| Description | Track 1 [00:58:24] [Session One: 14 September 2017] Edward David [ED], born in Gorseinon in May 1944. ED talks about his memories of the post-war period and the collective awareness of the war. ED describes the effect of the war on the buildings of Swansea and the reconstruction. [00:03:05] ED talks about his primary school education at Tycoch/Sketty Primary School. ED talks about the quality of teaching and the high quality of students.[00:04:05] ED talks about the importance of Dynevor Grammar School[DGS] to his success. ED describes the rivalry between DGS and Bishop Gore and talks about the Old Dy’vorians’ Association. [00:05:20] ED talks about his own research on Illtyd David’s [ID] life. ED talks about ID’s job as an extramural tutor. ED talks about his childhood and mentions the early death of his mother. ED talks about his step-mother and her job as a head teacher at a Neath school. ED talks about ID’s library and his own interest in books. [00:10:26] ED talks about Tycoch’s focus on preparing students for the Eleven-Plus exam, including debates. ED talks about the rates of students passing the exam and compares the A stream and the B stream. [00:11:28]ED talks about his experience at DGS. ED describes the harsh physical punishment of students. ED talks about the high quality of teachers and mentions his History, English and Science teachers. ED talks about sports at the school, including rugby and cricket, and describes his own involvement with athletics. [00:16:17] ED talks about the strengths and failings of grammar schools and compares them to comprehensive schools. ED talks about the lack of quality of Secondary Modern Schools. ED mentions going to Swansea University in 1962. [00:21:50] ED talks about the life of his grandfather, a postmaster and store owner in Nant-y-Moel. ED talks about ID’s upbringing as the youngest of six children and his grandfather’s focus on education. ED describes ID’s education at Cowbridge School and Barry County School. ED talks about ID’s university education at Aberystwyth and later at Cambridge to study Law. ED mentions ID gaining a law doctorate from Trinity College Dublin in 1923 and talks about ID’s career as a barrister. ED talks about ID’s positive attitude towards the University of Wales [UoW] and ID’s post as an extramural staff tutor at Swansea University from 1931 onwards. [00:33:18] ED talks about his own reasons for going to Swansea University, including the quality of athletics and being close to home. ED talks about receiving an open scholarship at Swansea. ED describes his difficulty adapting to Cambridge in his later studies and describes competing with international athletes for the Freshmen Trial in athletics. [00:39:22] ED talks about the small student body and small size of departments at Swansea. ED talks about the quality of research in the History Department. [00:40:34] ED talks about his childhood interest in history. ED talks about the importance of public libraries in Swansea and talks about his habit of borrowing books there after school. [00:42:19] ED talks about studying History, Economics and Politics in his first year and talks about his reasons for dropping Economics and Politics. ED talks about his special subject in History. [00:46:15] ED talks about the History Department and his personal tutor Neville Masterman [NM]. ED describes NM’s character and talks about NM’s father C.F.G .Masterman [CM].[00:47:33] ED talks about ID’s positive attitude towards CM and ID’s political attitudes. ED describes ID not participating in World War One and how this harmed his political career [00:50:46] ED talks about other members of the History Department, including Glanmor Williams, Alun Davies, Ieuan Gwynedd Jones and Muriel Chamberlain. ED talks about the lectures of Ralph Griffiths and Ken Morgan. [00:54:08] ED talks about the History Society [HistSoc] and mentions being chairman. ED talks about Chairman Peter Stead [PS] and Secretary Robert Barnes, a fellow Dy’vorian. ED talks about events hosted by the HistSoc, including guest speakers. [00:55:20] ED describes the structure of the history course. ED talks about lectures, tutorials and the essays students had to write. ED talks about the development of the history department and the rise of its members, for example Ken Morgan.
Track 2 [00:33:03] [Session One: 14 September 2017] ED talks about living at home while he was at university. ED describes his involvement in sports and the debating society. ED talks about the political societies at the university, including the Socialist Society [SocSoc] and the Liberal Society [LibSoc]. ED talks about being a chairman of the LibSoc. [00:02:18] ED talks about his interest in politics and describes being fascinated by Liberal MPs Jo Grimond and Eric Lubbock. ED talks about the Liberal dominance of student elections in Swansea. [00:03:51] ED talks about becoming secretary for the College House Union Committee [CHUC] and describes his duties, including liaising with the registrar. ED talks about the previous union building in Maes-yr-Haf and describes student misbehaviour, including damaging furniture. ED talks about the maturity of overseas students. ED describes events at the union house, including meetings of societies. [00:08:50] ED mentions other student-led events at the university, including the college ball and a dining club. ED talks about the Corinthian Club, an exclusive club which required members to wear dinner jackets. ED discusses the lack of a Conservative Society. [00:10:33] ED talks about student elections in the 1960s and a shift from LibSoc to SocSoc dominance. ED talks about union presidents, including Darryl Thorpe and Pete Dawson. ED describes how most students did not stand for elections based on a political platform. ED comments that the typical 1960s spirit did not arrive in Swansea until the 1970s. [00:14:24] ED talks about the rapid expansion of Swansea University and an increase in student numbers. ED describes the loss of a communitarian feeling. ED talks about a lack of interaction between arts and science students.[00:17:54] ED talks about the distinction between Welsh and English students. ED tells an anecdote about meeting English students and having nothing in common with them. ED talks about the Welsh grammar school ethos. ED talks about being exposed to different people, including a student from Uganda, and characterises Swansea as an intellectual melting pot. [00:23:48] ED talks about the composition of the student body and compares the percentage of Welsh students to international students. ED mentions international students from Gibraltar, the Gambia and Iraq. ED talks about the female-to-male-ratio of the student body. [00:27:20] ED talks about SocSoc and its lack of political activism until after 1968. ED mentions members of SocSoc, including Oscar Golstein, Bruce George and Peter Jones. [00:28:40] ED talks about instances of student activism in the 60s, including a demonstration to get a bridge built across Mumbles Road. ED compares the activities of students in the 70s to the 60s. [00:31:20] ED talks about the development of the student union. ED describes Rag Week and pranks Cardiff and Swansea played on each other.
Track 3 [01:12:32] [Session Two: 17 November 2017] ED talks about his extracurricular activities. ED describes his involvement with the athletics team and running for the UoW. ED mentions national and international athletes at Swansea, including decathlete David Rhys and Olympic sprinter Howard Davies. [00:03:25] ED talks about the societies involved in student politics, including the Overseas Student Society [OSS], SocSoc and the Lib Soc. [00:05:00] ED describes organising meetings for the HistSoc and describes inviting guest speakers from other universities. [00:05:45] ED talks about the student union building and his role as secretary for CHUC. ED describes liaising with Registrar McIntyre on behalf of CHUC. ED describes student behaviour in the college house. ED talks about Rag Week and defending the Rag Queen from the Swansea Training College. [00:10:45] ED mentions student union president Darryl Thorpe. ED talks about members of the Debating Society, including Ashley Dove, Joe Hunt, Peter Milne and Ian Jones. ED talks about international students and their involvement in societies. [00:13:55] ED talks about internationalism and political awareness among the students, e.g. the anti-Apartheid movement. [00:15:55] ED talks about the OSS and its role in student politics. ED describes an OSS play about racism. ED tells an anecdote of an international student being subjected to racism by townspeople and local students defending him. [00:18:15] ED talks about rag week and the interaction between students and the townspeople. ED describes a pram rally from Cardiff to Swansea to gain money for charity. [00:21:50] ED talks about relations between Welsh and English students. [00:22:50] ED talks about his athletics participation for Swansea University and Swansea Harriers. ED describes the university’s focus on athletics and talks about a new running track opened in 1965. ED talks about the athletic rivalry between Swansea and Cardiff and describes friendly matches with Mannheim. [00:24:08] ED talks about his own attitudes towards drinking and compares them to the attitudes in the student body. [00:25:41] ED talks about running a tannoy system to announce student events. [00:29:51] ED talks about the paternalistic attitude of the university towards students. ED talks about being a member of the Students’ Representative Council [SRC]. ED describes when academic gowns were worn. [00:34:25] ED discusses feelings of community on the campus. ED describes the role of College House as a meeting place for students. ED talks about the ethos of Clyne Hall [hall of residence for students]. ED compares the sexual morals of the 1960s to the 70s. [00:39:17] ED talks about his degree classification and the results across his year. ED tells an anecdote about a difficult exam in medieval history. ED describes the marking system used at Swansea and compares it to the University of Bristol. [00:47:46] ED talks about his connection to Swansea throughout his career. ED describes being a member of the Welsh Labour History Society. ED talks about his job at the British Council[BC] as part of the Education Contracts Department. ED talks about ID setting up a human rights society at Swansea and describes attending a talk by Donald Woods. ED talks about his contacts with Swansea principals Parry, Robert Steele, and Brian Clarkson.[00:54:39] ED talks about his time in Malaysia as part of the BC and describes his job duties. ED talks about the British recruitment of Malaysian students and compares the recruitment quality of Swansea, Aberystwyth and Bangor. [00:58:47] ED talks about the negative aspects of UoW recruitment in Malaysia in the 1990s. ED talks about marketing Wales to overseas students. ED describes the difficulty of keeping the UoW united. ED talks about Swansea’s attitude towards the BC. ED talks about the strengths of the UoW and describes unique degree programmes. [01:06:29] ED compares the university management of Swansea in the 1960s to today. ED talks about management difficulties as a result of expansion. ED talks about the businessification of universities and talks about the effect on students and staff. ED compares staff unity of Swansea and Bristol. [01:12:32]
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