THE SUSS-EX CLUB
NEWSLETTER No. 50, November 2019
Edited by Adrian Peasgood
In this issue:
Forthcoming events
Recent programme
Obituary
18 December booking form
Appendix
FORTHCOMING EVENTS
Wednesday 18 December
Christmas party: Terrace Room, 3rd Floor, Bramber House,
12.30 – 2.30 pm
The annual Christmas buffet lunch for Suss-Ex Club members, their guests, and USPAS pensioners, will take place on Wednesday 18 December, from 12.30 – 2.30 pm in the Terrace Room, 3rd floor, Bramber House. There is a lift to take you to the 3rd floor.
If you are driving to the University and wish to collect a parking notice to display in your car (so that you do not have to pay for and display a parking ticket!) please – as in previous years - collect the parking notice on your way in, from the Reception Desk in Sussex House. You may park in any general parking space in any of the campus car parks.
The cost of the party to Suss-Ex Club members is £8 per person (guests are welcome) and includes a buffet lunch, welcoming drink, and tea or coffee. The closing date for bookings is Friday 6 December, but do please book as early as possible so we can advise the caterers of the numbers for the meal in good time.
Please print and complete the booking form at the end of this Newsletter, and return it with a cheque payable to ‘University of Sussex’ to Steve Pavey, 24 Spring Street, Brighton, BN1 3EF. (USPAS members will receive a separate invitation via the USPAS Office and should reply to Tracey Llewellyn.)
Steve Pavey
The following events are subject to confirmation
February 2020
Curator’s Tour of the Royal Pavilion and the ‘A Prince’s Treasure’ exhibition
We hope again to have the services of Royal Pavilion Curator Dr Alexandra Loske as our expert guide to the new ’A Prince’s Treasure’ exhibition at the Pavilion.
This is a spectacular loan of over 120 unique works of art from the Royal Collection, which will be returned from Buckingham Palace to their former home in Brighton whilst the Palace is being refurbished. Many of the works have not been on public display for over 170 years. The items were originally commissioned by the Prince Regent for his beloved Royal Pavilion.
As well as the tour itself, Alexandra will tell the story of how the loan came about and of the complex logistics of organising the transfer from London and Windsor of so many priceless objects.
Steve Pavey
April
‘The surgeon thinks’
Spring
‘Hard-hat’ tour of Corn Exchange towards the end of the restoration works
July
Shoreham Harbour
Events not under Suss-Ex auspices, but which may be of interest
Friday 13 December
Russia and European transition in a historical perspective : a workshop in memory of the late Professor David Dyker, 12 noon – 18.00. Language Learning Centre, Arts A, University of Sussex.
Full details of this event, and booking arrangements, are in the Appendix at the end of this Newsletter.
Thursday 19 – Friday 20 March 2020
There is an offer to alumni from the University’s Development and Alumni Relations Office, of an Art History trip to Rome,19-20 March 2020, led by Suss-Ex member Maurice Howard. The invitation has been extended to Suss-Ex members. If you have not received an email from DARO, but would like more information, please contact M.Connolly@Sussex.co.uk
RECENT PROGRAMME
Thursday 5 September
Harvey's Brewery tour
26 members of Suss-Ex went on a very enjoyable tour of Harvey's Brewery in Lewes.
The brewery is renowned for its wonderful range of fresh ales, created in a traditional brewhouse that dates back to Victorian times. It is a family business, with the seventh generation at the helm today! Harvey’s beer is one of East Sussex’s most famous beverages, with their ales being stocked in free houses all across South East England. Our guide was the wonderful Edmund Jenner, who gave us a very witty and instructive tour of the old Victorian buildings complete with their enormous copper boilers, fermenting tubs and brewing machinery. Edmund is the son of Miles Jenner the Head Brewer and joint Managing Director.
It was fascinating to learn that Harvey's draws up its water from an on-site artesian well, sixty feet below. This water has been filtered over thirty years through the Sussex chalk and it gives a special taste to Harvey's beer. For over half a century the beer has been fermented using a yeast which is now unique to Harvey's. The crop from each week's brewing is re-pitched into the following week's. Countless generations of yeast cells from the original consignment have thus passed through the fermenting room. This yeast contributes some 50% of the final flavour of Harvey's beer, which highlights how important it is for this original strain to be maintained.
The photograph shows most of our happy party at the end of the tour after having been given the opportunity to
sample (free of charge) several of the famous beers. Colin Finn
Thursday 3 October
Visit to the i360, talk in the West Pier Centre and Fish & Chip supper
We managed yet again to be lucky with the weather as more than 20 of us assembled for a late afternoon flight on the British Airways i360. Amazingly enough we even had some sunshine as the i360’s pod slowly glided up to 450ft for the 360 degree panorama of Brighton seafront, the South Downs and the English Channel. The extent of the Rampion wind farm was particularly striking from on high and one or two members even claimed that they could see the Isle of Wight (certainly possible on a clear day).
We then moved to the West Pier Centre where we had well-earned refreshments, after which Professor Fred Gray entertained us with a fascinating talk on the history of seaside architecture, particularly as it developed in Brighton. We were the first group to hear a talk based upon his new book (to be published early 2020) and saw some very interesting historic images of Brighton and Hove. We also raised £125 from a door collection towards the West Pier Trust’s heritage work.
Lastly most of us de-camped to the Regency Restaurant where a reserved table for 20 was awaiting. The atmosphere in the restaurant was very lively with plenty of other diners (including an unexpectedly large number of Chinese students!) enjoying their fish and chips. The food was excellent, the service good and the meal rounded off an excellent mixed evening of entertainment, educational and gastronomic activities.
Steve Pavey
OBITUARY
Arthur Tapp, 26 August 1933 – 24 November 2018
Arthur joined the University Library as an Assistant Librarian in the late 1960s. His first responsibilities were in the ill-fated first reclassification programme, and were not satisfying; his later role as head of Acquisitions was fulfilling, however; he successfully led a small team which even now, perhaps up to 40 or so years on, still meets from time to time. His final position, however, from 1985, was as Librarian in the School of Education, then an autonomous body, physically separate from the University Library. (When Arthur retired in 1990 it became the formal responsibility of the University Librarian, and was physically absorbed into the main Library after the latter’s extension in the mid 1990s.) Arthur’s kindness to colleagues, sense of humour, and wide range of both professional and general knowledge, are still well remembered.
Arthur was a man of many and diverse talents. Recollections include his brilliant performance at a staff party of extracts from Aubrey’s Brief lives, and an ambitious exhibition, ‘If you could only take one?’, inspired by radio 4’s Desert island discs, in which he showed the results of asking a very wide range of university figures (including the then vice-chancellor) about a favourite book. Arthur was a versatile sportsman, and introduced many of us to croquet, as well as strengthening the Library team in the inter-unit cricket matches which were for a few years a feature of the summer campus.
Adrian Peasgood
Suss-Ex
The website
More information about Suss-Ex is available on its webpage at http://www.sussex.ac.uk/suss-ex/. ‘Suss-Ex Club’ in Google will get you there, as will http://tiny.cc/sussex, or you can find us in the A–Z on the University’s homepage. The website has copies of past Newsletters.
The steering committee
Suss-Ex activities are organised by a steering committee, which currently comprises:
Sir Gordon Conway, Chair G.Conway@imperial.ac.uk
Ross Dowsett Rossana.Dowsett@ntlworld.com
Colin Finn colinfinn@btinternet.com
Jackie Fuller jkfuller21@hotmail.com
Charles Goldie c.m.goldie@sussex.ac.uk
Arnold Goldman a.goldman@cowbeech.f9.co.uk
Steve Pavey miniperson2003@yahoo.co.uk
Adrian Peasgood adrian@peasgood.plus.com
David Smith j.d.smith@sussex.ac.uk
Paul Tofts uos@paul-tofts.org.uk
Helen Walker helenjwalker@btinternet.com
Ideas for the future
We are always seeking ideas for social occasions when we can meet former colleagues. Please let us have your suggestions, or volunteer to join the committee. We meet once a term, when practicable immediately before a Suss-Ex event.
Booking form: Suss-Ex Club Christmas Party, 18th December
Booking details (to be returned by Friday 6th December 2019). Please print clearly.
Name(s) ………………………………………………………………………………………........................................
Home Address …….…………………………………………………………………………………...........................
Telephone ………………………………...…. Email address ..……………………………….......................…
Please book …….. place/s at £8 each Total £ ………
Payment details
I enclose a cheque for £………….....................................…….. (payable to ‘University of Sussex’).
Or
Payment can also be made very easily by direct bank transfer (“faster payments”). Please contact Steve at the email address below or by phone to landline 01273 822684 or text to 07742 528945 for details of the bank account to transfer the money to. You can also use a debit/credit card, although the University’s accounts procedures make this method rather less straightforward! Again please contact Steve if you wish to do this.
There will be a variety of food, clearly labelled, to suit most of those with dietary restrictions (e.g. vegetarian). However, if you require a separately prepared food box to meet any serious dietary needs, please give full details below (e.g. gluten free). You should then collect the box with your name on from serving staff on entering the dining room.
.......................................................................................................................................................................................
Please print and return this form to: Steve Pavey, 24 Spring St, Brighton BN1 3EF or, if
paying by bank transfer or card, the form can be sent to Steve by email to:
APPENDIX
Russia and European transition in a historical perspective
A workshop in memory of the late Professor David Dyker
Friday 13th December 2019 : 12 noon – 18.00
Language Learning Centre, Arts A,
University of Sussex, Falmer
Professor David Dyker FAcSS made significant contributions to studies of Russia and Europe in both socialist and post-socialist periods. His academic work is strongly marked by a historically rooted approach to economics. For example, his book Economic Policy Making and Business Culture: Why is Russia so Different? (2012) shows the clear historical roots of both the Soviet central planning system and current Russian business culture and policy making.
Professor Dyker’s research was issue driven, leading him beyond artificial macro/micro dichotomies to show how microeconomic weaknesses affect aggregate outcomes and ultimately macroeconomic equilibrium. His research demonstrated that the economies of “real” socialism were not so much strikingly inefficient in terms of allocating resources, but that their key challenge was in terms of organisation and management, including the organisation and management of technical change. This continued to be one of his central interests in the transition period.
At the core of David Dyker’s approach is a scepticism towards grand theorizing in economics, and an emphasis on the importance of understanding the socio-economic context. Overall, his approach was to pursue relevance, paying attention to the detailed working of economic processes and mechanisms. Prof Dyker’s empirical economics puts the discipline of economics firmly into social and historical science.
The organisers of this workshop hold these tenets of Prof Dyker’s research to be as relevant as ever and would like to invite you to discuss these issues which were at the core of his academic contribution.
12.00 – 13.00 Adjourning of participants and Lunch
13.00-13.45
David Dyker at the School of European Studies and the University of Sussex
Contributors from the University of Sussex:
Jim Rollo (Sussex European Institute)
Zdenek Kavan (Sussex)
Michael Gasiorek (Sussex)
Peter Holmes (Sussex)
Alistair Smith (Sussex)
13.45-14.45
David Dyker: intellectual legacy, current and future issues of social transformation
Wladimir Andreff (Paris, Sorbonne) Russia, Soviet studies and collaboration with David Dyker
Slavo Radosevic (UCL) Technology, Transition and Post transition in a historical perspective and the contribution of David Dyker
Vesna Bojicic (LSE) David Dyker’s intellectual legacy and the former Yugoslavia
Peter Holmes (Sussex) Europe and Russia after Communism: Transition & Integration
14.45-15.15
Russian society and culture: issues and controversies in a historical perspective
Beryl Williams (Sussex) Modern Russia
Robin Milner-Gulland (Sussex) Chasing the Ethnoscape
15.15-16.00 Tea
16.00-18.00
Panel: Russia, Central Europe, technology and transition: competing and complementing perspectives
Chair: Jim Rollo (Sussex European Institute)
Panellists: History: Beryl Williams
Economics: Peter Holmes (Sussex), Alan Mayhew (Sussex European Institute)
Central and Eastern Europe Innovation Studies: Attila Havas (Budapest)
Economic Geography/Migration: Tony Fielding (Sussex)
Please register your intention to attend on the eventbrite page https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/prof-david-dyker-memorial-event-tickets-79685291853