Our Territories

Channel Islands
England
Ireland
Isle of Man
Scotland
Wales

Our Categories

Home
Locations
Surnames
Articles
Library
Lookups

I was studying at the Polytechnic Regents Street for my National Diploma at this time and took part in all the out of class activities I heard might be going on there. Some of the earlier projects was to form a Gliding club and to get interest I prepared a number of placards which we put up on the notice boards of other departments througout the Poly. We also put up requests for girl students to come to help us in “Engineering” with our Christmas show. We had at that time No female students and needed someone to help us prepare the chorus and other dancing. We also wanted help making the costumes we needed to put on our show.

On the Glider club we had very little support but on the Christmas show side we were much more successful. At least ten showed interest and we soon got them to join in meetings and later in preparing scripts and dance routines. Most weekends we would gather together a sewing group who came over to my house and worked cutting out material and preparing costumes. My parents made a great fuss of them and they soon found such meeting included lots to eat and drink!!

The Polytechnic was at the top end of Regents Street, close to Oxford Circus Tube station. Classes started at 9.30 each morning , during the first weeks I travelled each day by tube from Harrow on the Hill but after I had got to know my fellow students I soon got know some who travelled on the tube and that Mike Young also lived in Harrow sometimes used his motor cycle to travel in. Soon we became good friends and agreed to travel in together sharing the cost of petrol.

I soon found my costs could drop greatly. At the time Dad had agreed to allow me £8 a week expenses, which was to cover Poly extras, travel, meals etc., the rest was for myself. Travelling with Mike left me a little extra, which quite often went towards my taking out Marion. She was the girl I had set my heart on. We often went to the Theatre after my classes finished, I would get over to her chosen theatre and queue for a place in the Gods which for six pence we could get a place (On one of the benches). These were available after five PM.on the day of the show. I could then meet Marion at six and we could have an evening sandwich for our supper before going to our evening show.

The Diploma course was divided into three groups These were Mechanical, Civil, and Electrical Engineering. All three groups were together during the first year of the course Groups also attended classes together in later years when the same subject was covered Mechanical and Civil Engineering often sat together the groups divided along their own subjects.

We got to know and like our lecturers. Over the fours years we were together One the most popular was Mr Beresford who took the Electrical and Maths classes . We all took Maths together, most of us found it difficult. Mr Beresford would help us by adding a lump of sugar with the Maths medicine he was giving us in the guise of a Joke this was usually given by way a “homework question” One such example I was something like this:

If a Mechanical Engineer is as Black as the as the oil he is changing, and a Civil Engineer is as thick as the concrete he’s mixing!! How far up the social scale is an Electrical Engineer, with his sparks. Most of us had written it all down as our homework, before we realised he was pulling our legs.

“Strength of materials” was a class which the Mechanical and Civil sections attended together. Usually the class often took place after lunch by a Lecturer who was very popular but did like to have a little “nip” to drink during the class from a hip flask

Previous | Index | Next