In 1948, Dad passed his "Highers" (ie the Higher School Certificate, the forerunner to today's A' Levels) with high enough grades to continue on to University. He chose to go to the highly-respected University of Manchester, where he enrolled in the three-year Bachelor of Arts course in Commerce.

Dad as an undergraduate at Manchester University. Photo taken at the main University Building on Oxford Road (?), abt 1949.

University life was somewhat different in 1948 from what it is today, due to the large number of mature students who had spent their early twenties serving in the War, and who now wanted to catch up on the education they had missed. Many universities - including Manchester - organised courses to appeal to these older students, many of whom now had full time jobs and families to maintain while they were studying. In fact, it was quite unusual for students to go into Manchester's BA (Commerce) course direct from school, as Dad did. Almost all of his fellow-students were either mature students who had served in the War, or had at least completed their two years' military service (which Dad chose to defer until after graduation).

Brian Walsh of Whaley Bridge studied for the BA (Commerce) at the same time as Dad, though as a part-time, mature student. He describes what the course was like:

"The degree course for BA (Com), even before 1939, was largely appealing to students who had left school but wanted to achieve some higher academic status, rather than diplomas or membership of trade bodies. Consequently, the courses for both the BA (Com) and BA (Admin) were avaialble in the evening as well as the day: those who elected to use the evening facility took four years to complete, rather than the three years taken by the day students.

As I recollect it, most of the people reading for the degree were evening students. We were quite a "mixed bag" - as you must appreciate, it was just after the Second World War. The circumstances of the late Thirties and early Forties had altered a lot of peoples' lives: in my own case, I spent eight years in the Army, coming back to civilian life in 1947 at the age of 28. By this time, I has a definite wish to further my education, so I signed up for the BA (Com) course.

The people in our course were mostly ex-servicemen, varying in age from about 24 to 28. We went to work in the day, then attended lectures three evenings a week (for about 3 hours each time). It seemed to me at the time that I spent almost all the time on the other nights and at the weekend studying. Many of us were already married with children, so did not have any time (or money!) left over to socialise: that probably explains why I never got to know your father.

Looking back and going through the names of the people who graduated with me, I find I struggle to remember any of them, even though I did link up with two or three for occasional meetings at one or another's house, for the purpose of discussing some aspects of our course. Basically, we came together for lectures and then disappeared. There was not the same scope for close relationships that are open to the usual students who have opportunities to socialise or join societies etc. Although I can't tell you much about your father, I hope that you find this background information interesting, and that it gives you some idea of what his BA (Com) course was like."

Another of Dad's contemporaries at Manchester was Stanley Hall, now of Royton, Lancs. He told us:

"I knew Leslie but we were not close friends, presumably because our interests differed. I am digging deep down into my sub-conscious here, but I have an idea that Les was different from most of us: we had entered university after National Service, whereas Les had not done so. This means that Les was a little younger than me. We did take the same course though, and graduated at the same time. (We graduated in 1951 with the B.A. in Commerce). I have one particular memory to share. In the early days at Manchester, we went to see a film, "The Third Man". I can remember Les saying that he had seen the film many times - eight, I think. He said that every time he saw the film, he saw something new and remarkable in it. It is, of course, regarded as one of the best films ever made. I wonder if Les maintained an enthusiasm for the cinema?"

Note: In fact, Dad did keep up his interest in films, and in this film in particular. Later on in life, during a 1960's business visit to Vienna on behalf of British Nuclear Fuels, he was able to visit the location made famous in 'The Third Man' (including the Ferris Wheel) and was pleased to find them largely unchanged from how he remembered them in this 1949 movie.

Dad didn't spend his entire undergraduate career watching movies; sometimes he took time off to feed the pigeons! Picadilly, Manchester. Abt 1951.

Alan Cobham, now of East Grinstead, Sussex, was in the same year as Dad on the BA Commerce course, and has some very clear memories of him:

"I am sure that your father, Les Mason, is the same Les Mason I knew all those years ago at University. Your father graduated from Manchester in 1951, the same year I did, and in the same Faculty, ie Economics and Social Sciences. Although we were in the same Faculty and must have attended the same lectures, that did not mean that we would necessarily meet. The Faculty was large, and lectures were attended by anything up to 100 students. You tended to make friends with whoever you found yourself sitting next to in the lecture hall, and I didn't get to know Les in that way. Furthermore, if I remember rightly, Les was in "digs" as we called it, or lodgings. Whereas I was in a University Hall of Residence, St Anselm Hall, with which I have remained in touch since I left it in 1952. One tended to make the majority of one's friends in Hall, not in the Faculty, and of course the people in Hall could be from any Faculty.

Paradoxically however, it was through my residence in Hall that I met Les. St Anselm Hall was a Mens' Hall, and there was a strong link with a nearby Womens' Hall called Langdale. I got to know a girl named Dora Bexson who was in Langdale, and this gradually developed into our engagement in our last year at University, 1951/52. In case you are wondering what on earth this has to do with Les Mason, let me explain. My erstwhile fiancee had a number of men friends at the University who, like herself, came from the town of Derby. I came to know some of them, and one of them was Les Mason. What ensured that Les remained in my memory was that he was very fond of Dora, and in that respect we were rivals for her affections! She had known him long before I came on the scene: they both lived in Derby and may have been at the same school together, or got to know each other some other way.

So you can understand that I regarded Les with a somewhat jaundiced eye! Our relationship was a somewhat guarded and uneasy one, and we tended to keep our distance. However, we were never at daggers-drawn and Les was always pleasant in his dealings with me, and I hope I reciprocated. During vacations, as I lived with my parents in London, Les had my girlfriend to himself in Derby. Consequently, I was very jealous and longing for the day when we were all together again in Manchester, when I could re-assert my claim!

That is all there is to it really, and it's not very much but I hope it helps you in your quest to find out more about his earlier life. I lost touch with the 'Derby set' immediately after going down in 1952, so I don't know anything of Les' subsequent life and career. As for my former fiancee, Dora, she graduated Social Administration in 1952. She went to work in Warrington, specialising in the field of Social Work involving Mental Health, and living in nearby Risley. The last time I saw her was at Risley, and apart from some secondary information in the 1960's I have no idea what happened to her. If by any chance you have heard mention of her, I would be interested to know. Looking back on it now, I do know that my years at Manchester University were, in retrospect, one of the happiest periods in my life, and I hope your Dad found them so for him too".

The Alumni Relations Department at Manchester University has been most helpful in helping us trace these former contemporaries of our father. Are there any other former students of the University who still remember Les Mason? We would very much like to hear from you...especially if your name is (or was) Dora Bexson!!!