Mike Kershaw
"Like Bernie, I was the first of my family to ‘go away’ to seek a higher qualification leading to a career, rather than night-school and ‘on the job’ learning. I wanted to be a civil engineer and I chose Nottingham based on reputation, the excellent campus and halls system - also it wasn’t too far from Yorkshire!
"I’d been to an all-male grammar school and so Lenton Hall and the university regime was just an extension of school life in lots of ways. In particular the 9am to 5:30pm lecture/lab/learning timetable pretty much every day (apart from Wednesday pm, reserved for sport) was, put simply, bloody hard work. I loved life at Lenton, even though I shared a room in Lenton Hurst, it was comfortable, pretty good food generally, and the JCR & Bar made for good mixing and meeting friends.
"Course-wise, I was lucky enough to have Professor Rex Coates, our Head of Department, as my tutor in the first year. I’m pleased to note now that the T2 Building (and T2 café!) plus the road between T2 and the labs' ‘L-building’ series have all been named after him. He was a kindly man, using the tutorials perfectly for the two-way feedback and cultural care that 18-year-olds needed, rather like from a favourite uncle. Plus of course he had a vast knowledge on civils and infrastructure that our group used on the more macro issues of our new learning.
"We had a year out in the second year, living with a group of girls (including the future Mrs Taylor) in a 10 roomed flat above 'Reno’s' restaurant near Canning Circus. Simply put, we survived. We learnt a lot about life and living to a strict budget, sharing the cooking evolved some fabulous student staples for us. I remember the rent was £7.30 a week, £73 a term. But one year was enough for most of us. And our livers and stomachs.
Click the below to enlarge