LECTURES celebrating the works of The Beatles is one in a series coming to York University.

The significance and impact of the legendary group on the culture of Britain and the Western world will come under the spotlight in a series of public lectures at the university to mark the 40th anniversary of the release of Sgt Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band.

Professor Colin Campbell, of the university's department of sociology, will consider the contribution the Fab Four made to the youth movement or cultural revolution of the 1960s and the extent to which their cultural legacy still influences the world today.

All the Beatles lectures will take place on Tuesdays at 6.15pm, in room P/L001, in the university's physics department.

They comprise the following:

  • June 5 - "I thought I knew you, but what did I know?" The Beatles: 1960 to 1966
  • June 12 - "Now you know who you are, what do you want to be?" The Beatles: 1967 to1970
  • June 19 - "Well you know, we all want to change the world", The Beatles: the legacy.

Other lectures in the series include The Dixon Lecture which will be given by Professor Richard Blundell, from University College London, on Making Work Pay: Designing Tax And Welfare Policy For Low Income Families. In addition, the university's archaeology department will host an afternoon of five lectures by five of its professors in June on the theme Archaeology and the future: research at York in the 21st century.

Topics include archaeology above and below the sea, narrative and landscape archaeology, and digital archaeology.

There are many more lectures, too, and all are free and open to the public. For details on lecture venues and times, visit www.york.ac.uk/admin/presspr/ppr/pprpublecs.htm.

The night they came to York

IN November 1963, York was swept up in Beatlemania. "Only four more days to the Beatles," a headline announced in this newspaper on November 23.

"Yes, there are only four days to go before the most dynamic night of pop' entertainment that York has ever experienced," we reported.

"That night, York's Mecca-Casino will really be a "mecca" for fans who have made The Beatles Britain's number one attraction.

"Since that magic moment some ten weeks ago, when the nation erupted into a free-for-all called Beatle-mania, the whole pattern of the country's entertainment business has been turned upside down."

One York shop, it was reported, had embroidered The Beatles on a pillow case, put it on display, and had a constant group of schoolgirls pressing their noses to the window. Another city shop, on hearing the news that the group's favourite sweets were jelly babies, was selling "jelly Beatles".

The hysteria meant that hosting The Beatles was no simple matter. All police leave was cancelled - altogether 100 policemen, including most special constables, were on duty. The St John Ambulance drafted in extra volunteers to deal with the number of girls expected to faint during The Beatles' performance.

But shortly after he arrived in York from Cambridge, John Lennon said he felt ill. He spent the next three hours resting in his dressing room. "He'll be all right after a kip," Paul McCartney promised, and he was right.

For the set itself, the Beatles mixed "tried favourites like From Me To You and She Loves You mixed with tracks from their new top-selling LP like Paul McCartney's solo on Till There Was You", we reported.

If you were at the concert, and have any pictures or memories of that special day, phone us on 01904 653051, write to us at The Press, 76-86 Walmgate, York YO1 9YN.