As part of Bede's 50th anniversary celebrations we are catching up with former staff and students to share their memories of the college.
Kathryn Johnson (now Houghton) was a student at Bede Sixth Form from 1982 to 1984...
As a former student I have lots of very happy memories, together with remembering how hard we all worked at Bede.
I took Physics, Maths, Further Maths and Computer Studies A levels. Indeed we were the first ever year to take the A level Computer Studies. After leaving Bede I went to Rolls Royce Aeroengines in Derby for a year, then off to Oxford Uni to study Engineering Science.
There is no doubt the grounding and teaching I got at college set me up for a career in control and computing engineering.
The first computer I used for projects at Bede was a BBC Micro we all called Boris. He lived to a ripe old age and I set up, with the help of Dr Geoffrey Heywood, a computer controlled model railway for my A level Computer Studies project. Boris had basic feed ins from signal relays, which set off lights for crossings and barriers. I also set up a way of displaying large numbers on Boris’s screen for a temperature display. This may sound ridiculously simple now, but in 1982 to 1984 was definitely not.
In our first year of A levels we had to travel to Middleborough Polytechnic to use the punch card computers, as the Bede computer lab only had one basic computer. If there was one tiny mistake in the punch cards, we would return the week after to find the programme had not run.
In 1983 ten BBC Micros arrived in Bede as part of a government initiative and we named them all after the Hitchhikers Guide to The Galaxy characters. They used tape recorders to save programme we wrote in basic and were very temperamental in reloading the data.
I remember having Wednesday afternoons to do our own activities and I would visit the care home on Marsh Avenue and talk to the residents. Others did sports or played instruments.
Outside of college I joined the Outward Bound Club, run by Dr Heywood and Miss Burton. It was the best thing I did to build up my confidence, try out lots of new activities and have brilliant holidays away with friends. If we were not being marched up hills and mountains, then we were water skiing, driving speed boats, fishing, and rock climbing. Phew!
At the end of my A levels we had a long holiday in Arran. Prior to that we had trips to Yorkshire and attempted long distance walks (I say attempt as I never managed to complete them, but others did). Miss Burton would take a couple of us to Billingham Asda to shop on the Friday, then she would cook huge meals for us at the end of the day. Corn beef hash etc. We often stayed in converted railway stations and in the summer camped.
To celebrate Bede's 25th anniversary many students and teachers met up for a grand dinner. Students at the time made party favours and we all had a great night remembering our time at the college. Now in its 50th year it is hard to believe it’s 25 years on from that!
