Connections: Paul Wood

How would you sum up Warwick in the time that you were there and your generation of students?

At that time, only a very small proportion of school leavers went to university, and they were mostly middle class. For those of us from provincial working-class backgrounds, Warwick provided a tremendous opportunity to study which had been denied to our parents, and it gave us much better job prospects.

What was the student culture like at Warwick, and were there any annual traditions, societies, sports clubs, or events that you remember?

For most of us, I suspect it was about learning to live away from home for the first time and opening our eyes to a wider world.

It was also quite political, although Warwick student politics seemed a universe away from the reality of the mining town I came from. The antidote to this was the Welsh Society, founded by a policeman from Gwent who was on my course. Hardly anyone in it was Welsh, but we had a cracking good time. Ironically, my career took me to Wales as a policeman.

Finish the sentence: Warwick influenced who I am today, because…

It gave me opportunities which sadly seem denied to people from my background today.

Paul Wood

BA History and Politics, 1976