We’ve been taking a closer look at the UEA newspapers and magazines held in the Archives.
Titles like Skop (1964) and Decanter (1965-66) were some of our earliest student publications but surprisingly it took two years before UEA published its first official newspaper Mandate, in 1965.
Courtesy of David Smith
The following year an additional publication was ‘served up’ in the form of Chips. The editor described this as ‘a delicate morsel to sustain readers between the more substantial dishes of Mandate.’
Concrete made its first brief appearance in 1973, an amalgamation of Chips and Twice. Shortly afterwards there was Once, (once known as Chips; once-a-fortnight, once and for all). The editor was quick to point out that Once was not a newspaper running in competition with Concrete but a news magazine.
Mandate, Chips and Once
Concrete was overtaken in 1975 by Phoenix and there were others like Breezeblock, Broadly Speaking and Insite. In 1992 it was back to Concrete which has remained set ever since.
Other catchy names of UEA publications found in the Archives include: Bucket of Tongues, Canopener, (Socialist Society), Cyclops, Inmate, Kett, Mustard Magazine, Nine Tenths Under, The Right One (Conservative Party), Scorpion, Square One and Strut.
If you would like to know more about what went on here at UEA or to read snippets of news and views please make an appointment with the Archives archives@uea.ac.uk
I was responsible for (re)starting Concrete in 1992. It was only ever a working title – but time ran away with us and it just stuck. We were also blissfully unaware of the previous incarnations of the title – but looking at the architecture, I guess it should have been obvious! Good to see it still going strong.
Janet Schafer was keen to start student journalism, but student numbers were too small for a viable circulation in the first year or two.
Great to see a copy of Chips in the photo – think I have a few in the attic somewhere. I edited it in about ’67. Lot of fun … and was the first step on the road to a career in journalism.
Yes, Chips was THE university newspaper of the 60s. I edited it in ’68/’69 with Gordon Hart. We wrote it all up and hand drew the illustrations on a Banda machine in the temporary buildings down by the barn. This was on a Thursday night I think, then we had to take out on the campus and sell it on Friday mornings. Great fun as suggested above, although it didn’t lead to a career in journalism!