayed in evening.

Thursday, 19 July 1984 -Heard Uncle Louis died this morning – met Caroline for lunch as arranged, then -> Grandma Jenny for afternoon – met Jilly [Black] for Chinese meal etc. in evening.

Friday, 20 July 1984 – Went to shop with dad – wrote up books – went to funeral – went back with Grandma Jenny afterwards – went home for dinner –> Pam & Michael’s [Harris] in the evening.

Saturday 21 July 1984 -Paul [Deacon] came over in afternoon for a while – had dinner then went over to Andrea’s [Dean] for evening – stayed up late – stopped over [at Bushy House].

Sunday 22 July 1984 – Went back to Streatham quite early – had Italian lunch, then photo sesh, then returned to Keele – went union in evening for drink.

I had been racking my brains to try to work out what “photo sesh” might mean. I wasn’t aware of any pictures of that vintage in mum and dad’s collection. But then, by 1984, dad had become positively reckless in the matter of labelling pictures and/or keeping negatives with prints. A photographer/photographic dealer for pity’s sake. Talk about cobblers’ children.

Anyway, a trawl of the muddle that is the post 1980 photo estate, forty years on, has, unfortunately for the viewer, uncovered this:

I am surely sporting the very finest mid 1980s sportwear that a limited budget could buy in the sales in Streatham High Street back then.

If any readers/viewers have been troubled by this disturbing image, please contact the Ogblog Action Line, where trained trauma counsellors are standing by.

Moving Swiftly On: Back At Keele Sorting Out The Students’ Union – Last Week Of July 1984

Monday 23 July 1984 – Busy day in office – getting backlog of work done – etc. Work till fairly late and went for a drink after work.

Tuesday 24 July 1984 – Busy day today – working on filing system, etc. Annalisa came up – cooked her a meal etc.

Wednesday 25 July 1984 – Very busy day – worked till very late – Annalisa stayed and helped – Kate worked late too.

Annalisa was a great help as well as a very good friend, not only in those early days of the sabbatical but throughout my sabbatical year

Thursday, 26 July 1984 – Still busy with stuff. Annalisa finished her bit and left. Frank [Dillon] and Kate came over for dinner and much booze.

Friday, 27 July 1984 – Extremely busy day today – sorting stuff out for tomorrow etc. Shopped. Worked till late. Stayed up till very late.

Saturday 28 July 1984 – Union committee meeting this morning – dragged on – stayed in office tied up etc – union evening – disco.

That will have been the first time that John White and I DJ’d the Keele SU disco. It was far from the last time. I don’t suppose our efforts were masterful that first time, but they won’t have been bad and there would have been a fair smattering of Motown/Northern Soul involved. More on that topic anon.

Sunday 29 July 1984 – Spent most of the day cooking and lazing around – John, Pady [Jalali] and Kate came over dinner.

Monday, 30 July 1984 – Very rushed today – lots of customers – stayed in office till late and finished files.

Tuesday, 31 July 1984 – Busy day out – Civic offices and union solicitors in the morning. Union committee in afternoon – went Union in evening.

“Went Union in evening” sounds like a busman’s holiday for those of us working there, but we didn’t get out much (other than the Union) that year.

The mention of the visit to solicitors foreshadows the “elephant in the room” from these July diaries, unmentioned but soon to come to a head: the massive problems we inherited from our predecessors regarding the management of, and stock losses from, the several Union bars. The next episode will explain.

Festivities, Results, “Graduation” & Equality At Keele, Late June To Early July 1984

With thanks to Jean-Marc Alter for permission to use this picture of the Economics Department graduating from our year. I’m hiding towards the back.

As someone who had completed his finals and was also a new sabbatical, this period was quite a strange one. We wanted to hit the ground running as an incoming Union Committee, but those of us who had just completed our finals (me, John White and Pady Jalali) also had some celebrating to do with our fellow finalists.

Here’s the transcription from my diary for the last week of June 1984

Sunday, 24 June 1984 – Lazy day – Rose etc. Went to International Fair – had Chinese takeaway after – came back to mine.

The International Fair made Page 5 of the Evening Sentinel, whereas my Chinese takeaway did not:

Sentinel International FairSentinel International Fair 25 Jun 1984, Mon Evening Sentinel (Stoke-on-Trent, Staffordshire, England) Newspapers.com

Monday 25 June 1984 – Busyish day with meetings etc. Went to town in eve – went to Ritzys [?] do for a while. Went back to B’s.

As always, my writing is hard to read in places. I don’t remember a place named Ritzys – but equally I couldn’t swear that my scribble is that word. Feel free to judge for yourselves.

Postscript: Julia Taylor writes in to confirm that “Ritzy’s was a nightclub. North part of Newcastle town.” Thanks Julia.

Tuesday 26 June 1984 – Busy morning – played political cricket afternoon – good fun. Went to town for McDonalds – stayed in at Bobbies – came back to mine.

I wrote up the “Political Cricket” match some while ago – click here or below for that article:

O Captain! My Captain! – Gentlemen Of The Right v Players Of The Left – Keele Festival Week Cricket Match, 26 June 1984

Wednesday 27 June 1984 – tense morning waiting for results – 2:1 – had quite a lot to drink. Went to Plesch’s – Bobbie’s after – stayed.

Thursday, 28 June 1984 – busyish day work – Politics do lunch. Went to Law finals party early eve – watched film – union ball – did duty – went home late.

I made no notes about that year’s ball. I’d love to be reminded by someone who played that ball etc. Pady – do you remember?

Postscript: Summer Ball 28 June 1984

Who needs memory when your Newspapers.com subscription now includes the Evening Sentinel Archive? We saw Bad Manners (for a second time, I think, in my case), New Sweet (playing old Sweet songs) and The Shillelagh Sisters. I remember especially liking the latter. Their Wikipedia entry tells us: “The group was founded in early 1983 in a men’s restroom at a party.” Say no more.

Sentinel Ball line up 28 June 1984Sentinel Ball line up 28 June 1984 19 Jun 1984, Tue Evening Sentinel (Stoke-on-Trent, Staffordshire, England) Newspapers.com

Friday 29 June 1984 Rose early – meetings most of day – very tiring. Got Chinese takeaway – went to Liz party – came back here after.

Saturday 30 June 1984 Rose late – lazyish day – Annalisa [de Mercur] came over – went to town for tea – went to graduand’s dinner after – stay in (after union business bar closure) – B stayed.

Sunday 1 July 1984 – Lazyish day – rose quite late. Did little all day (popped into office, laundered etc). Went for Indian meal in eve – came back to mine.

Monday 2 July 1984 – Busy day for meetings – Senate in morning – Union Committee/finance in afternoon. Lazy evening at Bobbie’s – drank some – came back to my place.

That would have been my first Senate meeting. I have some specific memories about goings-on at Senate, which I shall enjoy sharing in the coming months, but I have no specific recollections from that first meeting.

Tuesday3 July 1984 – Graduation day – I {slepflated??} early afternoon – easy time – went down to lawns for tea – Bobby’s mum etc – went for dinner – Bobby opted to stay – packed!

I cannot fathom the word or two after the word “I” on Graduation Day. John White has had a go at studying a magnified printout of the diary page with no joy. Some amongst the hive mind of cryptographer-readers out there might be able to decipher it.

To my subsequent slight regret, I decided some months before graduating that I would graduate in absentia, choosing not to “bow and scrape” to Princess Margaret at a ceremonial function which i felt had little or no meaning to me. My regret, in hindsight, is that I denied my parents the opportunity to attend such a thing. I had told them that it would be a long and boring ceremony in which I would play a minuscule part. That much was probably true.

I also missed out on the hoity-toitying opportunity afforded to sabbaticals on such occasions. Fortunately John White took up that offer and has written up his experience of graduation day for you, making my absence less important in the matter of historical record:

John White Guest Piece: Graduation Day With Princess Margaret & Viscount Tonypandy, 3 July 1984

If I recall correctly, it was the invitation to that pre-graduation event that got me into some deep water with the press. In my defence, I don’t think I was well-advised by the unions’ permanent secretary. When I asked how I should decline such an invitation, Tony Derricott shrugged and suggested that I simply state that I was otherwise engaged. I realise now that I should have bigged-up the excuse for missing out on a Royal invitation. “An unavoidable family commitment” or some such.

Someone in Princess Margaret’s office must have found my note uppity and tipped off Nigel Dempster at The Daily Mail. Being dumped on by “Dumpster” was a badge of honour in many respects. All the more so, on this occasion, because Dumpster got every material fact about me and the situation wrong, apart from my name and the fact that I didn’t attend. The Daily Mail even printed my rebuttal letter a short while later, which added a little to the badge of honour…or possibly detracted from it.

“One was a little disappointed not to meet the infamous Mr Harris…”

Let us move on.

Wednesday 4 July 1984 – Busyish day – Bobby left – worked till quite late – got McDonalds and went to union after.

Thursday 5 July 1984 – Hard work today to do – sorting stuff out et cetera. Worked till quite late – cooked John [White] curry – went down union after.

Friday, 6 July 1984 Busy day at the office – work till quite late – went to McDonalds with Kate – went to union after.

Saturday 7 July 1984 – Lazyish day – went to CRE [Commission For Racial Equality] meetings in afternoon – watched tennis – met CLC/CRE [Community Relations Commission/Commission For Racial Equality] people again after -> Union for drinks.

I now remember that Saturday rather well…

…yes, I know, John, I couldn’t recall what CRE stood for when I met you, only five days before publishing this piece…it all flooded back into my head when I started to write this up.

The tennis will have been the Wimbledon Ladies Final – Martina Navratilova v Chris Evert Lloyd (as the latter was then known):

The Commission for Racial Equality conference at Keele was right up my street, as I had just graduated in Law, including a good paper for Professor Don Thompson’s Civil Liberties module. Don was also Acting Vice Chancellor at that time and asked me to help host the visiting CRE.

I remember in particular meeting Herman Ouseley at that event and having a long chat with him during one of the more social opportunities during or after the conference. He was a most engaging and interesting person…probably still is.

I believe I also met the trades union leader Bill Morris for the first time at that conference. I’m not sure whether Kate and/or John joined us for some of the social activities around that conference. Perhaps one or both will remember.

Subsequently Lord Ouseley – picture by Chris McAndrew, CC BY 3.0.

I realise with hindsight how privileged we were, as sabbaticals, to meet and socialise with such folk at Keele. At the time, as a 21-year-old, it just seemed to come as part of the deal.

John White Guest Piece: Graduation Day With Princess Margaret & Viscount Tonypandy, 3 July 1984

John White mid-1980s – with thanks to Mark Ellicott for the picture

While I chose to graduate in absentia and write something indecipherable in my diary about that day (more on that anon), John White, without the aid of diary postings, recalls that day well and has written a cracker of a guest piece about it.

Many thanks, John.

THE DAY WE WENT TO HANLEY

It was graduation day 1984. As the newly elected Keele Student’s Union Secretary, I and President, Kate Fricker, found ourselves in the unexpected position of joining Keele’s Chancellor, Princess Margaret, and other University luminaries for lunch before that year’s Graduation Ceremony.

Uncomfortably dressed up, Kate and I were stuck on the end of a long line to be introduced to the Queen’s sister as the least important of the guests on display. She slowly made her way down the obsequious line of bowers, scrappers and curtseyers until she eventually arrived at the end where we were introduced. As a republican I was a tad nervous the security service would be on my case for any signs of protest. I did not plan to make any and frankly just felt I had to do what I had to do – and in any case I would get some free alcohol and some nice nosh.

After the “what did you study?” conversation, there was a pause as no-one seemed to know what would happen next. This presented Kate and I with a few extra seconds of air time with royalty, much to the chagrin of the people back up the line, who were clearly bothered about the shorter amount time they got with Keele’s very own Royal. I distinctly remember jealous heads leaning forward and eyes staring at the two uppity and undeserving students who were only there because they had to be. It made me smile and I can’t remember at all what was said. Sadly The Crown did not capture this moment so, unless Kate can remember, I think the no-doubt-erudite-and-witty [verbal] jousting with Princess M will have to remain lost to history.

Lunch was good. Lamb I think and a few glasses of vino. I was smoking then and extremely miffed that a waiter kept offering the Princess a fag from a nice looking box but never looked like flashing the ash to the rest of us. I kept my own Bensons [other brands of cigarette were and still are available…but not recommended – ed.] safe for later – maybe she would fancy one if I got the chance to offer, I mused. Well there was no chance as she got whisked away as soon as lunch was over for a chauffeur driven ride to the Victoria Hall in Hanley, Stoke, where the degree ceremony took place.

“By George!” George Thomas c1955, aka Viscount Tonypandy by the time John White met him.

Kate was not graduating that year so went back to the Union whilst I was placed in a coach with the other lunch guests to be taken to Hanley. I got to sit with George Thomas, Lord (Viscount) Tonypandy who had been a well-liked and respected speaker of the House of Commons up until the June 1983 election when Mrs Thatch won a landslide after the Falklands War. He took genuine interest in me, was not in the least bit patronising and spoke eloquently about the value of democracy and the privilege of being elected, congratulating me on my recent election. I felt like I had just made it to the House of Commons. His kindness has stuck with me.

The rest of the ceremony was mundane. All the students were lined up and marched across the stage to bow with varying degrees of enthusiasm to Princess Margaret and we got handed a certificate if I remember correctly by someone else before shuffling off the other side of the stage.

Photo from 1983 ceremony by Caroline Sene (Caroline Shannon) “borrowed” from the Keele Oral History Project site, with thanks.

I met mum and dad afterwards and we drove to a lay-by on a country road near Madeley to consume a bottle of champagne before they dropped me back at Keele and went home. There were a bunch of people drinking in the Union that night but I guess with all the mums and dads around and the sense that this really was the end of student life it wasn’t at all raucous, unlike results day.

Ah yes, results day. I’ll cover that and my own indecipherable graduation day activities in my next instalment.

Many thanks once again to John White for this lovely guest memory piece.

What The Paper Said Forty Years Ago: Concourse Articles On & By The New Union Committee, June 1984

Kate Fricker

I kept copies of Concourse from the tail end of my Keele career – I have most if not all from 1984 and the first half of 1985.

I’m glad I have copies of these papers, as they are very helpful memory joggers for that Students’ Union heavy period of my Keele time.

I shall be peppering Ogblog with extracts from Concourse as well as my diaries as I write up this period.

Concourse Writing On The New Sabbaticals, June 1984

The following two page spread from the June 1984 issue of Concourse was a preview piece about the four sabbaticals who had just taken office for 1984/85:

  • Kate (formerly and latterly known as Susan) Fricker – President;
  • John S White – Secretary;
  • Pady Jalali – Social Secretary;
  • Me – Education & Welfare.

Re-reading that material after all these years, I think Ralph Parker gave us a warm-hearted preview and a fair amount of leeway for our “honeymoon period”.

There was an element of editorial line involved, I sense. The previous committee had been much criticised for being disorganised and self-serving. Seeking extra pay at the end of their tenure didn’t help their cause with either the media or the Keele masses. Hence there was a prevailing view that the new lot couldn’t be worse and needed some space to grapple with the issues…

…writing this in July 2024, it reminds of the mood regarding the change of government in the UK!

Further, the Concourse line was somewhat celebratory about the new committee containing so many Concourse folk past and present: both John White and Ali Dabbs were on the Editorial Board when elected and I was well-known to have been a Concourse writer for several years…as well as, unbeknown to them, undercover gossip columnist H. Ackgrass.

Concourse Writing By The New Committee, June 1984

Quentin Rubens – granting us space

Putting aside my June 1984 H Ackgrass column, which I shall publish separately, here are the three articles that Concourse Editor Quentin Rubens generously granted to his old pals in that issue. Would he have given me a full half page had he known that I was also H Ackgrass? Would he have even spoken to me?

First up, a page containing John White’s report on a campus fire incident and Ali Dabbs’s investigative reporting (which it seems had been ongoing for some months) about that perennially important student issue: bar licence extensions:

My piece was more in keeping with the notion of guest space for committee members with something to say to the students. Mine was about the grant cuts and academic staffing.

Meet Lord Rochester, The Curious Case Of Martin Dent’s Farm, Mavis’s Leaving Do, Barnes L54 Pub Crawl & More, Mid June 1984

Not THAT Lord Rochester, that would defy reason!

It seems that our sabbatical year technically started in early/mid June. Who knew? I suppose we did. Anyway, diary says so.

My First Sabbatical Week

Sunday, 10 June 1984 – Earlyish start – pottered – played tennis with Pud [Alan Gorman] – went to dinner with Jula and Aid at Bobbie’s in eve – earlyish night.

Monday, 11 June 1984 – Met Lord Rochester [Rt Hon The Lord Rochester, DL, then Chair of the University’s Council] in morning – first proper day [of sabbatical] – UGM in evening – heavy – Bobby came back after (party bit).

Leisure Games place probably looked a bit like this. Lino Wirag, CC BY-SA 4.0

Tuesday, 12 June 1984 – Busy day – went to Leisure Games [supplier of pinball and arcade machines to the union] lunch, v nice, played tennis with Viv early eve – went union in eve with Bobbie and Jula.

Wednesday, 13 June 1984 – Loads of meetings etc today (including Senate etc.) – Went down union in evening after – Bobbie came back.

Thursday, 14 June 1984 – Hard day at work – UC [Union Committee] dragged on etc. Played tennis in early eve [that must have been Alan Gorman again as unnamed] – went union for drink in evening Bobbie and Jula.

Friday, 15 June 1984 – Busy day in the office today – went to Candles in evening with Bobbie.

Saturday, 16 June 1984- Went to Martin Dent’s farm with Bobby and Co for day – very pleasant day. Stayed at B’s after.

The visit to Martin Dent’s Farm was one of the strangest and most memorable days I spent during my five years at Keele. Bobbie studied politics as well as law. Martin Dent was her tutor for a course in international politics.

In many ways Martin Dent’s glory days were ahead of him while we were at Keele – in the 1990s he achieved fame and praise as the brains behind The Jubilee Campaign, which successfully led to the cancellation of $120 Billion of developing world debt in the year 2000 – back when $120 Billion was real money. Here is a link to an article about Jubilee 2000 on the Keele website.

Here is a link to Martin’s obituary in The Guardian.

“Bobbie & Co” refers to the small group of students who were in Martin’s final year tutor group that year, including the suggestion, “bring your boyfriends and girlfriends if you wish”, which is why I tagged along with Bobs.

While it was, in essence, simply a day out on a farm where we ate, drank, walked and chatted, it was hugely memorable, due to Martin’s benevolent eccentricity.

The first thing we did after gathering outside the Union for this outing was a visit to the campus store, where Martin bought a full set of crockery and metal cutlery for our picnic. I think the food had been sort-of catered and was already loaded into a coach/minibus which was waiting for us.

When we arrived at the farm, which was apparently something that Martin had inherited and which he left in the hands of managing/tenant farmers, we had to clear away the previous year’s picnic, which meant throwing away a full set of crockery and cutlery which had long-since caked on & decayed food all over it. This seemed, to me, to be a novel approach to the concept of single use cutlery and crockery which was certainly not good for the planet.

We also got the impression that Martin’s team at the farm were less than happy, to the point of being contemptuous, on the rare occasions that their boss visited his farm. I remember Martin making one or two suggestions to them, which I felt from their responses were destined to be ignored. But then, I also felt that the matters were destined to be forgotten by Martin within moments of his pronouncements.

Yet it was clear from that day out and from my subsequent chats with martin during my sabbatical year, that he was a thoroughly decent and incredibly warm-hearted man. I don’t suppose he could imagine anything other than warm-heartedness in others, which for some of his enterprises was a problem but, ultimately, when he took his big ideas about world debt forward, he made a much larger contribution to reducing inequality and poverty in this world than most politicians could dream of.

I’m sure many readers have interesting memories of Martin – feel free to share them here.

Sir Thomas Fowell Buxton, 1st Baronet Buxton of Belfield and Runton. Abolitionist extraordinaire and Martin Dent’s Great, great, great grandfather.

My Second Sabbatical Week

Sunday, 17 June 1984 – rose quite early – laundry etc. Played tennis in afternoon [Alan Gorman again] – cooked Bobby a vindaloo in evening – very nice.

Monday, 18 June 1984 – Busyish day at work. Went to union for drink in evening.

Tuesday 19 June 1984 – busy day in office – went to Lindsay coffee lounge do in early eve – stayed in after (tired).

Wednesday 20 June 1984 – Big and tiring day with meetings etc. Early eve – went to Mavis’s retirement do – stayed in with Bobby after.

Thursday, 21 June 1984 – Busy day with meetings etc – went to Senate and Council reception in early eve – on to Lindsay Ball after – late night.

Friday, 22 June 1984 – Meetings etc – busy day – not feeling at all well today – put in brief appearance at L54 [Barnes, my flat] pub crawl – came back – slept.

Saturday 23 June 1984 – Still not well today – went to Newcastle in afternoon etc – Went to Coach House for eve – v nice – went back to Bobbie’s.

I seem to recall Mavis’s leaving do being written up in Concourse and I’m pretty sure I have a copy somewhere – I’ll add an appendix with the article if/when I find it. I am also making a mental (and written) note here to discuss soon with John White how we might liaise over writing some of these tales from our sabbatical year, as many of the interesting stories will be shared ones from that year and I think he possibly even kept diaries still at that time.

Postscript: Actually The Evening Sentinel’s write up of Mavis’s do was better than the Concourse one – really charming:
Sentinel Mavis Leaving DoSentinel Mavis Leaving Do 25 Jun 1984, Mon Evening Sentinel (Stoke-on-Trent, Staffordshire, England) Newspapers.com

I’d almost forgotten Bobbie’s taste for a hot curry back then. Her dad was working in Pakistan and Nigeria a lot at that time, as a civil engineer – Bobbie acquired a taste for serious spices on her visits to those places. I don’t think vindaloo appeared on my cooking menu much after that era.

Anyone remember who played Lindsay Ball that summer? As I didn’t note the name, it quite possibly wasn’t a memorable name to me.

I don’t remember much about the summer L54 pub crawl, but I did write up the winter one from six month’s earlier. The memories (or lack thereof) are probably an amalgam of the two:

Oh Balls! Two Balls & A Pub Crawl In One Keele December Week, 12 to 18 December 1983

Good-Bye To Barnes L54 And All That, Summer 1984

Image borrowed from studentcrowd.com

I spent two of my five years at Keele in Barnes L54, as reported on these pages in several past pieces. I have happy memories of my time there, not least because my time sharing a flat at Keele was the only time in my life that I have flat-shared in that “Home Of Multiple Occupation” sense.

I was really touched when I stumbled across the following letter from the June 1984 edition of Concourse.

In truth I barely remember the four of us deciding to write that letter to Concourse. Part of the motivation was mine, to make a public goodbye to the flat. the other three, after all, were to stay on in the flat after I had departed, with Hayward Burt joining them in my place:

Hayward quite literally in my place: in 1985, Barnes L54 as THAT’S EXACTLY where I used to sit. Thanks Mark Ellicott for the picture.

The references in Concourse to Barnes L54 being a Machiavellian Students’ Union political stronghold mostly emanated from my H Ackgrass column, ably assisted by my spies, three of whom were my flatmates. So the argument is more than a little bit circular and the “gripe” was really an in joke amongst us, not least becuase my identity as H Ackgrass remained a secret for a further year.

The gossip-fest to which I refer was mostly in my third Ackgrass column, although I think there was also at least a mention in the previous column.

H Ackgrass’s Third Column In Concourse, Plus A Carbon Copy Of The Original Submission, May 1984

I have managed to re-engage with the West Country contingent (Chris Spencer and Hayward) as part of my Ogblogging process. Pete Wild seems harder to contact – if anyone out there is in touch with him, I expect he’d enjoy seeing this letter again.

Sadly, Alan “The Great Yorkshire Pudding” Gorman died several years ago, having moved to the USA quite soon after graduating. His widow, Susan and sons have been following these Barnes L54 reminiscences and I hope they find this letter as touching as I did. It reads, to me, like mostly Alan’s writing, informed/tweaked by the rest of us. It oozes his sense of humo(u)r.

Moved I was. Physically moved, at the end of August 1984, to a small tutor’s flat in K-Block Horwood. Emotionally moved, by re-finding this letter in that old copy of Concourse, during August 2024.

Never A Cross Word Over The Crossword: Newspaper Habits in Barnes L54, Keele, 1982 To 1984

Livy and let Livy, that was our motto

My series of pieces about my somewhat distracted run up to finals at Keele in 1984 might have given readers the impression that I was doing very little reading and paying little heed to my papers.

Nothing could be further from the truth.

Indeed, reflecting on my two happy academic years living in Barnes L54, 1982/83 and 1983/84, I realise that there is an element of that lifestyle that has gone unmentioned in these pieces so far.

The newspapers.

From the outset, we took The Guardian as a flat through our kitty during term time. We also, if I remember correctly, took both The Sunday Times and The Observer on a Sunday.

Everyone in the flat at least dipped into the papers. The main beneficiaries of the paper habit were undoubtedly me and Alan “The Great Yorkshire Pudding” Gorman. In part, this is because we probably did more reading and dipping than anyone else, but also because we became addicted to doing The Guardian crossword.

“I’ve done most of it, Bagel Boy, see if you can finish it off”

Quite often, one or other of us would be up earlier, if we had lectures or classes to attend while the other did not. More likely Alan would get to the paper first, as he more often had early classes and I would quite often stay at Bobbie’s and return in the morning. A note, along the lines of the above picture caption, might well be waiting for me in those circumstances.

Sometimes the earliest riser couldn’t get very far and the second-dipper would make most of the progress. The second-dipper’s note might have a more competitive tone to it in those circumstances.

It was an exercise in co-opetition rather than competition, though. Our mission was to complete the crossword between the two of us. We would regularly spend time on the puzzle together to finish it off, perhaps late afternoon or over our evening meal. Quite often we would succeed in completing the puzzle. Only occasionally would we be seriously confounded and fail spectacularly. Fairly often, we would struggle with just one or two clues at the end.

We became familiar with the compilers – some easier than others. Often our nemesis was Araucaria, who was known as a difficult compiler. An example from our era is shown below;

Araucaria May 1984Araucaria May 1984 16 May 1984, Wed The Guardian (London, Greater London, England) Newspapers.com

In those days, there was no Google or ChatGPT to resort to if we were stuck. We might check the spelling of a word in the dictionary or resort to my trusty copy of Roget’s Thesaurus if desperate, but the clues that confounded us tended to be factual items.

I remember one occasion when we were both struggling to work out where Tanganyika Territory was, to try to resolve a clue. I think Alan might even have ventured to the library to get intelligence on that one and I vaguely recall that the intelligence did not help us solve the clue. That was probably one of Araucaria’s. Forty years later, I have only just learnt the significance of the compiler’s name.

Araucaria araucana (Monkey Puzzle Tree) 
BillyKwiki at the English-language Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 3.0

One other vain attempt to solve a sole remaining clue lives clearly in my memory. The clue was something to do with a Roman writer/historian and the answer only required four letters – blank-I-blank-Y. The answer, to spare you the agony that Alan and I went through, was LIVY. But neither of us were familiar with the works of Livy. Indeed, the only four letter word Roman writer either of us could think of was Ovid. I became convinced that Ovid might well have been known as “Vidy” to his friends, after which we explored many different permutations of “blank-I-blank-Y”. We had a good laugh over some of the possibilities we invented. We would advocate a name and then extemporize the tale of this imagined Roman’s character and works.

One or two of the ideas we explored, tongue in cheek, would not pass the political correctness test. The only Roman historian I could think of was Flavius Josephus – who knows how his detractors might have nicknamed him? Alan and I spent an inordinate amount of time and effort coming up with possible answers to this crossword clue, one of which was probably Livy, but we gave that idea no more credence than any other permutation we could invent.

“Maybe you had to be there”

Finally Finals Finished: How Lowe Can You Stoop?… Or, How Not To Revise For Finals At Keele – The Fourth & Final Part, Late May To Early June 1984

“Well I won’t be going back in there again in a hurry”, Keele University Library, Jonathan Hutchins, Wikimedia Commons

For many years, indeed decades, I have had an occasional but clearly recurring nightmare. I enter an exam room knowing that I have done precisely no revision for the exam in question; indeed I know precious little about the subject upon which I am about to be examined.

The nightmare tends to arise if I have a work deadline looming. But I can tell you precisely when I first experienced the nightmare…or perhaps I should say the experience that triggered that recurring nightmare. It was the sense of helplessness and regret I felt between my Law finals and my Economics finals at Keele. I sensed that I had comprehensively neglected Economics in favour of Law revision. Not that I had been all that diligent with the Law revision – as the first three pieces in this “How Not To Revise” series attest:

How Not To Revise For Your Finals At Keele, Part One: The Start Of The Easter Holidays, Early April 1984
A Tale Of Procrastination In Two Cities (And A Campus): How Not To Revise For Your Finals At Keele Part Two, Late April 1984
When Vision & Revision Collide: Including Plenty Of Tennis, Plus Students’ Union Stuff, Psychedelic Furs…Even Some Snooker & Football – How Not To Revise For Finals At Keele Part Three

Even when the reality of my poor preparation started to sink in – and plague my sleeping hours – in late May, I still somehow found plenty of time for tennis and other things:

Plenty of Tennis Between My Law Finals And My Economics Finals, Keele, 24 to 26 May 1984

Even the diary reports from those last few days suggest less than panic and plenty of racket-wielding:

Sunday, 27 May 1984 – Rose quite early – did quite a bit of work today during day and evening at Bobbie’s (B[obbie] cooked meal in evening).

Monday, 28th May 1984 – Did a bit more work today – especially at Bobbie’s in evening. Played tennis with Bobbie in afternoon.

Tuesday, 29 May 1984 – Worked quite hard today – shopped and played tennis [with Alan “The Great Yorkshire Pudding” Gorman on that occasion] also – worked mostly in eve – Bobbie came back.

Wednesday, 30 May 1984 – Rose quite early – did some work – MICRO in afternoon – did some work and watch football in eve – Bobbie came back.

Thursday, 31 May 1984 – two more papers today – MACRO and APPLIED – pretty tired after – did a little work in eve, went to count etc. Bobbie came back.

Friday, 1 June 1984 – Last two exams – OPTIONS and SPECIAL SUBJECT – got wet and drunk after – went to Nick Lowe etc – felt pretty bad after and Bobbie came back.

Saturday, 2 June 1984 – felt pretty bad in morning. – Rose late – went into Hanley – did some shopping and ate there etc. – went to Lara’s party in evening – stayed in Lindsay.

I had a vague recollection of playing tennis with Bobbie once and I’m glad that the diary confirms the matter. I think we both agreed that the experience should be a one-off for both of us. I don’t think Bobbie much liked bat and ball games generally. She was a whizz at karate and very keen on football, mind you.

The football on the Wednesday can only have been the European Cup final between Liverpool and Roma – don’t click here unless you are happy to see the result. Some readers might still be keeping this result under wraps, forty-plus years later, with a view to watching a recording of the match untainted by knowing the result.

I don’t know whether to be proud of myself or denounce myself as an utter fool for attending a Students’ Union election count on the Thursday evening, having sat two Economics finals papers that day, before doing two more papers the next day. Perhaps I simply felt that I needed a bit of a break from the relentless economics. I wonder whether there is a formula and/or a law of economics to help decide the relative merits of yet more revision or something completely different for a few evening hours in those circumstances? Surely Parkinson’s Law should come into play?

I cherish my copy of this book

I love the line “got wet and drunk after” following my last two exams. Duncan Baldwin – I seem to recall – was involved in that traditional soaking – I cannot remember whether he was a fellow victim, perpetrator or both. Probably, like me, just victim in the water element but a willing participant in the libations.

I’m pretty sure that Bobbie had finished her exams before I finished mine and was being a brick those last few days to help keep me reasonably close to the straight and narrow until after the exams were done.

Nick Lowe At Keele

I was wondering whether Nick Lowe was at Keele or Hanley the night my finals finished. Fortunately, there was a preview in the local rag on the day of the gig, proving that it was indeed at Keele. Interesting article about an interesting guy:

Nick Lowe PreviewNick Lowe Preview 01 Jun 1984, Fri Staffordshire Newsletter (Stafford, Staffordshire, England) Newspapers.com

Here is a link to the then new album, “Nick Lowe And His Cowboy Outfit” on YouTube Music.

It does sound a bit scruffy, as promised by the man himself. I do remember enjoying the gig before exhaustion and alcohol excess took their toll on me. I’m pretty sure he played several of his earlier hits as well as plenty of material from his most recent release. This link to concert archive shows a set list from 10 weeks later, when this outfit was supporting Elvis Costello in the USA. I’d guess not the same set list but there would be significant overlap with the set we saw in June. After Keele, at least two stadiums in the next 10-12 weeks!

Next Up…

…waiting for the finals results, while getting up to speed for my forthcoming role as Students’ Union Education & Welfare officer…and some fun times during that hiatus period. Watch this space.