Recent student work

[JakeS]

" a college/university is a government run business and as such practical subjects don't make viable business sense teaching has nothing to do with it"

Unfortunately, this sounds like taking the worst parts of the business world ("forget long-term benefits, must have short-term gains to please the attention-span-of-a-hyperactive-child shareholders") and forgetting that the government is supposed to make sure the country benefits in twenty years' time, not just twenty minutes'. :/

 

[adzeman]

What is the reason for the college closing ? Leeds has a long tradition of furniture making. Does not Leeds still have furniture manufactrers?. Chippindale only lived and worked up the Road in Otley. I can remember when the Furniture College was in Cookridge Street with the Refrectory Civic Theater and the Gaumont Cinema. Ed O Donnells Jazz band at the Lord Rockingham.

 

[Sgian Dubh]

What is the reason for the college closing ?

Actually Mike the college itself is not closing, it's the Furniture Making course that's closing, as well as a couple of other courses. I think I covered most of the reasons given to me for the college's decision to close the course in my previous post.

There is a furniture making industry in and around Leeds and Yorkshire, but nowadays it's mostly on a smaller scale rather than large scale, although there are still firms like Ellis Furniture over Huddersfield way. Slainte.

 

[Phil Pascoe]

I worked in a college(occasionally) over the last six years : some of you will disagree wholeheartedly with this post.
Girls that are dim and pretty get steered towards beauty care and hairdressing.
Girls that are dim and unpretty get steered towards child care.
The boys with no brains (and possibly the beginnings of a criminal record) go for motor mechanics.
The great unwashed do sociology, media studies and (would you believe!) world film studies.
There were practical things taught, but they are expensive per pupil and by the area used, but how expensive will it be for the country not to teach them?

 

[adzeman]

Its sad but I take the point that there are not a large number of Furniture manufactures in the Leeds area any more. Business requires a supply of graduates and therefore give money or prizes to colleges so they can have the best pick of the bunch. In my third year I won a prize £100 pounds donated by the Nation federation of employees (the unions) and a gold medal donated by the federation of empolyers (the bosses) I had a few offers and took the one I thought the best for me. No bosses no jobs. We had abot 30 students in my set and we split into groups of 15 for practical teaching. I did notice a decline in wood machinist students due to less furniture manufactures and some came to us. Granted it was Carpentry & Joinery I was studying but they are the same type of workshops and benches needed. When I started it was at the Roseville Road workshops and later moved to the university building in Calverly Street with brand new workshops opened by Clement Atlee for whome I planed a lump of wood to show off the new planer. Because we still used the Refrectory in Cookridge Street we would look in to the furniture design workshops in the Art College to admire what they were doing. The point I am making is you dont need seperate or your own workshops the campus has loads of workshops. We shared between colleges for History of Building (Architecture) and elements of design we went over to the Art School. For Surveying and Levelling the Student Architects came to us and for Book keeping and accounts we went to the College of Commerce. An important element of furniture making is design, to this function go would be a travesty.