Rex Watson

Golden Anniversary:

Reminiscences of arriving at Homerton one half-century ago

Rex Watson

Prior to starting at Homerton in 1971, I worked on a four-year contract as a Lecturer in Mathematics at the Royal University of Malta. Part of this work was on a joint honours degree, but part in the Junior (Sixth-form) College, which fed the university. By the time the last of these years started, I had to decide whether to renew my contract. I was now married to Norma, and our daughter Lynda was the blondest person on the island. With a potential change of government, perhaps less well disposed to expatriates, it seemed time to return to Blighty.

In the TES one day in the autumn I came across the Homerton advert for a mathematician and decided to apply. We were returning to the UK for the festive season and an interview was arranged for a day quite deep into the vacation, perhaps as late as say 20th December. At this point we were in Lancashire with my parents. After a night in the Station Hotel, as it was then, I crossed the railway bridge and found Homerton (sounds like crossing the Rubicon and finding God).

I was I think surprised to find that I was the only interviewee, at least that day. (In fact Bob Burn started with me in September following.) Much of the time (perhaps 10 to 2) I don't remember, but Hilary Shuard was in charge, being Head of Maths and Deputy Principal. In fact Principal Dame Beryl had departed for Christmas! There were no students around of course. I met Hugh Wood and Alison Carter, as she was then, possibly too Hazel Brown. I think much of the discussion concerned the maths course itself, but 'curriculum' work proved to be important too, of course, maybe causing me some angst in my earlier years in the college!

In later years in the Maths Dept, from say the early 1980s, we would expect interviewees to give a presentation on a piece of maths or a curriculum matter. Fortunately for me perhaps this was not in operation in 1970!

Musing over things on the train journey north, I thought I could cope well enough with the maths teaching, and the curriculum work, teaching practice supervision, etc., were quite in the background. I liked my future colleagues, and the place generally. An offer came through the same day, which Norma and I agreed I should accept. So much for getting the job. I could write much of course about doing it, but that would be a major task. Anyway, and briefly, fast forward about seven months. Norma was expecting (baby due October) and flew home to her parents in Southampton in early July. I went with the car on the ferry to Naples, then broke the record from there to Le Havre (in a Ford Anglia). After much to-ing and fro-ing involving Southampton, Lancashire and Cambridge, we moved to a rented house in Shelford early in August. My room at Homerton was ready, so in fact I started working before too long, even though the contract started in September. One vivid memory is of sitting in my 'black and white' room (N6), vertical ducting pipe and all, and feeling very cold (about 30 degrees Fahrenheit less than Malta); probably worrying too about how to present double integrals. However, Combination Room coffee and chat worked wonders as ever.

Term probably didn't start till lateish in September. By this time I had my maths courses well enough mapped out I think, and was starting to get to grips with the way the College and its courses worked. Students arrived, courses started, Philip was born, I managed to fit a 'scrap' heater into our 'Maltese' car (my supreme mechanical achievement, ever), we bought our house (still there, us as well as the house itself!), we developed our sporting interests, etc.. How did we find the energy?

[Rex’s pen portrait at the top of this piece was taken by Alan Russell from Central Resources at the beginning of a Two Year Maths (TYM) course. I have one too. As Rex notes: the background looks like a snooker project, rather than a mechanics lecture. Ed.]