{"id":2952,"date":"2021-06-02T16:07:08","date_gmt":"2021-06-02T16:07:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blogs.ncl.ac.uk\/speccoll\/?p=2952"},"modified":"2021-06-21T15:00:48","modified_gmt":"2021-06-21T15:00:48","slug":"the-student-union","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.ncl.ac.uk\/speccoll\/2021\/06\/02\/the-student-union\/","title":{"rendered":"The Student Union"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<div class=\"wp-block-group\"><div class=\"wp-block-group__inner-container is-layout-flow wp-block-group-is-layout-flow\">\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1022\" height=\"697\" src=\"https:\/\/blogs.ncl.ac.uk\/speccoll\/files\/2021\/06\/Untitled.png\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-3136\" srcset=\"https:\/\/blogs.ncl.ac.uk\/speccoll\/files\/2021\/06\/Untitled.png 1022w, https:\/\/blogs.ncl.ac.uk\/speccoll\/files\/2021\/06\/Untitled-300x205.png 300w, https:\/\/blogs.ncl.ac.uk\/speccoll\/files\/2021\/06\/Untitled-768x524.png 768w, https:\/\/blogs.ncl.ac.uk\/speccoll\/files\/2021\/06\/Untitled-440x300.png 440w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1022px) 100vw, 1022px\" \/><figcaption>Newcastle University Students&#8217; Union Building 1969, NUA\/061885-1, Newcastle University Archives, Newcastle University Special Collections, GB 186<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-group\"><div class=\"wp-block-group__inner-container is-layout-flow wp-block-group-is-layout-flow\">\n<figure class=\"wp-block-gallery columns-1 is-cropped wp-block-gallery-1 is-layout-flex wp-block-gallery-is-layout-flex\"><ul class=\"blocks-gallery-grid\"><li class=\"blocks-gallery-item\"><figure><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"537\" height=\"394\" src=\"https:\/\/blogs.ncl.ac.uk\/speccoll\/files\/2021\/06\/colour-1.jpg\" alt=\"\" data-id=\"3198\" data-full-url=\"https:\/\/blogs.ncl.ac.uk\/speccoll\/files\/2021\/06\/colour-1.jpg\" data-link=\"https:\/\/blogs.ncl.ac.uk\/speccoll\/2021\/06\/02\/the-student-union\/colour-1\/\" class=\"wp-image-3198\" srcset=\"https:\/\/blogs.ncl.ac.uk\/speccoll\/files\/2021\/06\/colour-1.jpg 537w, https:\/\/blogs.ncl.ac.uk\/speccoll\/files\/2021\/06\/colour-1-300x220.jpg 300w, https:\/\/blogs.ncl.ac.uk\/speccoll\/files\/2021\/06\/colour-1-409x300.jpg 409w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 537px) 100vw, 537px\" \/><\/figure><\/li><\/ul><figcaption class=\"blocks-gallery-caption\">University of Newcastle upon Tyne Undergraduate Prospectus, 1987, NUA 6\/3, Newcastle University Archives, Newcastle University Special Collections, GB 186<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div><\/div>\n<\/div><\/div>\n\n\n\n<p>The&nbsp;dramatic&nbsp;frontage of&nbsp;Student\u2019s Union building&nbsp;was built around 1924,&nbsp;designed by local Architect Robert Burns Dick who also designed the towers of the famous Tyne Bridge.&nbsp;The coats of arms over the main entrance&nbsp;are for three&nbsp;separate organisations; Armstrong College,&nbsp;Durham University and&nbsp;Newcastle College of Medicine,&nbsp;which reflect the separate institutions which went on to become&nbsp;Newcastle University.&nbsp;Until at least the 1950s, the Union was&nbsp;split into separate&nbsp;organisations for&nbsp;women&nbsp;and&nbsp;men, each with&nbsp;their own&nbsp;offices and common rooms, and even separate entrances.&nbsp;A&nbsp;bricked up&nbsp;door on King\u2019s Road is likely the old women\u2019s entrance.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"745\" height=\"519\" src=\"https:\/\/blogs.ncl.ac.uk\/speccoll\/files\/2021\/06\/cropped-door.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-3193\" srcset=\"https:\/\/blogs.ncl.ac.uk\/speccoll\/files\/2021\/06\/cropped-door.jpg 745w, https:\/\/blogs.ncl.ac.uk\/speccoll\/files\/2021\/06\/cropped-door-300x209.jpg 300w, https:\/\/blogs.ncl.ac.uk\/speccoll\/files\/2021\/06\/cropped-door-431x300.jpg 431w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 745px) 100vw, 745px\" \/><figcaption>Photograph of the bricked-up women&#8217;s entrance to the Student Union building<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p>The&nbsp;original&nbsp;building was&nbsp;created for&nbsp;a student population of&nbsp;only&nbsp;800&nbsp;but by 1948,&nbsp;numbers had risen to&nbsp;3200.&nbsp;The&nbsp;Student\u2019s Union&nbsp;building had suffered from&nbsp;poor adaptations, heavily used furnishings and, as&nbsp;one commentator put it,&nbsp;\u2018injudicious attempts at fashionable d\u00e9cor\u2019.&nbsp;The solution&nbsp;was&nbsp;renovations and&nbsp;an&nbsp;extension to the&nbsp;Union building designed by Sir William Whitfield. The new facilities&nbsp;were opened in 1964. The&nbsp;British&nbsp;Modernist&nbsp;construction&nbsp;included&nbsp;a debating&nbsp;chamber,&nbsp; dance&nbsp;hall and&nbsp;a refectory&nbsp;featuring&nbsp;coffee lounges, bar&nbsp;facilities&nbsp;and&nbsp;improved&nbsp;catering.&nbsp;The&nbsp;enlarged&nbsp;Student\u2019s&nbsp;Union&nbsp;Building&nbsp;has&nbsp;since&nbsp;hosted&nbsp;hundreds of gigs, including&nbsp;Fleetwood Mac, Blur&nbsp;and&nbsp;George Ezra.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Learn more about student life on campus&nbsp;in this series of blogs&nbsp;exploring the history of the student publication <a href=\"http:\/\/Special Guest Blog: History of the Courier | Special Collections (ncl.ac.uk)\">The&nbsp;Courier<\/a>.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Sources<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Concert Archives (2021) <em>Newcastle University Students Union&#8217;s Concert History<\/em>. Available at: https:\/\/www.concertarchives.org\/venues\/newcastle-university-students-union&#8211;5 <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Ernest Marsden Bettenson. (1971) <em>The University of Newcastle Upon Tyne: a historical introduction, 1834-1971<\/em>. Newcastle Upon Tyne.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Historic England (2021) <em>Students&#8217; Union<\/em>. Available at: https:\/\/historicengland.org.uk\/listing\/the-list\/list-entry\/1355263 <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>McCord, Norman (2006)\u00a0<em>Newcastle University Past, Present and Future.<\/em>\u00a0Newcastle: Third Millennium Publishing.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Opening of the Refectory and Students&#8217; Union Extension, 7th March 1964, NUA 16\/7\/1\/20, Newcastle University Archives, Newcastle University Special Collections, GB 186<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Want to learn more about the history of Newcastle University campus? Why not explore all the articles in our <a href=\"https:\/\/blogs.ncl.ac.uk\/speccoll\/category\/campus-tour\/\" data-type=\"URL\" data-id=\"https:\/\/blogs.ncl.ac.uk\/speccoll\/category\/campus-tour\/\">Campus Tour blog series<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>The&nbsp;dramatic&nbsp;frontage of&nbsp;Student\u2019s Union building&nbsp;was built around 1924,&nbsp;designed by local Architect Robert Burns Dick who also designed the towers of the famous Tyne Bridge.&nbsp;The coats of arms over the main entrance&nbsp;are for three&nbsp;separate organisations; Armstrong College,&nbsp;Durham University and&nbsp;Newcastle College of Medicine,&nbsp;which &hellip; <a href=\"https:\/\/blogs.ncl.ac.uk\/speccoll\/2021\/06\/02\/the-student-union\/\">Continue reading <span class=\"meta-nav\">&rarr;<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":5894,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[716],"tags":[718],"class_list":["post-2952","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-campus-tour","tag-campustour"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.ncl.ac.uk\/speccoll\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2952","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.ncl.ac.uk\/speccoll\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.ncl.ac.uk\/speccoll\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.ncl.ac.uk\/speccoll\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/5894"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.ncl.ac.uk\/speccoll\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2952"}],"version-history":[{"count":18,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.ncl.ac.uk\/speccoll\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2952\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":3323,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.ncl.ac.uk\/speccoll\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2952\/revisions\/3323"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.ncl.ac.uk\/speccoll\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2952"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.ncl.ac.uk\/speccoll\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2952"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.ncl.ac.uk\/speccoll\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2952"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}