David Newland

Drama Arts 1984-87

Student Union President 1987-89

"In Wales we have a thing called ‘hiraeth’ – the longing and yearning for home, mixed with a wistful sense of belonging and, for some, the joy of coming home – that’s Bretton!"

I fell for Bretton in 1984 when I went to interview/audition for what was then the third intake of the new Dramatic Arts honours degree (DA in the jargon of the time). Walking from the village bus stop that first time in the April/May sunshine was truly magical. By September I couldn’t wait to start. Of course I was totally unprepared for the culture shock of moving from the comfortable English southeast into the ‘warzone’ of the year-long miners’ strike – this really was whole communities under attack by the London government.
I spent my first year on campus in Dearne 9 (I was so chuffed to see that everyone carried on the wardrobe list I started in 1984!) then four great years in the fabled ‘Scissett Flats’.