Extracts from "The Tower"

I applied to the Cobblers as an attacking mid-field goalkeeper - nothing doing. I thought about becoming a super sleuth in the Secret Service, but that's all I did think. I actually applied to the Customs and Excise Department - they didn't want me just because I said my ambition was to look into the Prime Minister's suitcase! During this period I was filling in time and holes, working in the gardens of Painton and Co. Ltd. It was there that I was discovered ... I was given day release to study at the Northampton College of Technology, where I passed the ONC and HNC examinations in Electrical Engineering. Ohm and dry, you might say? ... but it was time for a change. Who really needed me most? Who would benefit most from my dynamic, more mature mind? I had a long think and, within a minute, I saw the answer - A TEACHER! And why not? The thought of being able to educate so many minds made me shudder with excitement. . . .

W. Rich - Northampton College of Education.

A typical Monday morning here is much the same as yours. Students wandering aimlessly, eyelids propped open, cigarettes hanging limply from their lips. Lessons such as History of Art, Colour and Design, Perspective, Plant and Natural Forms, Pottery, Modelling, Object Research, Graphic Design and Photography fill my week and when Friday afternoon arrives the familiar swarm of students descend upon Northampton, wiping sweat from their brows and ink from their fingers! Relief! The week is over, a weekend awaits us. Faces are beaming with happiness, eyes are sparkling with delight, until Sunday arrives and the four million art students sit down and think to themselves "What on earth am I looking so happy about - I've got to go back tomorrow!

Jackie Boynton Northampton Art School.

I moved to London, to the heart of BBC Television, Television Centre. To me, then, Television Centre appeared a place of glamour and mystery ... this soon wore off however as everyone in this branch of the entertainments industry is VERY professional in their outlook on the job and to 'fit in' you have to develop a similar frame of mind ... To this day I still find it rather nerve-racking to 'GO on the Air', knowing upwards of five million people are watching your efforts, and if anything goes wrong it is YOU who have to correct the fault. One occasion when a fault occurred springs to mind. . . We were half way through 'Star Trek' and the first twenty minute reel of film had just run out and the second reel was being transmitted, only it was so out of focus that it was impossible to make any sense of the picture. Time seemed to stand still whilst I corrected the fault. As it happened, the fault condition lasted for only four seconds though the nervous condition lasted for the rest of the programme! The management's comments were, "Oh, wasn't it supposed to be like that ... ?" And 'Star Trek' only has eleven million viewers as well.

E. J. Boyce - B.B.C. trainee engineer.

We were cast into the first two plays, and after a successful reading I was understudy to the part of Ramrod in 'The Apprentices' and I was given a few lines to say which if any members of the audience blinked, they missed! The rehearsal proved to be laborious and quite boring. Another fatal blow was having my beautiful locks cut right above my ears. For a great percentage of time I sat in the Jeanetta Cochrane Theatre on the set with other members not saying a word, pretending to be an apprentice in the yard at dinnertime, whilst the central characters learnt their parts. This proved tiring and very tedious

The Ugandan Asian Resettlement camp to which I was sent was called Plasterdown and was situated on the edge of Dartmoor, not a very good place to accommodate Asians in October, I thought. On arriving there I found everything rather chaotic and as the camp had only been open for two days, this state of affairs remained for the first few weeks. It was impossible to get anything settled as coach-loads of Asians were constantly arriving at all times of the day and night. My initial task was to try and organize some-form of social activities, especially for the young people. Most of the teenagers were very keen on sports, I soon discovered, but it was very difficult to get them involved in anything as they were feeling rather depressed and shocked at being suddenly uprooted from their homes and flown to England to start a new life. We did not try to push them too quickly into joining in any form of recreation, but after about a week of having nothing to do, they began to come to the volunteers and ask us to arrange a football match, or some other activity. From then on they more or less arranged their own games, leaving the volunteers free to help with other problems. Many families had been split up, either after arriving in England, or sometimes even before leaving Uganda. At the airports in both countries there were so many people to be sorted out that they were just put on the first plane, or the first coach leaving the airport and often became separated from their relatives. Naturally, as soon as they reached the resettlement camp they were anxious to trace these people as soon as possible. The only way to do this was to send Telex messages to all the other camps to see where the lost relations were and then, in the case of close relatives, to arrange for them to be transferred to their family. One problem which I expected to encounter but which in fact hardly existed at all was the problem of language. All the young Asians spoke English because they had learned it at school and most of the older ones also spoke it very well.

Even when we wanted to speak with someone who could not understand us, there was never a shortage of translators! One item in which the authorities were somewhat over-enthusiastic was the central heating. This was maintained at a constant temperature of 80 degrees, until the Asians complained that it was too hot for them!
Once the major problems were overcome, life on the camp was quite happy for staff and Asians, and it was rather sad when the camp was closed in the middle of December, especially as we were planning exciting things for Christmas. It also seemed unfortunate that the Asians were only being sent to other camps, and not to homes of their own. A number of them wrote to us after they had left saying that the conditions where they had been sent were not as good as at Plasterdown. All the staff, of whom I have said very little, did their best to make the Asians feel at home and I think they all enjoyed the time they spent there.

Haydn R. John - Ugandan Asian Resettlement Camp.

The present writer received the blessing of celebrating Christmas 1972 and the ensuing Theophany in the Holy land. As a member of the Russian Orthodox Church (I was received into the Holy Orthodox Church about two years after leaving Trinity), naturally I celebrated these feasts with the Russian Orthodox community in Jerusalem. The humble cave at Bethlehem, in which our Lord became man, is now a glorious shrine, to which Christians turn their thoughts each Christmas…….. the doorway into the Basilica is so small and low that all must humble themselves before entering such a Holy Place. Through this doorway first go the two 'dragomen' Turkish men who, dressed in Turkish costume complete with fez, lead all official processions, banging their staves on the floor in unison so that all might know an important person approaches. Then go all the server boys, carrying cross, candies, and banners, followed by two choirs. These are followed by the vested priests and bishops, and lastly comes the Patriarch, bestowing his blessing upon the faithful, who press so close to kiss his hand. He alone seems quiet and prayerful amidst a multitude of excited pilgrims. Even he humbles himself to enter the Basilica, slowly followed by the pressing crowd, eager to share fully in the Christmas celebrations. Then the Patriarch, the clergy and choir, and as many people who are fortunate enough to find room, go down the narrow stairs, under the Altar, into the Caves of the Nativity. The throng all hold candies and stand before the shrine, rejoicing in the Birth of Our Lord.