The Archives Group at City Library are responsible for maintaining and preserving City’s Archives and Special Collections. We are currently working on a number of exciting projects to make the content more accessible to staff, students and external researchers.
In our new series From the archive, each month we’ll be selecting a collection from the archive to share with the world via the News Hub. This month it’s the turn of the beloved student magazine The Beacon. Edited and written entirely by students we hold print runs of The Beacon from the late 1940s until the early 1980s.
The Beacon provides a fascinating insight into the lives of City students throughout this period; the things which were important to them at the time and local political issues of the day. We can also see the activities of the student’s union reflected in the pages, with concerts, theatre productions, dances and sports all recorded or advertised.
If you would like to find out more about City’s Archives and Special collections please visit our Archives Guide or email archives@city.ac.uk.
A trip down memory lane – I was the editor Beacon for a couple of years in the 1970s (74 and 75 I think).
My time editing Beacon led me away from Applied Physics into a career in journalism – initially as an architectural journalist on Building Design, later as editor of Planning magazine and founding editor of Energy in Buildings. Then I went freelance, writing for all sorts of design, construction, property and environmental publications. I won’t bore you will what followed…but now I’m (mostly) retired and living in Gloucestershire. And I still meet up regularly for cycling trips with three guys I studied Physics with, and shared a flat with, back then.
Hi Ted, Thank you for taking the time to comment on our post, it’s fascinating to hear about your career pathway after leaving City, and great to hear you’re still in contact with your peers. Have you ever been back to the University since, and do you ever take part in any Alumni activities?