Tony Abramson graduated from Lancaster in 1967and was a member of Lonsdale College.
Bailrigg, when it came into existence, was an active campus in the late ‘60s. Maybe the students were chosen more for what they might contribute than for their academic credentials!
Or perhaps we were just a hardy bunch prepared to tough it out in freezing Morecambe boarding houses for a year or two whilst the campus was under construction.
Naturally, there were many notable events; some of minor significance to the evolution of the University but mostly just pranks. The local and national press gave oxygen to student ‘unrest’ and general naughtiness to illustrate the relaxed atmosphere then prevalent. (In truth, drug availability and usage was non-existent compared to what it is today.) We often took advantage of this (oxygen, not drugs) and managed to get quite bizarre stories into the press – the Bare strip club, a witches’ coven in Fylde and the Morecambe International Airport were all stunts perpetrated by a wit named Dave Thompson (also from Leeds), last heard of somewhere in Lambeth Borough Council!
Amongst other activities, I was involved with the Student Representative Council (the structure was then a Federation of Colleges) from my first term to my last, in various financial roles. Obviously, quite a lot happened in this time but randomly taking three events that have stuck in the memory:
the removal of the top cross from the Chaplaincy Centre (not a prank!) and the battle for supremacy between the SRC and the individual colleges (i.e.: over who got the £12 per student).
Of course, there was little of academic merit to distract us from enjoying ourselves!
I believe the first is mentioned in a book on the University by Marion McClintock, Quest for Innovation, 1964-74. I initiated a request to remove one of the crosses from the trinity of spires over the newly built Chaplaincy Centre, namely the cross over the interdenominational section on the grounds that this was inappropriate. Unfortunately, the cross in question was the highest and thus, represented Christ.
At the time I was Deputy Chair of the Centre Management Committee. I made this request with some reluctance, as it was a sensitive issue and I would be exposed to criticism all round (for instance, not all contributions to the building costs had yet been paid). In the event, as a result of an article in one of the national broadsheets (The Times or Telegraph, I think), the Bishop of Blackburn called me a ‘vociferous minority’ and the Jewish Gazette, ‘a fascist of the left’.
A couple of months went by before I heard a rumour that something was about to happen. I went up to see Ruth Henig, whose then husband Stan was the local MP. Ruth’s office overlooked the Centre and as we were talking, to our amazement, a huge crane came along and removed the top crosspiece! I didn’t take much pleasure in this but my discomfort was alleviated shortly afterwards when the three spires were adopted as the very effective University logo.
The second issue was subject to a special edition of John O’Gauntlet, the weekly student newspaper, and will be in the archives. After a hotly contested debate, the central administration managed to hold off the emergent colleges but I believe the centre was defeated in subsequent years and was superseded. This isn’t a humorous story but was certainly significant in terms of the organisation and funding of the student body at that time.