Description Film of notable campus events in the Open University's history including the first building work, the opening ceremony with Earl Mountbatten, the laying of the Jennie Lee Library's foundation stone
... , the Queen's visit in 1979, aerial views of the campus in 1982, the visit of Prince Charles and Open Day 1982.
1 00:00:00.217 00:00:24.484 Music playing
2 00:00:24.484 00:00:29.327 The 1982 setting for Walton Hall, the very heart of The Open University
3 00:00:29.327 00:00:35.174 a far cry from its appearance in 1969. The dilapidated hall stood amid fields
4 00:00:35.174 00:00:39.340 and woodland secluded to the point of being forgotten.
5 00:00:39.340 00:00:44.019 The only other building on the estate, the 14th C St Michael's church was
6 00:00:44.019 00:00:49.510 equally in need of restoration and only in occasional use.
7 00:00:49.510 00:00:55.468 The overgrown drive seems an unlikely approach to a new and open university.
8 00:00:55.468 00:00:59.127 The first task was to make the hall weatherproof and habitable whilst
9 00:00:59.127 00:01:04.175 over on the west side low rise blocks were being built for the first academic staff
10 00:01:04.175 00:01:09.087 already involved in producing the first foundation courses. All new building was
11 00:01:09.087 00:01:13.128 to be in brick, relatively cheap and available straight from the Bedfordshire
12 00:01:13.128 00:01:18.638 kilns nearby. The second priority was to provide temporary accommodation for the
13 00:01:18.638 00:01:23.592 library - an essential backup for academics working under pressure. There
14 00:01:23.592 00:01:28.079 were few concessions to architectural style, rapid construction and convenience
15 00:01:28.079 00:01:32.530 were the order of the day. Foundations were already appearing for the
16 00:01:32.530 00:01:36.757 laboratories urgently needed to develop the first home experiment kits for the
17 00:01:36.757 00:01:41.482 Science foundation course. The only planning protection was given to the rose
18 00:01:41.482 00:01:46.374 garden at the side of the hall and the mature trees on the estate.
19 00:01:46.374 00:01:50.718 The hall itself had a special destiny after its restoration to house the top
20 00:01:50.718 00:01:56.373 people. Some minor refurbishing of the entrance hall created a main reception
21 00:01:56.373 00:02:02.335 area. Unchanged but beautifully restored was the original 19th C finely carved oak
22 00:02:02.335 00:02:08.755 staircase. This led to the principle offices on the first floor for the Vice
23 00:02:08.755 00:02:14.535 Chancellor, the University Secretary and their supporting staff. The first
24 00:02:14.535 00:02:19.002 occasion to attract the press to Walton Hall was the visit of Lord Mountbatten
25 00:02:19.002 00:02:24.322 who was invited to open the now completed new buildings which were already in use.
26 00:02:24.322 00:02:28.464 He was received by the Open University's first Chancellor Lord Crowther,
27 00:02:28.464 00:02:32.291 the Pro Chancellor and Chairman of the planning committee Sir Peter Venables, and
28 00:02:32.291 00:02:37.120 the Vice Chancellor. The minister given responsibility by Harold Wilson for
29 00:02:37.120 00:02:41.170 launching the university, Jennie Lee, was among the guests.
30 00:02:41.170 00:02:45.914 [Lord Crowther] Lord Mountbatten, Pro Chancellor, Vice Chancellor,
31 00:02:45.914 00:02:47.641 my lords, ladies and gentlemen
32 00:02:47.641 00:02:53.462 we are met here this morning to mark the formal completion of the first phase of
33 00:02:53.462 00:02:57.437 the construction of this permanent home for the Open University. Now it might at
34 00:02:57.437 00:03:05.101 first sight seem odd that an institution who's habitat is the air, which only
35 00:03:05.101 00:03:09.536 narrowly escaped being called the University of the Air, should need a
36 00:03:09.536 00:03:12.298 local habitation as well as a name.
37 00:03:12.298 00:03:15.300 I suppose that when the idea of an open university was first
38 00:03:15.300 00:03:20.336 mooted the natural assumption might have been that it would occupy a few floors of
39 00:03:20.336 00:03:27.553 some anonymous office building in London. That may have been the natural assumption
40 00:03:27.553 00:03:33.918 but it was clearly the wrong one. We are not a society for the propagation of this
41 00:03:33.918 00:03:39.359 or for the abolition of that. We are, we will be, and we are one of the great
42 00:03:39.359 00:03:47.721 permanent institutions of the country and though our nature is inevitably largely
43 00:03:47.721 00:03:55.778 aerial, electronic, invisible, we must put down a toe on earth somewhere. We count it
44 00:03:55.778 00:04:02.940 a great privilege to be able to have Admiral of the Fleet, Lord Mountbatten
45 00:04:02.940 00:04:08.861 of Burma to perform this dedication ceremony for us. We are greatly honoured
46 00:04:08.861 00:04:15.467 by his presence. Lord Mountbatten. [clapping]
47 00:04:15.467 00:04:19.578 [Lord Mountbatten] Mr Chancellor, Mr Pro Chancellor, Mr Vice Chancellor, ladies and
48 00:04:19.578 00:04:25.895 gentlemen. I am indeed honoured to be invited to open The Open University but it
49 00:04:25.895 00:04:30.886 at first puzzle, how one could make an university more open than its name already
50 00:04:30.886 00:04:35.438 implied. But I gather it is the buildings which house the staff and the means of
Available online
