My life studying at York in the 1980s

This month we hear from alum Kleopatra Theologidou, who came from Greece to study at York in the 1980s. She tells us all about life on the Conservation course, the close-knit community of students and staff, parties and snowball fights with friends, and the connections that lasted a lifetime afterwards.

“I first visited York in September 1984 to attend a short course in Conservation Studies at the Institute of Advanced Architectural Studies of the University of York. As a graduate architect engineer with five years of experience in the conservation of Greek monuments, I had high expectations to improve my knowledge and promote the architectural heritage in my country. Excited by the 15-day experience, I decided to attend the postgraduate program in Conservation the following academic year in 1985-86.

Studying at King’s Manor, an imposing medieval building of high historical and architectural value was quite an experience. I felt really happy to spend most of my day in such a gorgeous place. The very rich library, perfectly organized by Keith Parker, the librarian, and his colleagues, always there to help us find any material we needed, the lecture and study rooms, the offices, were all welcomingly designed.

I will not forget the dining room, where we had coffee breaks and lunch, a place that brought together students, professors and administrative staff, a well-organised place for socialisation. We also ate meals in the nearby pubs, coming closer to the daily life and habits of the locals.

What was life like studying Conservation?

The studies were very intensive. A twelve month full-time program, which included all-day lectures and seminars, starting around 9:30 in the morning and ended often at 7.30 or 8pm, personal research and visits to workshops, monuments and sites of high architectural and archaeological value in York, the surrounding areas and field trips, in the United Kingdom and abroad. 

It was a very well organised program of studies that utilized every minute with the aim of transferring knowledge and experiences from the wider field of conservation. The program was implemented by the course staff in collaboration with a large number of external lecturers, academics, researchers and practitioners. 

The people who made a difference

I cannot forget, first of all, the director of the MA Conservation Studies, Dr Derek Linstrum, who was always there, eager for discussions and assistance at all stages of our studies and I cannot forget his pen and calligraphic signature, always written with great care. Professor Douglass Wise, the director of the Institute of Advanced Architectural Studies and my thesis supervisor, Sir Bernard Feilden, Patrick Faulkner, John Ashurst, Marc Laird, Peter Goodchild and Jukka Jokilehto from ICCROM were just some of the many distinguished scholars. 

They were all so approachable and open to conversation during the lectures, but also during coffee and lunch breaks and during organized sherry, drinks and dinners that brought us closer together.

Technology in the 80s

In the mid-1980s, the use of technology was far from our lives. Fax was mostly unknown and certainly not in our everyday use. Mobile phones were in the realm of fantasy and I still remember the time I spent queuing at the public telephones and the coins I had to carry with me to use them. 

Thesis and all academic papers were written on typewriters, with typing done by typists. If I remember correctly, the possibility of using a computer, the famous Amstrad, was introduced in my academic year, with the School giving students the alternative of working on a computer at King’s Manor. I was really excited and of course I took advantage of the opportunity that was given to me.

Studying and living together

In 1985-86 we were 19 students and we came from all continents around the world. People were from so many different countries, different cultures and at the same time so much alike! We were interested in getting to know each other, communicating and doing things together. I don’t know if it was coincidence or the way things were organised.

Most of us lived at Constantine House in Bootham, a student residence. It was a three-storey building with an attic and a basement, where the kitchen was located along with the dining room and a garden at the back. 

We shared the kitchen in the basement, the common room, where a television was installed, and even the bathrooms. The rooms were spacious, allowing for small gatherings. They had independent heating and I remember that we had to insert coins to make the system work. 

I will never forget the common room, where we spent most evenings, a place to gather, watch films, chat, and party. We had a huge refrigerator, like a small room, where we put our baskets of food on shelves and the feeling I had, every time I went in to get something, that I could get trapped inside and freeze! Each of us had our own little cupboard.

The kitchen was also used as a dining room and was actually a meeting place, a socialising place, as after class, we all cooked there, ate there and washed our dishes. This context inspired some of us to create “the family”. We all – Nalini, Smita, Jan,

Kirsty, Dan, Tom, Patra – united our culinary traditions, and each of us spent time cooking a meal once a week for everyone and very often inviting some of our colleagues in conservation to dinner. The garden at the back of Constantine House, was an ideal place to enjoy sunshine but also play with snowballs.

Very often, after dinner, we would go dancing to the cinema in the campus or to some pub for drinks, but only until 11.30 PM, as at 11.15 the bell would ring and call us for the last drink! 

40 years later…

This shared life brought us all very close and created emotional bonds that still exist to this day. At the reunion we organised in York, 40 years later, almost all of us were present and it felt as if not a day had passed since we parted ways.