Whilst our Streatham Campus has seen many changes over the years and holds exciting investments in the decades to come, one of the buildings known both to current students, remembered fondly by alumni, and shown to prospective students had juicy beginnings and remains a key social space to this day: The Lemon Grove.
The ‘Lemmy’ – as it is affectionately known – started life as ‘The Pit’ and we caught up with its co-founder alumnus Andrew Botterill (aka Botts) (Geography, 1988) to find out more about where this all began.
Andrew’s journey with the Lemmy, along with fellow alum Simon Newman aka Big Simes (Chemistry, 1988) began as part the Jif Society (which they also founded) became one of the largest societies on campus at that time, the objective of which was to promote lemons (and limes) as the number one citrus fruit on Streatham Campus.
So, how did the Lemmy come to be?
Andrew: The origins of The Lemon Grove are intertwined with the Jif Society which was connected to the rugby club. The current Streatham Campus site and the St Luke’s Campus amalgamated in 1978. At this time the PE B.Ed students in the rugby club called the ‘main siters’ Jifs because they were posh and spoke as if they were sucking a lemon.
Those Streatham Campus players that were picked for the first team, one of which was David Sole (Scotland captain and British Lion), decided to meet every Friday lunch time at the Pit cafeteria which was the precursor to The Lemon Grove for a pre-match get together and lunch, they called themselves the Jif Society (Jif Soc for short). Myself, Simon and the freshly-returned-from-placement Conrad Atro-Morris (French, 1987) had made the first team so the three of us began to meet up on a Friday lunchtime. We quickly opened up the get together to all players and it became regular a social event.
We were still unofficial at this stage but hosted events such as The Lemon Aid Disco at Tiffany’s night club as an homage to The Band Aid Concert a couple of years before, as well honouring Jif lemon day (Shrove Tuesday) when we made pancakes flavoured with lemon juice, washed down with several flagons of scrumpy!
One-day someone mentioned that if we applied to be an official society we would get a £25 grant from the student union, so we applied in the 1987 summer term. The relationship between the student union and the rugby club was slightly fractious and our application was knocked back by the Student Union, albeit quite rightly, on the grounds that it was purely a male society.
So, in the following term and new academic year anyone who joined the rugby club in Freshers week automatically joined Jif Soc, we asked the Ladies Hockey to do the same, to which they duly obliged.
Boys were lemons, girls were limes, and freshers were pips.
Officially, the Society adopted the objective of promoting lemons and limes as the number one citrus fruits in the UK. However, the real objective of Jif Soc was for students to get together, have some fun and create shared experiences and memories.
Simon Newman was the head of Jif Soc, his title was Grand Master Jif, I was deputy head and appropriately called Deputy Grand Master Jif. Giles Trelawny was St Luke’s representative.
Having put the structure in place, we reapplied as an official society and the application was approved, albeit very reluctantly, not only that, but because of the number of members in the Society, we qualified for a £150 grant and became the largest non-sporting society on campus.
We were also officially recognised by Reckitt and Coleman, the manufacturers of Jif lemons, who regularly provided us with loads of merch, and a frying pan for the pancakes.
What did the space used to be like and what was it used for?
Andrew: The predecessor to The Lemon Grove was The Pit. The Pit was very busy and full of bustle, however it was a soulless space architecturally, there was a bar as you entered Cornwall House on the left, a common room where the stage is and a cafeteria at the rear, and it had the Athletic Union offices there as well. The walls were 1980’s bare brick; the windows were municipal and large, so it was very bright.
In the common room in the centre was a large sunken floor with two or three steps down from the floor bordering it along the walls – hence the name – The Pit. However, even in the 1980’s health and safety recognised that this format was a considerable hazard, so The Pit was to be boarded over.
In February 1987, the Student Union decided to rename the space and a meeting was convened to put forward suggested names and put it to a vote. The student union meetings were always held on a Thursday lunchtime and the voting always happened at 2pm just before afternoon lectures started. We also were aware that sometimes the vote was slightly later than 2pm in which case the only people left to vote were the student union committee.
We thought that this was the perfect opportunity to promote our cause and put lemons and limes at the forefront of the University’s citrus fruit consciousness.
Several names were put forward with feisty debates taking place, and surely enough 2pm came and went with no vote, and a number of students left the room, however, not as many as usual, due to the fact we had bussed over lots of PE B.Ed. lemons and limes from the then St Luke’s Campus, who did not have lectures that afternoon.
Therefore, at 2.15pm the Student Union realising that no one else was going to leave, put it to the vote and The Lemon Grove was passed and came to be.
What is one of your most iconic memories of the space?
Andrew: The Pit did hold quite a few gigs and the first gig after The Lemon Grove was named, was an unknown band from California called The Bangles, it was their first gig in the UK. Tickets were 50 pence on a Friday, the next week they were number one in the charts with ‘Walk Like an Egyptian’.
Jif Soc also held several events there, our Christmas lunch was in June and summer party in December, the latter included an enforced one hour of outside sunbathing whatever the elements on the then lawn situated at the back of Cornwall House.
What was it like revisiting Streatham Campus recently and taking in the Lemmy in its current state?
Andrew: Streatham Campus is such an impressive place, even though it has been developed beyond recognition, it has retained its feeling of community, the gardens and planting was incredible, although I am not sure I fully appreciated it at the time I was there as a student! Although I did wonder where are all the lemon and lime trees?
The Lemon Grove is an amazing space and cannot believe that it has become such an integral part of Streatham Campus life. The Jif Soc objective of promoting lemon and limes as the number one citrus fruit in the UK has not stood the test of time but creating a place for students to get together, have some fun and create shared experiences and memories has certainly endured.
Have you got any memories of your time at Exeter? We’d love to hear them! Reach out via alumni@exeter.ac.uk and let us know.
Image credit: The left hand side image in the banner is courtesy of the University of Exeter Special Collections and Exeposé (Issue 21, published 27 April 1998). The right hand side image is from alumnus Andrew depicting t-shirts that Jif Soc wore on their tour.