No Direction Home

Read how, in 1965, Chris Ratcliffe left his good secure job as a clerk in the City, at 19 managed a rock group, ran a club, got busted in Bognor, hitchhiked in Europe, met students for the first time, against the odds got to university, the Summer of Love in the Mediterranean sun, created Ginger, a pioneering alternative student newspaper, fought in the Battle of Grosvenor Square, helped create the Free University of Essex (May 1968), helped build barricades on the riotous streets of Paris (May 1968), and appeared at the Court of Appeal in front of three Lord Justices to try and stop the University banning him from the campus.

For 35 years, Chris Ratcliffe, as a partner in Pennine Pens, has been publishing books by other writers. Now, here’s one of his own, snapshots from the 1960s, to be followed by his adventures in the 1970s.

* Leaving home, friends and a good job
* Busted in Bognor
* Finding myself in Barcelona
* 60s music - The Crowd backing The
* Who and their session with Joe Meek
* The Summer of Love
* Creating Ginger - one of the earliest alternative mags
* Becoming the only university student from my 1000+ school, or family
* May 1968, student revolt and taking over the University
* May 1968, and the barricades of Paris
* Friends and lovers
* My teenage diary - excerpts
* 1960s Books that changed the world
* Banned from the campus - the High Court and Court of Appeal
* Forgotten Black Dwarf article - who wrote that?
* Coming next: the 1970s