Thank you for this elegy. I never went to Lampeter, but feel like I did because, working in the English department at another small university, I had two colleagues who'd studied there (both professors). You sound too young to have known them, but perhaps you do: David Worrall and Brian Robinson. Worrall in particular was a bit of a superstar of eighteenth-century studies. They used to talk of it in much the same way as you do: flawed, but, well - good.
We have to be realistic and say that institutions have to pay their own way most of the time, but still the closure of a place like Lampeter feels like a loss to the variety of the higher education system. For what it's worth, I don't think the problem was the expansion of HE, nor even the consequent rise of tuition fees, but the decision, taken I believe in around 2015, to remove the cap on student numbers that each university could take. This meant the Russell Group universities, particularly in the humanities, started accepting many more students, depriving less prestigious places of the students who would before have gone to them. I'm sure the politicians and officials who took that decision genuinely believed that it would empower young people and improve quality by increasing competition, but I think the opposite has been the case; applicants have a smaller variety of courses to choose from, and once there sit in overcrowded lecture theatres with less personal attention from staff.
Anyway, rant over. Farewell, St. David's, Lampeter. You improved a lot of people's lives, and were loved by many.
Thank you for your thoughful reply. Your point about the Russell Group makes good sense and is probably part of the problem, maybe the whole problem. Freedom of choice leading to less choice appears to be the spirit of the age.
The Scandinavian prison descriptor painted a detailed portrait for me, thank you. But also more poignantly, I cry a little inside when educational institutions close or lose funding. It feels like a daily story over here
I did even worse in the second year. I rented an old farmhouse with friends. Landlord forget to mention that it wasn't heated. She lent us some ‘lambing heaters’ in the winter!
Wow!! I had friends who lived in a farmhouse - remember going there for a party, but didn’t consider the reality of living there. I recall the night sky was very beautiful due to the lack of light pollution (I come from near Birmingham so that was novel).
It was about 2 miles out, up a big hill. Some times I would get a lift in with farmers. Arriving to lectures by tractor was an unexpected joy of studying in Lampeter!
I work in Higher Education and I can tell you that our experiences at Lampeter are a million miles away from what it’s like for kids now, at these huge, urban, commercial institutions. We were so lucky to experience that small, rural community and I also think of it very fondly. Never went to lectures on a tractor though - that’s so cool!
Sorry to hear about this. When a university closes, a great deal is lost, and it is hard to quantify the blow to the local community. I'm unfortunately all too familiar with this sort of thing from the changing higher ed landscape here in the States.
I dread to think what will happen to the local economy. Lampeter was a small town, as well as lost jobs on campus, the shops, cafes and pubs will struggle without students.
Deeply sad. Its origins and timing seem very similar to Durham’s which has fared much better. You feel that there must have been a niche for it as an independent institution.
It managed to survive nearly 200 years in its own niche. I haven't followed as closely as some, but it seems that Lampeter paid the price for decisions made at a wider level.
A sad tale well told. Got me thinking that all three of the schools I attended are no more. One is now a housing estate, another a car park and at least the other had a library rebuilt on the site. One of the colleges I attended has also gone. Hackney Technical College that memory tells me was a dark foreboding place. I think the site is now a shopping centre. The only academic establishment still standing in which I supposedly 'learnt' something is Kingston University ( a Poly when I was there)....well, at least for now...
We used to have a few exchange students from UCLA each year, they were always a little surprised by the penitentiary style accommodation, but they got used to it, and the never ending rain!
Things are pretty bad over here, a lot of colleges expanded in the 2000s and there are not enough students to go round, it seems.
Thank you for this elegy. I never went to Lampeter, but feel like I did because, working in the English department at another small university, I had two colleagues who'd studied there (both professors). You sound too young to have known them, but perhaps you do: David Worrall and Brian Robinson. Worrall in particular was a bit of a superstar of eighteenth-century studies. They used to talk of it in much the same way as you do: flawed, but, well - good.
We have to be realistic and say that institutions have to pay their own way most of the time, but still the closure of a place like Lampeter feels like a loss to the variety of the higher education system. For what it's worth, I don't think the problem was the expansion of HE, nor even the consequent rise of tuition fees, but the decision, taken I believe in around 2015, to remove the cap on student numbers that each university could take. This meant the Russell Group universities, particularly in the humanities, started accepting many more students, depriving less prestigious places of the students who would before have gone to them. I'm sure the politicians and officials who took that decision genuinely believed that it would empower young people and improve quality by increasing competition, but I think the opposite has been the case; applicants have a smaller variety of courses to choose from, and once there sit in overcrowded lecture theatres with less personal attention from staff.
Anyway, rant over. Farewell, St. David's, Lampeter. You improved a lot of people's lives, and were loved by many.
Thank you for your thoughful reply. Your point about the Russell Group makes good sense and is probably part of the problem, maybe the whole problem. Freedom of choice leading to less choice appears to be the spirit of the age.
The Scandinavian prison descriptor painted a detailed portrait for me, thank you. But also more poignantly, I cry a little inside when educational institutions close or lose funding. It feels like a daily story over here
Oh dear, diolch yn fawr Lampeter. I did my
Master’s there in 1994/5. I lived in a cottage on campus so fared better than you on the accommodation front.
I did even worse in the second year. I rented an old farmhouse with friends. Landlord forget to mention that it wasn't heated. She lent us some ‘lambing heaters’ in the winter!
Wow!! I had friends who lived in a farmhouse - remember going there for a party, but didn’t consider the reality of living there. I recall the night sky was very beautiful due to the lack of light pollution (I come from near Birmingham so that was novel).
It was about 2 miles out, up a big hill. Some times I would get a lift in with farmers. Arriving to lectures by tractor was an unexpected joy of studying in Lampeter!
I work in Higher Education and I can tell you that our experiences at Lampeter are a million miles away from what it’s like for kids now, at these huge, urban, commercial institutions. We were so lucky to experience that small, rural community and I also think of it very fondly. Never went to lectures on a tractor though - that’s so cool!
Sorry to hear about this. When a university closes, a great deal is lost, and it is hard to quantify the blow to the local community. I'm unfortunately all too familiar with this sort of thing from the changing higher ed landscape here in the States.
I dread to think what will happen to the local economy. Lampeter was a small town, as well as lost jobs on campus, the shops, cafes and pubs will struggle without students.
Deeply sad. Its origins and timing seem very similar to Durham’s which has fared much better. You feel that there must have been a niche for it as an independent institution.
It managed to survive nearly 200 years in its own niche. I haven't followed as closely as some, but it seems that Lampeter paid the price for decisions made at a wider level.
A sad tale well told. Got me thinking that all three of the schools I attended are no more. One is now a housing estate, another a car park and at least the other had a library rebuilt on the site. One of the colleges I attended has also gone. Hackney Technical College that memory tells me was a dark foreboding place. I think the site is now a shopping centre. The only academic establishment still standing in which I supposedly 'learnt' something is Kingston University ( a Poly when I was there)....well, at least for now...
We used to have a few exchange students from UCLA each year, they were always a little surprised by the penitentiary style accommodation, but they got used to it, and the never ending rain!
Things are pretty bad over here, a lot of colleges expanded in the 2000s and there are not enough students to go round, it seems.
Half of my secondary school site was sold off for housing. People have to live somewhere, just not on school playing fields and universities.