And so the University of Essex is soon to celebrate 50 years of producing the future world leaders, right here in Sunny Colch.
Ahem.
The University of University of Essex is soon to also celebrate 50 years of producing Hyperlocal Bloggers for Britain’s Oldest Recorded Town.
Now that’s a life skill that money can’t buy you. Which is just as well, seeing as though higher education seems to be all about a careerist means to an end, rather than a love for your subject per se.
Yep – 2014 is the date for the BIG DO up on campus. You can never plan too far ahead for a Golden Anniversary BIG DO. Which is why our friends up at Wivenhoe Park are starting to get all social with us.
Education, education, education back in the day wasn’t all about updating your twitter status before being late for a lecture in LTB1.
Running late. Went all the way in the paternoster @Uni_of_Essex #essexinnuendo
The theme of social change in Sunny Colch is something that runs strong throughout The Chronic. We’ve blogged before about the brilliant Back to the Future videos around Britain’s Oldest Recorded. The parallel What Have They Done to Our Town film remains the holy grail of hyperlocal history around these parts.
But look up towards those six iconic towers towards the east of the town and WOH!
Was it really fifty years ago [almost] since The Troubles [ha!] first started to reveal their revolutionary heads up on campus?
Folk around Sunny Colch still speak of the University as a relatively new addition to the town. But think of all the academic, sporting and social history that has taken place at Wivenhoe Park over this fifty-year period.
Future wives were met halfway up William Morris, dontchaknow…
The University itself is now starting to think about collating all of this social history ahead of the 2014 BIG DO. We may not have been perpetually wired into the modern interweb back in the days of paternoster mischief, but analogue evidence does exist.
Much of this now has been digitised, and the University is asking for anyone around the town to come forward to help build up an online social library to help celebrate and showcase the University of Essex over a fifty year period.
Wanna see a hyperlocal blogger in the making getting a little too social halfway up William Morris?
Um…
Maybe not, but instead below we have a fascinating film all about the graduation ceremony of 1967.
Nineteen sixty chuffing seven!
Sergeant Pepper had just been released; the Angry Brigade was yet to take up residence around the fringes of the campus and half the Squares had yet to be built.
It is an amazing piece of hyperlocal social history.
Your own personal social history of life on campus could also be included in this collection:
“If you have photos, recordings or films showing the changing face of the University of Essex over the past five decades we would love to feature them on this website.
Many of our current and former students and staff will have images and footage, which offer a unique insight into the history of the University. We would love to help you share them with others and contribute to our celebrations.”
But it’s not all about video. Essex has a strong oral [steady] history. This is recognised in the wonderful idea to create an Essex University podcast series, building up to 2014 and documenting different stages in the development of the University.
You can listen to dear old Sir Albert’s Sloman’s vision in the first recording below.
£9k tuition fees don’t feature, Comrades…
Fifty years is quite an achievement.
Apart from the new multi-storey car park gifted by Colchester Borough Council, what present would you buy for the University of Essex?
Best start paying off that Student Loan first.
