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I have already given some indication of the problems surrounding the old building at 19 Marylebone Road. No one supposed that the College would be housed in this inadequate building for twelve years. WE were grateful to have the use of it, but the lack of facilities and particularly the overcrowding made some development urgent. Sir John Laing who was a valued member of the College board of governors put forward a proposal by his firm, the owners of the site. During the negotiations very little specific details reached the members of the College teaching staff and although we knew something was afoot we had little idea what kind of accommodation was envisaged. The original plan was for a building of eight floors of which the lease of the top three was to be sold in order to pay for the rest of the building. Among the many difficulties encountered it was the most damaging to the project that the Fine Arts Commission would not authorise eight floors on the ground that Marylebone church next door would be dwarfed. It was partly because that particular church had been made famous through the marriage there of Robert and Elizabeth Browning. The reduction to six floors, however, meant that the project was less valuable financially to the College.
When at last the time arrived for demolition work to begin it was decided to continue lectures in two nearby houses which the College owned in the adjoining street, Nottingham Place. These two houses served as lecture rooms, administrative offices and dining room. But in addition the College had the use of a hall beneath the Evangelical Library in Chiltern Street, which served as a lecture room and doubled up as the College library. This hall was two blocks away from the College site, and this produced some problems between lectures, for the interval was just sufficient for staff and students alike to traverse at considerable speed. There were two possible routes; one was along the busy Marylebone Road past the old Marylebone Workhouse (since demolished) and into the north end of Chiltern street; the other was along the lesser used Paddington Street, which was nevertheless somewhat further. Since both staff and students wore gowns in those days, I often wondered what the passers-by thought as strange figures in black gowns billowing in the wind flitted in and out among them travelling at what must have seemed to them at a quite unnecessary speed. In spite of the inconvenience of this arrangement, I look back on it with some nostalgia for the journey offered opportunities for conversation if one had breath enough to spare. After some training vital seconds were clipped off the time required, but this did not prevent some individuals from being perpetually late. It had another advantage, however, for even between lectures we were never able to forget the ever changing world of people around us. Indeed, many of the students who raced past the workhouse on their way to lectures found time to visit the place to take the gospel to those needy people.
The hall we were using was somewhat uninspiring but it served its purpose. Anyone who wanted to consult the books could do so only when lectures were not in progress, but I cannot recall that this was an insuperable difficulty. The library at that time was not particularly well stocked and not too many students relied too much on it. After a time the hall was required by the Evangelical Library and the College hired the Welsh Chapel in the same street and this proved a much more conducive place in which to lecture and we were grateful to the authorities at the Chapel for so readily coming to our rescue.
The lecture rooms in 46 Nottingham place were small and incredibly cramped. The stairs presented a problem as too many students tried to negotiate ascending and descending at one time. Certainly one of the assets of these disadvantages was that students and staff were brought into much closer contact with each other than would otherwise have been the case. We learned the lesson of co-operation in a new way, for mutual support was essential if programmes were to functions smoothly. What was most frustrating was the fact that we had no idea how long we should have to wait for the new building.
The reason for the unexpected delay in the completion of the work was that the contractors faced innumerable problems when excavations began. There were incomplete records of the positions of drains, pipes and cables which pay under the site. At one stage diggers came into contact with what turned out to be the tunnel of the Metropolitan line. These unforeseen circumstances caused considerable delays, but these were not the fault of the contractors.
I have vivid recollections of my first sight of the inside of the new College. I suppose the long delay had kept our expectations high. But I was somewhat taken aback by the restricted size of the accommodation. The main problem was that the building had been designed for a maximum of 125 students, whereas in the three years that it had taken for the building to be built, the number of students had risen from 80 to 180. The new chapel was capable of holding that number, while the lecture rooms consisted of one large room which was subdivided into five sections by means of sliding doors. Each of these rooms was fairly narrow, which soon proved to be a very real problem. The sliding doors were not sound proof, although I am sure the architect had hoped they would be. It was the loud lecturers who were the problem, for they could be heard each side of their partition as well as within their own cubicle. The soft talkers had little chance to hold their students’ attention. It was not unusual for students in one class to laugh at the jokes made by the lecturer in the next room. This was not much improvement on the old system, but it had to continue for a further twelve years until new premises were bought at Northwood. There was one occasion when I discovered that each of my colleagues on either side were lecturing on the same subject as I was, which at least gave the students a choice of whom to listen to.
If we had been cramped in the previous three years, we discovered it was little better in the new building when students were changing lectures, for students poured out of five doors into the narrow corridor at the same time. It was worse than the underground in the rush hour. Members of the faculty soon learned the wisdom of waiting until the turmoil had subsided. The scrummage was worse than a rugger scrum because there were no rules. No doubt we were supposed to learn something from this daily experience but I never discovered what it was. It is clear to me that it was a miscalculation of numbers rather than a weakness of design. But this was our long-awaited promised land!
Another major problem was ventilation. Gone were the ill-fitting windows of the old building and in their place splendid double glazing obliterated or at least considerably reduced the incessant noise of the outside traffic which moved along the six lanes which passed the side of the building. Open any one of the windows and the ears were immediately bombarded with an impossible barrage of noise. The decibels were so high that it difficult to hear one’s own voice. The windows were not intended to be opened. Ventilation was supplied through air ducts which conducted air from the roof. The system may have worked for a much smaller number of people, but for the present size of the College it was hopelessly inadequate. The incidence of students nodding off was high as they fought for an increased supply of air. Since the ventilation ducts were supplemented by heating ducts, the place got either too cold or too hot. Those who sat opposite an inlet air duct would bask in cold air, while those too near the hot duct might easily find their heads scorched. To try to balance things up a bit the windows were always thrown open between lectures, but the alleviation did not last long enough. Those of us who had looked forward so long to the new building were naturally disappointed with the ventilation weakness, for it undoubtedly limited the value of the new accommodation for our purpose. What is remarkable however is that during the twelve years we spent in that building we never had an epidemic, in spite of the unhealthiness of the conditions.
During that period the problems of accommodation often occupied the attention of the board of governors. There was a difference of opinion among the members of the board regarding future developments. There was agreement on one fact, however, and that was the impossibility of further expansion on the Marylebone site. Some attempt had been made to provide more residential accommodation by securing five adjoining houses in Nottingham Place immediately next to the College building. But costs were too high to entertain developing that site. It was decided to look elsewhere. I had all along been in favour of this, although some had felt that the London Bible College should be as near as possible to the centre of London. Several other sites were explored but none proved very accessible. The board decided to stay in Marylebone Road. I still did not feel this was right, but most of the board accepted it as inevitable. A scheme was proposed to develop three of the adjoining houses and to sell the remaining two to help to pay for it. Several members of the faculty were strongly opposed to this plan as it would reduce instead of increase our operating space.
It was at this stage that we had a visit from Hugh Jordan, who was then Principal of the London College of Divinity at Northwood, Middlesex. He had come to preach at our weekly student service. He told us afterwards that his College was moving to Nottingham and he wondered whether the building sat Northwood would suit the London Bible College. As soon as I heard this I was convinced that this was God’s answer to our problem and pressed that it be referred at once to the board. It was only just in time for the contract for the rebuilding scheme had already been drawn up. I was not aware at that time that it had actually been signed. But the Chairman of the Board agreed to look at the Northwood site and was at once impressed with the greater facilities that it would offer. The board agreed to explore the new proposal and the other scheme was suspended.
Since the London College of Divinity were not moving out for two and a half years it gave plenty of time for planning for new buildings on the Northwood site to be made. It was a wonderful experience to be on the inside of this project, for I found myself on the building committee, having drawn but some detailed proposals for our projected needs. At every stage we could see the hand of God. In spite of the fact that extensive building work had to be done in constructing a new chapel, providing new lecture rooms and adapting the existing chapel into a library, the project was accomplished through funds released from the sale of the Marylebone and Nottingham Place sites. In fact, the College moved into the Northwood site without debt and this was a striking testimony to the good hand of God upon the work. It must be noted that God had raised up on the Board men whose expertise steered the whole operation to a successful conclusion, and in this respect special mention must be made of our chairman, Mr. Philip Henman, to whom the work of the College owes a tremendous debt of gratitude.
What made a lasting impression on me was the amazing precision of God’s timing. As the day approached for the completion of the contract at Northwood it was at first thought that a bridging loan would be necessary, but the completion date for the sale of the premises in Marylebone Road in the end precisely coincided. I remember being convinced throughout these operations that God’s hand was in the move. There is no greater support to the confidence of faith when such a conviction is seen working out in all the details. There were regrets at moving from the centre of London. Over the years many valuable contacts had been built up, especially in opportunities for student evangelism. Because of the position of the College we had had the advantage of a wide variety of visitors who were passing through London and called on us. Neither of these aspects would apply when we moved to Northwood, but we gained a great deal more than we lost. It was a delightful experience to be able to stand outside the College and carry on a conversation, which had never been possible against the roar of London’s traffic in Marylebone Road. It was good to have considerably more room to move around. The lecture rooms were now spacious and airy and we were not bombarded with competing voices. We had a delightful octagonal chapel in which to worship, and a magnificent dining room in which to eat. Moreover for the first time each member of faculty had his own room and the benefits of this were considerable. Nevertheless we missed out on the closer fellowship which our cramped conditions at Marylebone had enabled us, if not forced us, to have, but without doubt a great deal more effective work was done at the College.
The move to Northwood was a real advantage to me personally for the journey from my home to College was considerably simplified. Instead of the increasing nightmare of the daily trip into town, I now had only a cross country journey of about a quarter of an hour. Even this journey did not last for long, for owing to the need for more space we decided to move house. Our aim was to move in the direction of the College. We never expected to find the most suitable house for our purpose on the doorstep of the College. Our garden joined the College grounds at the back and this enabled us to have our own direct access into the College area. It was an ideal spot for we were well screened by some magnificent trees on which a preservation order had been placed. It was like living in a rural area and we were thankful to God for the provision of so convenient a home. It offered us the opportunity to have closer contacts with the students and this was an experience that enriched our lives. For some of the time that we lived there Mary was acting as the College matron and this also gave further opportunities for valuable contacts. The area behind our house has been sold since we moved away from Northwood and houses now occupy the site between our old house and the College, but those years we spent there will remain in our memories as among the most treasured of the whole period I had spent at the College.
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