Stephen Munslow in Voronezh

(Joint Honours Russian Language and Linguistics, 1976-1980)

Stephen Munslow studied in the department as a mature student from 1976-80. He spent his third year on a British Council scholarship in Voronezh.

Above: Stephen Munslow drinking kvas in Krasnodar, 1977.

"Kvas was a great discovery to me. It seemed uniquely delicious and thirst quenching on hot summer days.
In the USSR then, my unruly hair and beard drew a lot of attention and sometimes disapproval. More than once I was approached by little old ladies who gave me a telling off for being bearded. Beards were reserved for priests and old men and as a youngster, I had no right to walk around with one! The characteristic yellow kvas mini-tankers were ubiquitous on street corners in the summer."

Below: Public Holiday 1979, Voronezh.
(From left) Stephen Munslow, Dave Denton, Erik Kulavig.

"This was almost certainly the 62nd Anniversary of the October Revolution on November 7th 1979. I remember going to see a film called Загнанных лошадей пристреливают, не правда ли? (They Shoot Horses, Don't They?} at the cinema on the left. An American film, now lost in the mists of time, it was shown because it demonstrated the evils of the capitalist system."