Star Letter
Dear Sir,
I wish to refute the allegation that the Rugby Club was responsible for ripping off a £10 towel dispenser (no condom machines then) in Derwent College toilets and removing a bowl of flowers and several scarves (Nicky Woolf, 28 November 2006). As your issue of 9 November 1967 makes clear, the culprits were hooligans from Hull and Durham Universities.
The context of the dispute with Professor Harry Rée, Derwent College Provost, (formerly of Special Operations Executive, code name César, and responsible for the bomb attack at the Peugeot tank turret factory at Sochaux, France in July 1943) was the attempt by the AU and Rugby Club to provide suitable facilities for liquid refreshment after matches. On behalf of the AU and the Rugby Club, I appeared before the East Riding Magistrates’ Court to get an early extension for The Charles XII on Wednesdays and Saturdays. This was initially turned down on the grounds that the University should provide the facility. It continued to refuse to do so. My recollection is that I made another application for an extension for The Charles XII to the magistrates, who, incidentally, on this occasion were chaired by the Vice-Chancellor’s wife, and the application was finally granted.
York rugby students have been accused of many things over the past 44 years, often without justification. May I take this opportunity to refute, once again, that the Rugby Club was responsible for the destruction of the statue of Diana the Huntress in the courtyard of Heslington Hall, also in 1967. The culprit, subsequently a very senior member of the University, is known to us, but we continue to refuse to divulge his identity.
Finally, the Rugby Club in 1967 was quite capable of drinking for many hours without getting pissed!
Yours nostalgically,
David Jenkins
President, Rugby Club 1966-68.
