Valerie Hess (NH 1955, 1st 1/4 hour); 14. George Levack (54 minutes); 15. Victor Bugg (31 minutes).
GEORGE LEVACK, NH Bursar from 1971 to 1983, was the first male Fellow of a women's college at either Cambridge or Oxford, and suggests that NH had the first mixed fellowship. He describes his Colonial service and administration background, his NH interview, and his role in consolidating the informal structure into a formal one. He speaks of support from other colleges, but emphasises the financial constraints, which affected staff salaries and also led to the undergraduate rent strike. He comments on the co-operative spirit in NH, including early student representation on College Council, and the valuable Liaison Committee. He describes NH's transition from Company Limited by Guarantee towards achieving full University of Cambridge College status under the Royal Charter, in 1972. He regards that as bringing less change than the appointment of Rosemary Murray as Vice-Chancellor. He describes the implications of this for College Council and Fellows, and the functions hosted by RM including two visits of the Chancellor, the Duke of Edinburgh. He comments on the challenges to the catering staff but how valuable the period was to NH's image. He speaks of domestic and housekeeping arrangements in college, and the challenge of accommodating growing numbers of undergraduates, including provision of places in hostels. He mentions problems with maintaining the buildings, and some impracticalities of design details. He characterises RM's presidency as 'a triumph - on such a human basis' and viewed himself as her 'staff officer'. He recalls several Fellows by name. He summarises some of his 'failures' and 'successes' at NH, and comments on the uniqueness of the NH community.
VICTOR BUGG, a quantity surveyor, co-operated with Peter Hill, a Senior Partner at Davis, Belfield and Everest, London architects, and Geoffrey Trickey, senior surveyor. He had an office in Cambridge so that he could make frequent site visits to New Hall during the development of the Huntingdon Road site. He speaks of the architects, contractors, and structural engineers, and problems with the building materials especially during the prolonged frost in winter 1962-63. He describes design and financial constraints imposed by the University Grants Commission, which limited cost per student room to below £2000 in the early 1960s, and mentions conflicts between the architect and the building contractors. He gives his opinion of the innovative design of New Hall and reflects on the subsequent maintenance problems stemming from financial constraints. He also comments on the benefit of hindsight, but many building techniques were unproven. Commenting on the architects, he reflects that they were very competent, but that project management was not a strong point. Chamberlin was a 'very impressive man'.