Top banter, Michael Edic!
Harsh, but fair, it has to be said. If one must attend such places as Hatfield Polytechnic, then lectures at such a late hour should indeed be cut on principle! As for throwing one's lot in with a bunch of floppy-haired Tabs.... Dubious place in military terms - famous only for spies!
Town night was the highlight of the week for many of us. Leave hall and walk to South Woodford tube station, wait for train. Change at Holborn, get out at Knightsbridge. Wander slowly to THQ whilst ogling the totty. Perhaps wander into 'rods on the way - or bump into some actor coming out of THQ after rehearsals (in my case, Marty Feldman and Orson Welles. Not as pretty as some; rumour hath it that Pan's People used to rehearse in there at times!). Have a few beers with some top chums, then meeting in the Drill Hall for parish notices (no drill, of course!) before lectures etc. After lectures, another beer or few and then a quick bite to eat in the Chinese restaurant opposite. Then catch last tube to Holborn, wait for Epping train, remember to get off at South Woodford. Blunder slowly back to halls. Next day wake up with rotten hangover, decide that thermodynamics is far too tedious to attend. In any case the lecturer has a suspiciously foreign accent and confides "Zis voss used in flyink bombs" when talking about the pulse jet. He also alarmingly mentions that "Ze likvid is confined in ze cooler" when discussing some obscure entropy/enthalpy diagram.... So, no thermoDs, just a lazy start to the day. Pack suitcase with uniform and civvy kit, then back to South Woodford station, wait for an Ealing Broadway train. Hangover gets easier as London goes past, then transfer to Maidenhead train feeling relatively well. Ring White Waltham for a lift, get picked up in the wagon by Cpl Nobby Clarke. Change into flying kit, do 9-day check with QFI, so can go solo first thing the next day! Which means another excellent evening in the mess on Friday night.....
Trouble was, it meant wising up and repeating the second year again! But happy times, nonetheless!
As for a UAS disbandment fly past? Well, the contractor will probaby say it's 'not in the contract', there won't be any part-time AVM Rtd/Act Fg Offs available and in any case the weather will probably be too bad for them as they'll be VMC only and won't have flown in formation since they were on Meteors.