This film is part of Free

Cambridge

Ray Gosling brings class consciousness and mischief to this study of the contradictions of Cambridge town and gown.

Documentary 1974 26 mins

From the collection of:

Logo for East Anglian Film Archive

Overview

Presenter Ray Gosling's sympathies lie with the graduate dustman and café owner, the college bedder and the teddy boys at the Rex Ballroom. The college settings look sublime as university people play croquet and cricket, dine at the all-male Pitt Club, and dance at a May Ball. Ray feels seduced by the glamour of it, but cannot accept the unfairness and privilege. Classic Cambridge college scenes are mixed with landmarks of the 'real' Cambridge and local street eccentrics.

Ray Gosling (1939 - 2013) was an English broadcaster, journalist, author, and gay rights activist. He wrote and presented several hundred television and radio documentaries and regional programmes for BBC Radio 4 and Granada Television from the 1960s to 1980s on quirky aspects of life in different British towns and cities. Gosling's later documentaries focused on his personal life and his emergence as a gay activist. He created an extraordinary rapport with the people he interviewed. 'Cambridge' is a fine example of his social observation and provocative broadcasting style. His personal archive is housed at Nottingham Trent University.