Looking backwards to the term ahead

In a world where ‘grammable' interiors are the norm, it’s surprising to discover that informal photos of school interiors are remarkably rare.

To mark the beginning of the new school year, this month’s Archive post features a hand-printed photo of a space in a dormitory in September 1975. It was taken just over 50 years ago, but it could have been taken 20 years earlier or 20 years later.

At first glance, the scratchy black and white image doesn’t seem to hold much of a story. The suitcase and the checked blanket look dated, and the tightly packed beds and the limited wardrobe space certainly tell of a long-gone era.

Look more closely and on the bed you’ll see a Harris tweed jacket, the winter uniform in those days, and a tell-tale British Airways label on a bag hiding under the pile of clothes. With the eye drawn to the strewn belongings, perhaps the least conspicuous part of the photo is the adjacent bed - neatly made and awaiting its new resident at the start of a new school year.

The school has evolved into a very different place in the intervening decades. Houses and Hubs are considerably more inviting these days, and colourful accessories personalise spaces in ways that couldn't have been imagined by pupils in earlier times. But the distinctive mix of nervous excitement and hopeful anticipation that characterises the new school year is still the same. Few will have forgotten that feeling of starting afresh: new uniform, new stationery, new friends, new possibilities.

For parents, there is still the familiar bustle of preparing for the new term and the quiet realisation that another chapter is beginning. For pupils, a new school year still holds the promise of what might lie ahead.

The featured photo was one of several sent to us by Mark Craig (School House Blue 1973-78), now an acclaimed producer and director of award-winning feature documentaries. In 1973 Mark arrived in the UK and started life as a boarder in what was then known as School House Blue. Having spent the first thirteen years of his life in Singapore, it was quite an adjustment.

To say it was a culture shock for me would be an understatement.

Exactly fifty years after starting at Christ College on 12 September 1973, Mark wrote words to accompany the images. One way or another, we think his thoughts will resonate for Old Breconians and current pupils alike. As term gets underway, we couldn’t do better than his final reflection to wish all our new pupils a happy new school year.

The pic shows me all togged up in my new uniform on 12 September 1973.

How I'd love to be able to tell that kid what I know now. And that it's all going to be OK.

So, to all young people out there who are starting something new, somewhere new, this week . . .

Good luck and go for it!

Enjoy the ride.