Tag: Sport

Varsity Day: 2008

I’m not really sure if this event still happens at Imperial. But back on 27 February 2008 it was certainly much heralded by the sports centre staff and hence our coverage of it.

With nine different sports, 23 matches and 46 teams, Varsity 2008 was packed with fierce competition. Harlington Sports Ground hosted hockey, football, lacrosse and rugby matches, also at the sports centre: netball, basketball, badminton, squash and waterpolo matches got underway. The day culminated  in the J.P.R. Williams Cup match at Richmond Athletic Association Ground between Imperial  College and Imperial Medicals Rugby 1st XV teams attracting over 1,000 spectators.

Colin Grimshaw May 2023

24th Hyde Park Relay: 1972

Today we have yet another amazing discovery. Like the previous post showing the Rag Procession, this is the 1972 “24th Hyde Park Relay Race”, as captured by the 8mm film camera of STOIC. But I have also found the 50 year old recorded commentary that would have been used when the film was inserted into the news programme TOPIC. I can also tell you that Graham Foster, a STOIC member and regular reporter is heard on that commentary. STOIC used the TV Studio’s Uher sound recorder to capture the genuine background sounds during the race. This is also one of those black and white films that they processed themselves ‘in house’. I have included the section from the 1980 interviews with STOIC Chairman, where Tim Dye talks about that 8mm film processing. The commentary does not quite fit the full duration of the film that I have included here. Graham also mentions that the race was organised by IC Cross Country Club. The most recent mention of the club is in Felix issue 1744 dated 21 February 2020 and mentions the race the previous Saturday 8th.

There is a race report on page 7 of FELIX issue 310 (9 March 1972) the headline is down below along with the 1972 video.

Colin Grimshaw April 2022

Silly Football (Taylor Memorial): 1971

In the Christmas edition of Felix from 1971 it was announced that on the 9 December the Taylor Memorial (Silly) Football Match would take place. It did, and STOIC were there to capture the event. You’ll notice that the picture is rather dim and very grainy. That’s because it was shot on 8mm film that STOIC developed ‘in house’ rather than use colour film that required external processing. With this method the film was available to be used within hours. It was in fact used in the Christmas Edition of TOPIC the weekly news programme. No sound of course, but there was a commentary added during the programme.

Were you in either of the teams back in December 1971? And does anyone know why it was the Taylor Memorial match? I can’t find any references to that name.

Colin Grimshaw July 2021

Things to come!

Yet more discoveries from some recent digitisation. The 8mm film reel (shown at the bottom) was used in the 1971 Christmas edition of STOIC’s TOPIC news programme, for which I have the (videotape) audio. This 8mm reel was also a compilation of items already shown earlier in that term. I appear to have some original location audio for some of the filmed items on the audio tape (shown at the top). Once more, a large number of these filmed items were in colour, but only ever seen via black and white TV. It’s now just a case of trying to see it I can match things up. If I can succeed then we have film of: “Morphy Day Rowing”, “Silly Football”,  “Imperial College’s Day of Action”, “Motor Trials” and more. Some screen shots from these items can be seen below. And if, nearly 50 years ago,  you were taking part or involved in any of this, then please do let me know. Contact details at the end of this blog post.

Colin Grimshaw November 2020


 

Review of the Year: 1979-1980

One of the extremely useful things about STOIC’s Review of the Year programmes is that they showcased some of the most important things happening in college. In this edition from 40 years ago in June 1980, David Ghani and Paul Johnson give us a glimpse of events as seen through the lens of STOIC’s camera crew. As you will see, a large amount was still in black and white. In fact, this edition of the Review of the Year is the first to be shot in colour and that was simply because it was recorded within the confines of the College TV Studio. And if you look carefully you might spot that even the studio sequences have been shot and edited together in film style, using our single colour camera.

Look out for Rag Week events, STOIC’s 10th Anniversary and one department potentially about to go broke!

Colin Grimshaw 6 June 2020

Boat Club: 1980

On the 8 October 1980 edition of STOIC’s Newsbreak programme, they featured the Imperial College Boat Club. Still in the days of black and white, reporter Jim Donaldson ventured down the road to the Putney Boathouse. From the top of the building Jim reported on what he was seeing and we get to watch the then novices going out onto the water. Maybe you were one of them?

This is yet another video rescued during the ongoing project to digitise the archive of STOIC and has not been seen since first broadcast 39 years ago.

Colin Grimshaw September 2019

Morphy Day: c 1972

A recently discovered 8mm colour film of Morphy Day from around 1972. It was shot for inclusion in the STOIC news programme TOPIC. The original videotape has long since been erased, but this film survived. Although we didn’t have colour TV equipment at the time, the only method of recording events was to shoot them on film and in this case it was in colour. Morphy Day was in fact the actual boat race, seen very briefly at the start of the film, afterwards the traditional ‘battle’ also took place on the Putney tow path. Here then is Morphy Day seen for the first time in colour since the film was shot.

Colin Grimshaw August 2016

Croquet at Imperial: 1972

Topic 1971I recently discovered this 8mm colour film shot for inclusion in the student news programme TOPIC. No programmes from that period remain and the one photo we have, on the right, shows me during a recording of that programme in 1971. This is, as far as I know, the only record of Croquet being played at Imperial. I’m not sure in which month of 1972 this was shot, but it’s either early summer or autumn. What I do know is that it’s the late Professor Bernard Neal (former head of dept civil engineering) playing. According to the Imperial obituary “…He was also an accomplished sportsman captaining Cambridge at tennis and excelling at croquet, playing for Great Britain and winning the All England Club’s men’s singles title 38 times.”

In June 2011 the BBC had a web page all about his croquet abilities saying “…He has won more Wimbledon singles titles than Martina Navratilova, Pete Sampras, Bjorn Borg and John McEnroe combined, and yet you have probably never heard of him. That is because 89-year-old Professor Bernard Neal from Cheltenham is not a tennis player but a croquet player…”

Colin Grimshaw July 2016

Morphy Day & Sports Day: 1928

In this blog entry I’m bringing you the oldest moving images that we have of an Imperial event. Film CanWe are very fortunate to have a 1928 16mm film that an unknown person shot of both Morphy Day rowing at Putney and also of Sports Day, which is thought to have been held at the Chelsea Football Club grounds at Stamford Bridge. In 1920, Arthur Morphy had presented a cup for an eights race between the original three constituent colleges. Competition for the Morphy Cup became an important annual event in college life. FilmFrom looking at the film, we can only assume that this was shot before the rivalry became common at Morphy Day between the colleges, that saw flour and eggs being thrown around on the tow path. None of that appears on this film. Interestingly, we can also assume that the film was shot by somebody who was not a student at the college, because when you look at the film the word Morphy is spelt incorrectly. Arthur Morphy’s Son attended City and Guilds (1917-1920) and went on to co-found the company Morphy Richards. Ted CoulsonTed Coulson (see below), seen in the second sequence of Tug-of-War and in the picture on the right, was the City and Guilds team coach. If you have any further information to fill in the gaps about this film then please do get in touch. We’d love to know who shot the film and why.

2019 update and correction. It is now identified as Jimmy Peacock in the Tug-of-War film sequence and not Ted Coulson (seen in this photo) as previously assumed.

 

Colin Grimshaw April 2015