Tales From A Harrogate Caravan
Chapter 29 — Blanche and the Access Course
← Karl Swainston / Tales From A Harrogate Caravan
Blanche was an inspiration to the access students at Trinity and All Saints College in Horsforth, on the outskirts of Leeds.
She was a flamboyant woman in her fifties, but had the sprightliness of a person much younger. She could be quiet, loud, strong, and soft, and she was accustomed to display these qualities within a short passing of time.
I first met her when I enrolled on the access course. Blanche was the principal teacher, but there was also John, who was likeable, but displayed many misanthropic tendencies, which alienated him from most students. In the end, I too dismissed him because of his cynical view of life.
Blanche, however, was the contrary of John and saw the comedy in life and welcomed that fun, which made all the students like her. She was never proud, but could deliver a passionate comment almost upon any subject. She was the consummate host for access students.
Access students were mostly in their mid to late twenties and had not achieved at school for many different reasons. However, time and experience had bred in them a desire to return to study and to undertake the discipline well. We had around thirty access students at the start of the course, but within a few months, ten of them had dropped out.
I was twenty-eight when I undertook the course, and I loved every minute of the study, so much so that I would often walk the six or seven miles to get there when the weather was fine. Towards the end of the course, you had to make an application as to which university you wanted to go to and what discipline of study you wished to take. I enjoyed the classics, and at school had done well with Latin, and so opted to apply for the Leeds University Latin course.
Only three of us made application to this university, as it was considered more difficult to gain entry into Leeds rather than a metropolitan university. Blanche asked me which one I'd chosen, and I told her my choice. She wished me well, but said the other tutor, John, had said I was taking a risk in not choosing a 'softer option', and that the only chance I had was a conditional offer requiring very good grades on the Access Course, which I knew he didn't think I was capable of.
I had thought of the downside, but also knew that if I wasn't chosen, then I could always enter the UCAS clearing system and gain a place somewhere else. Besides which, I was still taking a degree with the Open University, so I did have choices.
Reader Comments
Leave a Comment
We would love to hear your thoughts on this chapter.
About Karl Swainston
Karl Swainston is a writer and storyteller whose work is forged from a life lived across the North of England and far beyond. Growing up on a Leeds council estate in the 1960s, Karl's journey was anything but linear. By the age of thirty, he had already lived a dozen lives: from the rigors of grammar school to a degree in Latin, a stint as a fishmonger, a period of discovery living in Marseille, and a return to the hustle of London. Whether working as a postman, a builder, or competing as a county-level chess player, he was, above all, an avid reader—constantly documenting the world around him. This restless spirit continued into his professional life. Karl later taught in Bradford, where he ran a specialist unit for 244 of the most excluded students from across the region—young people whom even the local Pupil Referral Units could not accommodate. Working alongside his old friend Malcolm, Karl spent his days navigating the volatility of Bradford's most aggressive and dysfunctional teenagers. Throughout his life, Karl has been an avid runner and has always shared his home with a rotating cast of beloved dogs and cats—companions who have been constant witnesses to his work. As a writer, Karl's range is as expansive as his history. He works across a wide breadth of genres, including fiction and short stories, autobiography and memoir, biography, non-fiction, and metaphysical writing, as well as providing sharp commentary, opinion, analysis, and essays. Whether writing about his years managing the Harrogate Arms or offering insights from his current adopted home in South East India, where he lives in a simple village with his dog, Bambi, Karl's voice reflects the full, untidy, and deeply human breadth of life. He continues to draw on the rich, decades-long tapestry of his experiences to tell stories that matter, proving that no matter where you live, the human story remains the same.
Author Page