Suchet returns to Dundee digs

Covering the student riots in Paris in 1968, the fall of the Shah in Iran and the Russian invasion of Afghanistan, John Suchet established himself as a trusted voice in television news. But before he began to travel the world as a journalist, John was a Social Sciences student at what was then Queen's College, Dundee. He has just returned to the city to view the developments at Gardyne’s Land, where he lived for three years as a student.

John explained, "I lived at 71 High Street for three years from 1963-1966, in a boarding house called the Windsor Board Residence. It was wonderful to live right in the centre of the city and I have many find memories of my time there. For my final year I had lodgings in Airlie Terrace and I was staying there at my time of graduation."

He added, "I made some great friends. We were all thrown together from different walks of life and it was marvellous."

Together with fellow alumni Les McEwan, Ron Edwards and John Archer, John was shown round the building by Neil Grieve, Lecturer in the School of Town & Regional Planning, and Jane Milroy, both of whom are involved with the Tayside Building Preservation Trust. The Trust is behind the £4milion plan to restore the buildings, the oldest of which dates back to the 16th century.

The four friends spent more than an hour touring the building and reminiscing about their student days. Commenting on the developments at Gardyne's Land, John told trust staff, "I'm glad that you are preserving it when it would be much easier to pull it down and start again."

John Suchet (far left) with fellow Dundee alumni Les McEwan, Ron Edwards and John Archer.