The First Seventy Years: Chapter 59 - The Anti-Apartheid Movement
Eric Biddulph becomes involved in the Anti-Apartheid Movement.
Soon after our return to the UK I decided to get involved with organisations with which I had sympathies. I joined the Anti-Apartheid Movement and Amnesty International. Nick Thomas made a useful contribution to the fund-raising of both organisations. Together with his son he made a rollerball board which made a significant impact in pulling in the money at fetes and similar functions.
It was the policy of Calderdale College to take in trainee teachers from Huddersfield Polytechnic. A young man named Harish Davda was one such trainee. Born and brought up in Tanzania our shared interest in African affairs soon led to wide ranging discussions. He was married to a South African born girl. It was not long before he was recruited into the Anti-Apartheid Movement. We were to campaign together for a number of years. Many Liberal Party councillors in Huddersfield also became involved in some of the campaigns. Together with Labour Party members and some local Christians the AAM Group soon generated momentum to become one of the most active in West Yorkshire.
Another aspect of our involvement with progressive and radical issues was our frequent visits to 'Live Theatre in the Colne Valley'. A small group of people living in Slaithwaite took it upon themselves to work with Kirklees Cultural Services to bring fringe theatre groups to the area for one-off performances. Many talented theatre companies appeared at Slaithwaite Town Hall. Amongst the most memorable were Red Ladder from Leeds and the Footsbahn from Cornwall.
Our regular companions at these shows were John and Irene Beresford. We had become very friendly with them as fellow Anti-Apartheid activists. I had been sympathetic to the Movement sine the late 1960s. I had marched on a demonstration to Leicester Rugby Football ground in 1969 when the South African team made an appearance. My general approach in those early years however, was rather low key because of my employment with the Midland Bank. There was no active group in Huddersfield so I decided to set one up with the help of members of The Community of the Resurrection in Mirfield, Communist Party and Labour Party members and a number of individuals not identified with any particular group. I was elected secretary and soon caused consternation at Barclays Bank branches in Huddersfield and Halifax.
I was in an ambivalent position. Teaching a large contingent of students employed by the Bank whilst mounting pickets outsides its branches. The prime objective was to persuade it to pull out of South Africa. The strategy to achieve this had two objectives; to discourage potential customers from opening accounts and encouraging existing customers to transfer their accounts to other banks. I was ultimately ousted as group secretary in what amounted to a 'coup d'etat' by the radical left activists amongst the membership aided by 'packing' the election meeting with some of their supporters who had only a tentative connection with the AAM. I was about to depart on a one year full-time masters degree course at the University of Manchester Institute of Science and Technology (UMIST) so I was not too bothered on a personal level although I was a little concerned about some of the changes that might occur in respect of campaigning strategies.
A number of active women decided to set up their own 'women only' group given the subsequent direction taken. By 1990 it had become clear that apartheid in South Africa was on its last legs. Although the Movement re-invented itself as a post-apartheid support organisation I ended my involvement believing that I had helped to achieve the main objective of a non-racial, democratic South Africa.
Harish Davda had made such an impression at Calderdale College that he was offered a job upon the completion of his teacher training. 1978 witnessed a radically different approach to business studies teaching. 'Integration' became the new watchword. The next few years were to be the most intellectually demanding that I was to experience since my first year in Malawi. It was very satisfying. The following year I secured my only promotion; Lecturer grade 2 - team leader of what was generally perceived to be the most demanding module in the new course structure. Work continued modifying and re-writing the course structure until 1982 when I took my one-year sabbatical to go to UMIST.
