A Special Meeting

In the course of running the BSU Archive, we are lucky to meet a wide range of people who have been involved with parts of our institution over the years.

Often, meeting people and listening to their memories helps to complete the fragmented picture which archive work produces.

By their very nature, archive documents give a piecemeal impression of a time and a place. It can be difficult for historians to form a complete story from the fragments which remain of the past, but by listening to people, and spending time in the field of oral history, we can gain a much fuller picture.

Most recently, three of the team were thrilled to spend a morning with Anne and Bill, two people with much to tell us about life on Newton Park. 

Anne lived in the grounds of Newton Park College in the 1950s, when her father was head gardener. Bill was Mary Dawson's nephew, and he often visited his aunt during the time she was Principal here, spending school holidays enjoying the freedom of the grounds and the attentions of the students.

Bill and Anne, sitting together on the College hostel wall in Newton St Loe, 1950s

Bill and Anne became lifelong friends, and shared a love of the Newton Park surroundings which is evident to this day. 

Our current students, Carol and Hayley, had a great time, chatting and sharing experiences of their own time here. There was much to discover from one another, not least the ways that building use has changed, and the amount of development there has been over the years. Anne showed us the house she lived in with her parents, which is now the small office suite at one end of the Stable. She described her garden and the interior of the house to us, and reminisced about the places in the grounds and around the lake where she used to play. In those days, there were around 200 students, and the relatively small community were able to be much more familiar to one another than we can possibly be today. 

Bill, with the portrait of his Aunt

Bill enjoyed the chance to walk around the lake, and showing his wife the place that she had only ever heard about. She too was impressed that, despite new buildings, the landscape retains its beauty, especially near the lake and looking back towards Main House. This is a theme which comes up again and again when people revisit. (Bill's dog appreciated the walk around the lake too!)