170: Becky Jefcoate

Nostalgia Interviews with Chris Deacy

My guest this week is Becky Jefcoate, who like me was at university in Lampeter from 1991-94 where she studied Archaeology and English Literature. We find out how Becky ended up there and why her school teacher had misgivings about doing Archaeology as a single honours subject.
We talk about how Lampeter was a place you knew pretty quickly whether you were going to fit in or not and how it attracted a certain type of self-sufficient person.
After university, Becky moved to London and we learn about her time working at the Cartoon Museum as well as in a theatre and at the Royal Opera House. We talk about the collections in the Cartoon Museum, exploring with different audiences what the relevance was to them personally of the likes of Hogarth and Bagpuss. There was a specific Nostalgia exhibition, and we learn how it affected Becky, and the therapeutic possibilities involved when recording people’s memories.
Becky has always kept a diary including from her Lampeter days, and we talk about the efficacy of diaries.
We learn about Becky’s childhood. She was born in Birkenhead and moved to Lincolnshire, and remembers watching Robin of Sherwood and its mystical world England. Her favourite film was Raiders of the Lost Ark and which was a determining factor in studying Archaeology. Musically, Becky was into the Pet Shop Boys and Crowded House.
Becky was one of the DJs in the Union Disco in Lampeter, and we talk about the interplay between new and old music played by bands at gigs.
We discuss the balance of Archaeology and English as they are about people and their stories, what they have left behind, and we find out how they have both helped Becky in terms of her career.
Becky wrote over 500 letters to every arts organization and museum when applying for work, and she reflects on whether with the passing of time we tend to remember the good times, and what we learn from the past.
Then, at the end of the interview, we find out about the performances Becky was involved with in the Drama Society, about the way we look back on particular years, and why Becky is an especially nostalgic person.