Month: February 2015

David Newland

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’.

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Bretton, 1988. (Photograph by David Newland.)

Student Union Demonstration 1988

Room in Dearne Hostel

1988

2017 - At the Demolition of Beaumont Hostel

Demolition - 2017

Meeting with rushbond in Kennel Block

David Newland, Alan Parker and Andrew Talbot


Jan Reynolds

​Jan Sayer (née Reynolds)

1969-72   English & Drama

“When I die, I shall go to Bretton Hall.    

As the song goes:  ‘All my memories are there.’ “

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In her Reminiscence, Jan describes Bretton Hall as  a “unique, incredible place”, and recalls her feelings of the time.  She also refers to her experiences after leaving Bretton.

Reminiscence of Jan Sayer

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Michael Talbot

Michael Talbot

1961-64  Music

“Our senior music tutor, Miss Daphne Bird, grilled us in music history, keyboard harmony and theory. She made us into a half-decent choir to perform in Wakefield Cathedral with a modern, discordant piece, ‘Missa Brevis’ by Kodaly …”

Mike Talbot briefly worked as an apprentice to become a Mechanical Engineer, until he was persuaded that his true vocation lay elsewhere. He joined the student community at Bretton hall in 1961.

Mike Talbot Reminiscence


Shelagh Allan

Shelagh Johnson (née Allan) 1956-58 

“In the fifties, photos were largely black and white. Much of life was utility grey or the ubiquitous green and cream of building interiors, but Bretton life was technicolour because I was in love with the building, the countryside and my fellow students.”

Shelagh Allan attended Bretton Hall from 1956 to 1958, when the student population was only 150.    Her main study was Art, with Drama as a subsidiary subject.   In 1958 she took part in one of Martial Rose’s productions of his celebrated  translation of the Wakefield Mystery Plays.

Shelagh’s Reminiscences