Start of Spring Term 1957

It’s January 1957 and Alice is back at Bedford College of Physical Education following the Christmas holidays – minus her trunk - thus forcing her to borrow bits and pieces of clothing for Modern Dance and Games for a few days.  As usual she and her fellow students have the usual start-of-term inspection to check that they have all the required books on their reading list.

A new dining hall is under construction but in the meantime meals are taken in one of several houses which form part of the Lansdowne Road campus.  As with many other aspects of College life, the regime surrounding meals is strict and non-attendance is frowned upon by staff.  Hence Alice and her friends conceal the absence of a fellow student from a Sunday breakfast even though the student would appear to have a reasonable excuse – arriving at College at 11.45pm the previous evening following a lacrosse match in Exeter.

 
Alice is also shocked at the price of a cloth badge for her blazer – 8s/6d (8 shillings and 6 pence) – equivalent to £9.24 today which does seem very expensive.

 

Dining Room at 37 Lansdowne Road (c.1919-1920)

Uniform Requirements in 1958

In the first letter home to her parents (see previous post), Alice makes reference to buying shoes and sending various receipts back home for payment.  All students at Bedford College of Physical Education were required to purchase an extensive array of clothing for all of the different activities offered by the College.

This Clothes List for 1958 not only gives details of the items to be purchased but also from whom they should be bought.  Alice recalls:

“Our preparation for teaching was very thorough and very high standards were expected of us at all time.  All sports shoes had to be clean for every activity, i.e. no mud or dirt, and shoes worn for tennis had to well 'blankoed'. The teaching of athletics was just coming in and we were the first set of students to wear tracksuits at the College – they were very thick maroon cotton which, without any washing machines in the houses, took at least five days to dry. The right kit for Dance, Movement, Games, Teaching Practice and Swimming was strict and cost an 'arm and a leg' in those days.