The
Newsletter
of
Homerton College
and the
Homerton Roll
HOMERTONIAN Number 14, May 2010
ROYAL CHARTER
Contents 1. College Principal’s Letter
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Research at Homerton
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Understanding how your gifts are used
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CBE awarded to Principal
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Schools liaison at Homerton
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Homerton Conference Centre
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Carol Ann Duffy
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New College Prizes
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Homerton College Archive
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Overseas Student Projects
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Homerton Union of Students
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MCR, Graduate Union of Students 11 Emeriti
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HATS
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The Griffins Club
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The Boat Club
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Homerton College Music Society
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RSMs, by John Murrell
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Obituaries of former colleagues
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2. Homerton Roll
Dr Kate Pretty, Principal, receives the Royal Charter from the Chair of Trustees, Sir David Harrison
Annual Report
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Roll Committee & Membership
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Survey to Members
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Homerton Roll News
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Where are they now?
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John Hammond Memorial Event
21
Branch Contact & News
22
Calling all Historians
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At this year’s Reunion
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Dates for your Diary
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PRINCIPAL’S LETTER You may already know that on 12th March 2010, the Chairman of the Trustees, Sir David Harrison, formally presented the Fellows with the Royal Charter. At that moment, the College moved into its new existence as Cambridge’s 31st College, and the Trustees relinquished their duties to the Fellows. Historical landmarks like this one bring their own dichotomy: we are looking forward, planning the College’s future strategy, but a lot of our attention is inevitably focused on the past and what the institution has been. For outsiders, the move has seemed to be inevitable and many people find it hard to understand why it has taken 115 years, since we moved here physically from East London, for the union with the University to be accomplished. Others thought that it had happened long ago, when the College became an Approved Society in 1976. One alumnus told me the other day that he thought we had moved too quickly in recent years. I can only say that, for me, the last nine years has been like a giant slalom, as we careered towards our goal, guided by the various bureaucratic gates set up by government, the University and the other colleges and impeded by the course’s natural obstacles where experience
and strength alone would count. I’m not sure why I’m using a downhill metaphor rather than one involving a climb to the sunny uplands of democracy and freedom. I think it must be that the challenges we face at the end of this adventure are at least as great as the adventure itself. And I should add that I am terrified of speed.There are two remarkable groups of people who former Homertonians should honour and thank: one is the Trustees, the other the College’s staff. Homerton has been guided and supported by a distinguished and brilliant group of Trustees over many years. They included former Vice-Chancellors and senior education administrators, members of the United Reformed Church, University lecturers, directors of education from the local authorities and former alumnae.
is the case with almost all other teachertraining colleges. We owe as much to all our staff. This year in particular we have been remembering John Hammond, Lecturer in Biology, Senior Tutor and Keeper of the Roll, and Sylvia Williams, Vice-Principal when I first arrived, who widened the horizons of many students through activity beyond the College and who, after retirement, played a major role in training and education in the developing world. Somehow the whole staff worked as a team through the 1990s, to undertake research roles alongside maintaining Homerton’s reputation at the top of the Ofsted league tables. At the same time, the support team looked after our increasing number of students – we are Cambridge’s largest as well as newest college – and lived through and presided over years of building, both for restoration and new buildings, giving us our present much-admired estate. So it is inevitable that I should look back at what we have built together just at the point when I also look forward to the next task.
There were peers and professionals, lawyers, accountants, head teachers and industrialists, all of whom have given their time and their advice, freely and unstintingly over many decades. They have served the College enormously well and, indeed, their advice saved Homerton from extinction on a number of occasions in the last century. We could easily have been submerged as
If you can, please come and see us in our Charter Year – we look forward to seeing you at Homerton to join us in our celebrations and to look back at your time here and forward to the College of the future. Dr Kate Pretty March 2010
RESEARCH AT HOMERTON Academic research is one of Homerton’s central activities. Among the fellowship, there are experts in fields
ranging all the way from children’s literature to land economy and from American law to organic chemistry. Here we present some of the recent highlights from this academic side of life at Homerton College. Beyond the Lecture Hall To mark the University’s 800th anniversary, Dr. Peter Cunningham together with colleagues from the Faculty of Education, organised the international conference Beyond the Lecture Hall: universities and community engagement from the middle ages to the present day. Over fifty papers were presented in an international gathering of leading scholars.
Speakers enjoying the reception at the International Conference in Homerton’s Combination Room
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A rich and varied programme included studies of state-university relations in different regions of the world, the roles of universities, colleges and schools in promoting peace and the training of youth leaders, the use of radio for university extension, and the rise of the ‘media don’. The closing session of the event was chaired by Dr. Kate Pretty.
Plato’s Philosophy How can I know whether you mean what you say? Or even what you mean by what you say? Or whether you said what someone said you said? Or what you meant when you said what they said you said, if you said it? These are questions prompted by Plato’s Clitophon, a very short dialogue on which Junior Research Fellow Dr. Jenny Bryan is currently working. The questions are particularly pertinent when considered as authorial reflections on the problems of writing philosophy as dialogue. It is this aspect of Plato’s philosophy (particularly in terms of his relationship to Socrates) that dominates her current research interests.
Dr. Garrow’s article was originally presented at a 2007 symposium marking the 50th anniversary of those events. It traces how that Arkansas confrontation paved the way towards the series of 1960–1965 face-offs between southern white segregationists and the federal government that eventually culminated in the 1964–65 enactment of the US’s two major landmark anti-racism statutes.
Dr Melanie Keene
Piano Trio During the Cambridge Festival, a Piano Trio composed by Dr. John Hopkins in memory of Nicholas Toller was given its first performance.
of astronomer William Herschel’s chamber music, and will soon involve dressing-up at the Royal Society for a role-play about Victorian spiritualism.
In the composition, various kinds of musical continuity are explored for both their expressive and formal potential. Three different strands are developed and then combined and juxtaposed throughout three movements, so that overall, the music moves from its most fragmented condition towards a more sustained and lyrical conclusion. One of the performers of the première concert was Gregor Riddell, who read music at Homerton between 2003 and 2006.
Desegregation in the USA Foreshadowing the Future: 1957 and the US Black Freedom Struggle, written by Homerton Senior Research Fellow Dr. David Garrow, appeared as the lead article in the 2009 volume of the Arkansas Law Review.
Familiar Science Dr. Melanie Keene joined Homerton College as a Junior Research Fellow this year to investigate ‘familiar science’ in the nineteenth century. She analyses how everyday objects and habitual activities were used in scientific explanation and entertainment; how candles, soap, and cups of tea became the focus of elementary instruction and fanciful stories, and the family home a place teeming with scientific facts and forces. This, she argues, is a new analytical category that can help rethink our understanding of a period when modern ideas of professional scientists and popular science were under debate, and being formed. Dr. Keene is also heavily involved in outreach and education work, which has recently included running a workshop about Amazonian exploration and butterfly-collection at the Natural History Museum, organising an evening concert
British Academy Grant Dr. Peggy Watson has been awarded a research grant by the British Academy for a project entitled: Critical Condition? Civil Society and Mental Health in Poland. During the academic year she will make three visits to Poland to interview politicians, union members and NGO activists, among others, in order to identify who makes policy with respect to mental health care, and what are the differing perspectives on mental health issues in Poland.
Dr Peggy Watson
Dr David Garrow
Little Rock, Arkansas’ capital city, was the scene in 1957 of one of the most famous and important incidents in US. civil rights history when US army soldiers were deployed to protect the physical safety of nine black schoolchildren who were desegregating a previously all-white high school. This was made possible by the 1954 ruling of the US Supreme Court, striking down racial segregation in public schools.
Research Seminars If you would like to experience the research at Homerton first hand, why not come to one of our weekly Research Seminars? Every Tuesday evening during full term a Homerton academic explains some of his/her work to a general audience. Everyone is welcome to come and listen. For the latest programme, see www.homerton.cam.ac.uk Dr Jasper van Wezel Junior Research Fellow For the latest research news, visit http://www. homerton.cam.ac.uk/research/index.html
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UNDERSTANDING HOW YOUR GIFTS ARE USED As many Homertonians know, because they will have contributed towards it, we have an established Hardship Fund in memory of Alison Shrubsole. Fortunately we only occasionally have to make heavy use of it, but when we do it often makes the difference between a student surviving on a course or not. It would be invidious for me to name names, because more often than not the circumstances are desperate and very private. In the current financial climate we have several cases where both parents have lost jobs, or where one partner has become bankrupt as a result of the economic downturn. Sometimes, where the family comes under severe financial pressure, parental divorce can add to a student’s financial woes. It can take many years to sort out such financial disasters; meantime a student has to be supported through to final examinations by the College. Fortunately such cases are still relatively infrequent, but nevertheless they often require large sums of money to resolve. Or there is the case of a student from Africa who had been resident in this country for a number of years with her family prior to the start of the course, while her father worked in the USA. Initially she was deemed to be a ‘home’ student for funding purposes, but an incorrect answer on a form given by her father resulted in repatriation to Africa after the end of the first year. A year followed
with all the formality of a Border Agency Tribunal and countless solicitors’ letters back and forth across three continents. Eventually a judge ruled, on the basis of her innocence and her high academic performance in the first year, that she could exceptionally be allowed to return to Cambridge to complete the course. Finally somebody had seen sense. But there was a £2K ‘hole’ (per annum) in her funding arrangements as she was declared ‘overseas’. This ‘hole’ College had to guarantee to fill before she was allowed to return. I cannot tell you how grateful that student was for the Shrubsole Fund. Student life today goes hand in hand with a substantial long-term commitment to debt. One could argue that the professional classes are well capable of carrying such a burden of debt, but within it there is great unfairness. As a policy it assumes that all graduates will have successful careers where they will be adequately rewarded and will equally pay off the debt in the fullness of time. The reality, of course, can be very different. Indeed the reality of student life can be extremely unequal in term of unexpected costs. Students can get unto difficulties through no fault of their own, through illness or injury or family commitments. Take the student with a lone parent, and there are quite a few of them, where the parent falls ill with cancer. The student may suddenly find herself as the sole carer, or
may need to travel home at frequent intervals as the illness progresses. If a student has to take a year out, the long-term burden of debt can increase substantially. It is not possible for the College or the University to create a level playing field financially for our students, but we can fill one or two of the larger potholes. We are extraordinarily fortunate to have in Cambridge the ‘Newton’ Bursary, or more correctly, the Cambridge Bursary Scheme, which gives over £3,000 a year to students from low income families. Homerton takes a higher proportion of students from such backgrounds, and our students benefited from Bursary Scheme grants totalling £446,600 last academic year. Homerton contributed another £49,168. The government Access to Learning Fund also helped our students in hardship to the tune of £21,802, but this fund is melting away and the College will have to bridge the gap in future years as the effects of the recession begin to bite into government funding. If you would like to know more about student hardship at Homerton or if you would like to make a donation, please do not hesitate to contact me, Peter Warner: pmw21@cam. ac.uk, or Alison Holroyd: ah489@cam.ac.uk Dr Peter Warner Senior Tutor
CBE AWARDED TO PRINCIPAL OF HOMERTON COLLEGE Dr Kate Pretty, Principal of Homerton College, was awarded a CBE in the Queen’s Birthday Honours List in June 2009 for her services to Higher Education. Kate has been Principal of Homerton College since 1991. Prior to Homerton she was a Fellow at Murray Edwards (formerly New Hall), holding various posts including Director of Studies, Tutor, Admissions Tutor and Senior Tutor. Kate is an active archaeologist specialising in the early medieval period and is President of the Council for British Archaeology. She was one of the University’s Pro-Vice Chancellors, responsible for international strategy as well as overseeing the work of the University’s museums and libraries. Kate collected her award from the Queen on 5th November 2009.
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Dr Kate Pretty with her husband, Professor Tjeerd Van Andel, at Buckingham Palace
SCHOOLS LIAISON AT HOMERTON Many of you will have heard the phrase ‘target and access’ during your time at Homerton. You may even have been introduced to Tom the Target and Access Tiger, but few fully understand what role this plays in College life and how it has changed over the years. The University of Cambridge Area Links Scheme, established in 2000, has radically altered the way the University conducts its outreach programmes. Established in order that Colleges could ‘build effective, coherent relationships with schools and colleges right across the country’, the scheme has recently been extended to cover the entirety of the UK, resulting in an explosion of work and opportunities for those involved in widening participation at a college level. With a history of open and fair access, Homerton was amongst the first to create the now common position of Schools Liaison Officer. As a consequence the College was given the task of raising aspirations and awareness in the areas of Doncaster and Rotherham. Over many years and through the hard work of previous Schools Liaison Officers and the Admission
Tutor, the College has forged an effective professional relationship with schools in these areas. On the back of this relationship, Homerton undergraduates have recently completed the annual Doncaster and Rotherham tour, talking to students from a record 15 local schools about the benefits of a University education and the unique selling points of a Cambridge education. Reaching pupils from Year 10 to Year 12, the tour not only raised aspirations but also aimed to break down many of the misconceptions about Cambridge that discourage so many potential students from applying. As a consequence of such a solid foundation the College recently took on the London boroughs of Hounslow, Richmond, and Kingston. As the new Schools Liaison Officer I have been visiting a number of schools in these areas, giving a variety of presentations that aim to help and educate those for whom University is a new and unfamiliar concept. Initial progress in forging the same solid links with schools in these boroughs has been incredibly positive with one Higher Education Organiser describing the new
link as ‘invaluable’. It is hoped that, as this relationship continues to strengthen and grow, Homerton will be able to help more and more students realise their full potential and consider application to Cambridge. In spite of the unfortunate economic climate, the College is always keen to expand the range of activities it offers to students from its link areas. Starting next September, the College is going to offer residential workshops for Year 13 students aimed at explaining and demystifying the application process. The College will also be offering Year 12 students the chance to shadow Homerton undergraduates in the Michelmas term to get a feel for what life at the University is like, while encouraging younger students to contact undergraduates through the new E-Mentoring scheme being piloted this year. Throughout all of this the college is indebted to the hard work and commitment of its undergraduates without whom ‘target and access’ would be a meaningless phrase. Mark Walmsley Schools Liaison Officer
Homerton Conference Centre welcomes alumni! Here at the College we are fortunate enough to have a range of first-class meeting facilities which we offer to corporate clients, charities, educational institutions and members of the public throughout the year. All the Cambridge colleges offer this service but not all approach it with quite the endeavour we do. At Homerton £2m per year is generated through residential conferences, day meetings, private dining, weddings and team-building events (to name a few!). This income is vital to cover the present and future costs of the College. As you might imagine, in today’s economic climate the business doesn’t just ‘walk through the door’. It takes a great deal of professional marketing to create new business and, by providing excellent customer service, over 70% of Homerton’s clients return again and again, well above the industry average. In 2009 Homerton Conference Centre won the Conference Cambridge award for ‘Best Welcome’ in a college venue and in 2010 we are hoping to gain a Silver Accreditation from the Meetings Industry Association (MIA).
The College is proud of its conference achievements and the contribution it makes to sustaining the College now and in the future. We are keen to show off our capabilities and we are able to offer special packages for Homerton Alumni, whether they are for a meeting, wedding, Christmas party or providing bed and breakfast accommodation.
If you are interested in holding an event here at Homerton you can contact the Conference Office on 01223 747128 and view our new website at www.homertonconference.com. We’d love to hear from you! Alexandra Cox Conference and Accommodation Officer
Pictured left to right: Kate Partridge (Deputy Conference Officer), Becky Parete (Conference and Accommodation Assistant), Sam Smith (Admin. Assistant) and Alexandra Cox (Conference and Accommodation Officer)
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CAROL ANN DUFFY, HONORARY FELLOW
Carol Ann Duffy being sworn in as an Honorary Fellow with the Principal and Steve Watts
We were honoured that the Poet Laureate, Carol Ann Duffy, came to Homerton College on 27th January 2010 to be sworn in as Honorary Fellow by the Principal. It was a delightful occasion attended by many Fellows and followed by a candlelit dinner in the Fellows Dining Room where animated conversations on poetry and other matters continued throughout the evening. Carol Ann enjoyed herself so much that her enthusiasm stretched to proclaiming Homerton the perfect college for her daughter Ella to attend! We hope that day will come. Earlier in the evening, Carol Ann presented the first Elizabeth Fletcher Prize1 to Tamzin Merchant, a third year undergraduate student of English currently
studying on the Children & Literature Course which is taught by three Homerton Fellows, Professor Maria Nikolajeva, David Whitley and Morag Styles. The theme of the competition was childhood and Tamzin wrote a delightful poem inspired by CS Lewis’s Narnia series. As well as a cheque, Tamzin was presented with a signed copy of the Poet Laureate’s Collected Poems. Carol Ann had encouraging things to say to Tamzin after her reading of the winning poem and to the other young poets whose work was highly commended. Indeed, in a very informal and festive atmosphere, Carol Ann chatted to many students invited for the occasion, including all those who had entered the competition and all those currently studying on the M.Phil in Children’s Literature, taught by the Fellows mentioned above and Louise Joy and Abigail Rokison. We are grateful to Homerton graduate, Helen Taylor, who is personal assistant to Carol Ann Duffy, a leading light of Cambridge Wordfest and Literature Officer for Cambridgeshire County Council and previously Education Officer of the Poetry Society, for facilitating our communication with the Poet Laureate. We were delighted when Carol Ann accepted our offer, especially as she made a point of doing so because of our history as a College that put poetry and children’s literature at the heart of our English courses. This reminds us of previous Homerton colleagues who
did so much to promote children’s literature and poetry, such as Victor Watson and Jenny Daniels (previous Heads of English) and Eve Bearne, as well as an earlier generation which included Elizabeth Brewer, Elizabeth Cook, Jessie Ball and Helen Morris. It is fitting that we have just opened a new Cambridge Homerton Centre for Research and Teaching of Children’s Literature, headed by Maria Nikolajeva. Carol Ann Duffy has achieved that rare feat of being both a very popular and highly acclaimed poet for adults and children alike. Individual collections, such as The World’s Wife and Rapture, have struck a powerful chord with adult audiences and her children’s poetry, fiction and fairy tales are also greatly admired. Carol Ann is amongst only a handful of poets who have recently published both collected poems for children and for adults. She has made a huge impact on a wide stage in her first few months as Poet Laureate. We are proud that she wishes to be associated with Homerton College and look forward to many more visits. Morag Styles Fellow and Reader in Children’s Literature and Education 1 The Elizabeth Fletcher Poetry Prize is in honour of a recent Homerton graduate who was tragically killed in a car accident, leaving a partner and baby. Her parents kindly donated money for an annual poetry award in her memory. Reading and writing poetry was one of Elizabeth’s favourite pastimes.
NEW COLLEGE PRIZES We have two new prizes for undergraduates as well as the Elizabeth Fletcher prize for poetry. These have been given by recent graduates in gratitude for their time at Homerton, in particular for the support they received while in Cambridge. Dr Richard Kueh, who gained a First in Theology at Homerton and went on to do a Ph.D. at another College, has set up ‘The Hon. Lord Dawson and Kueh Prize’ for the best student getting first class honours in Part IIB Theology. Lord Dawson was Her Majesty’s Solicitor General on Scotland, and Richard’s uncle and undergraduate mentor. The prize will be administered by the family and will provide £100 a year. Where no first class honours are awarded in Theology the prize will be carried over to the following year. ‘The Aditya Dalmia Prize for Land Economy’ will go to the best performing Land Economist in
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Part II examinations. This has been established by Pratik Dalmia, who studied Land Economy at Homerton and now works in the City of London for Greenhill and Co., the distinguished international investment bank. The prize is a personal gift from Pratik in recognition of his father, Aditya, a successful industrialist in India and member of the famous long-established Dalmia merchant trading family. The prize will be for £50 each year. Both of these prizes reflect the personal wishes of their donors, but also embellish the College and encourage academic achievement. We are very grateful for such gifts and if you would like to know more or would be interested in making a similar donation, please do not hesitate to contact either Peter Warner pmw21@cam.ac.uk, or Alison Holroyd, ah489@cam.ac.uk.
WORKING IN THE HOMERTON COLLEGE ARCHIVE Since October 2009 it has been my privilege to work in the Homerton College Archive for two hours a week under the direction of Dr Peter Warner. Since applying for teacher training in the 1960s I have been aware of the prestige of Homerton College. My interest increased when I attended a one year course here in 1989 run by Norma Anderson and Roger Cole and while working here as a library assistant since 2000. I was fortunate also to be appointed by Cambridge Preservation Society as education consultant for Wandlebury Country Park 2000–2007 where I carried out historical research into the first half of twentieth century life at a large country house, Gog Magog Hills. Thus my background and interests are very relevant to this work at Homerton. My first task was to tidy up the area and sort out items relevant to the collection that had gathered in boxes on the floor. I then started to look more carefully at the contents. From that moment I was completely hooked. For example, a collection belonging to Miss Alice Knowles (Homerton student 1927–1929) was recently received. It was sent to us by her god-daughter Helen Holmes. There were official photographs of students, a personal photograph album of her time at the college, a metal brooch showing the Homerton coat of arms and a cloth badge for a blazer. Also needlework samples, a lined leather pochette for tools and a book, Leatherwork for Boys and Girls. Her pieces of artwork were included, all beautiful to look at, a charcoal drawing of a jug, bowl and vase, a colour wash of
A metal brooch showing the Homerton College arms and a cloth badge for a blazer and a sample of needlework
three jugs and examples of manuscript writing. An original cardboard protective roll postmarked 27 July 1929 contained her school matriculation certificate, Homerton final examination certificate and two sheets of pass lists for the final examination at Homerton. There were also various letters, one from her ‘college daughter’ and a college testimonial signed by Mary Allan, the Principal. Photographs of her at the start of her life with her parents and sister and towards the end of her life showing reunions with college friends are included with her funeral order of service. Each new acquisition is given an accession number and details are recorded in the accessions register and it is placed in an acid-free envelope in a box. The information is then entered into the library management system (Heritage). Students have been assisting with this in their holidays. Eventually we will link up with the University of Cambridge archive records. We are investigating the best way to do this by, for example, using the University’s DSpace@Cambridge digital repository. Some of the archive material has already been scanned and stored in digital form from college photographs and from students’ personal journals, including most recently that of Beatrice Una Bone, 1898–1899. It is important to keep up to date with the digital storage technology to ensure that the records can still be read, and re-digitization will probably be necessary at some point in
the future. Therefore it is essential to keep the original material where possible and our present storage area must be well organized to accommodate all of this. The humidity and temperature of the archive need to be kept within an optimum range. Since I have started monitoring these we quickly realized that, probably due to hot water pipes, the temperature is too warm. We are hoping to have the water pipes lagged! Requests come frequently about relations who studied at Homerton or have worked here as lecturers. Alice Johnson, in the Tutorial Office, enquired about her grandfather Frederick William Rimmer. We were delighted to find that he is listed as a lecturer in music 1948–1951. He later became Professor of Music at Glasgow University. The archive is a very important source of documents tracing the history of the college since its move to Cambridge in 1894. It must continue to keep evidence of the very important changes happening today as well as of daily life at the college and over future years to come. Please contact us if you have any queries, or if you can contribute to the collection of student and staff photographs. We are missing 1951–1970 and 1972– 1987. Our email address is archive@ homerton.cam.ac.uk. Rosemary Boaz Archive Assistant
Alice at Homerton 1927–1929
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OVERSEAS STUDENT PROJECTS Each year a number of students are awarded travel grants from Pilkington Travel and the Gates Cambridge Trusts. Here are two examples of the excellent work done overseas by our students.
A view of Siloam from the public footpath. Hannah had the walls rendered and painted during the trip
Return to Siloam: My Journey to Kibera, Kenya We are all extremely fortunate to be, or have been, Homertonians. We are fortunate to study, or have studied, at one of the best universities in the world. But it is not until we remove ourselves from the Cambridge world that we realize just how lucky we are. In July 2009, with the help of a Pilkington Travel grant and the Gates Cambridge trust, I returned to volunteer at Siloam children’s home in Kibera, Kenya – the largest slum in Africa. I worked for three months at Siloam in 2008 and raised a substantial sum of money which, among other things, was used to initiate a large-scale building project. Specifically, I oversaw the construction of classrooms and girls’ and boys’ dormitories – complete with bunk beds! One telling quote that is imprinted in my mind exemplifies how important this project was for the children living at Siloam: Ababu, a 14 year old boy asked me “Is there one bed for one child?” I have never seen anyone so happy when I answered “Yes.” 8
During my more recent trip, I wanted to assess the safety and suitability of the building works that I had initiated at the children’s home one year earlier. The safety of the children living at the home was of course a priority for me. Although the works appeared to still be in good working order, I spent my time overseeing the structural reinforcement of the second storey at the orphanage. This will ensure that the home will be safe for the 70 children that live at the home and the 300 children that attend Siloam primary school. In addition, I oversaw the installation of skylights – which transformed the classrooms from dark, eye-straining environments to places where learning and teaching may occur. And so, although my contribution was a minor one, I believe that projects such as these help us to remember the responsibilities we have as citizens of the world, and as able educated Homertonians. Hannah Pincham MPhil in Education and Psychology 2008–2009
Hannah and one of the children at Siloam
Teaching Music in the West Bank, Palestine When I finally touched down in Ben Gurion airport, Tel Aviv, nothing could have prepared me for the months that were to come. I travelled to the bustling city of Ramallah in the West Bank where I worked at the Al Kamandjati foundation. The foundation was conceived by Ramzi Aburdewan, who grew up on the Al-Amari refugee camp, Ramallah, and was pictured throwing rocks at Israeli soldiers. By chance he discovered music and managed to get a scholarship to go to Angers, France to study at the Music Conservatory. His idea was to establish music schools for Palestinian children, favouring the most destitute children, those living in the refugee camps, to give children another outlet for their feelings, to give them a social base and to teach them to work together. He said that he wanted these children to achieve something, that his dream was that these children have a way of expression, a way of living, that they can participate in the building of a Palestinian cultural future. So the charity works in various refugee camps in the West Bank, the Gaza Strip as well as in the camps of Lebanon. When I first arrived, one of the other volunteers told me about one little girl that he had been teaching the previous year. He said that this student’s teachers were worried because when she was asked
to do drawings at school she drew guns and bloodshed. Then she started to learn the ’cello and spent hours in the centre every week. After some time, her drawings were less violent, and one year on, her teachers noted a complete turn-around in both her drawings and in her class participation. It seems hard to believe and somewhat clichéd when you haven’t been here, but now after having worked with some of these children it makes sense. Though relatively few of the students go abroad to study and become professional musicians, spending a few hours a week doing something different, one-on-one, being given some attention and finding a new outlet for emotions that many of them are too young to even comprehend, is really what the charity is about. I taught music appreciation to tiny children of 4 or 5 years old, teaching them to clap basic rhythms, basic movement and to sing short songs, I also taught music theory to the older children, using the Kodaly solfege technique (do, ray, me, fa, so, la, si), the central philosophical objective being that “Music belongs to everyone and is necessary for healthy human development”. However, the majority of my time was teaching the oboe. One of my pupils, whom I taught up to three times a week, because he worked so hard and took such pride in his playing, was 16 year old Tarik. He went from not even knowing what an oboe was to being able to play as well,
if not better, in a matter of weeks than some of my students that I had taught for months, on far superior instruments, in far more comfortable surroundings. On days off I visited other sites in Israel and throughout the West Bank. I witnessed with my own eyes the treatment of Palestinians by the settlers in Hebron, the settler violence against olive pickers and the ongoing results of the 1948 Nakba and the 1978 Establishment of the State of Israel. I woke up every morning looking out over Kalandia checkpoint, (the checkpoint you need to pass to get from the West Bank into Jerusalem, and where the technology used is the same as at the Berlin Wall). Yet, I met some of the most positive, smiling, warm, friendly people I have ever met but who have been through hell and back and who still find the strength to carry on despite living under Occupation. There can be little doubt that peace in this region is a long way off, but by encouraging creative development in these young people, Al Kamandjati is doing its own little bit for the future of Palestine and for hope. For a further example of how the charity benefited some of the local young people, see this article from the New York Times: http://www.nytimes.com/2009/06/02/arts/ music/02luth.html?_r=2&pagewanted=1 Harriet Armston-Clarke BA Oriental Studies undergraduate 2007–2011
Harriet with the orchestra
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HUS Executive Committee 2009–2010
HOMERTON UNION OF STUDENTS This year has again been one of change for the students of Homerton College. The confirmation of Homerton’s Royal Charter marks the culmination of many years of work by all in College and I’ve no doubt others will cover it in this publication far better than I can. I shall continue the tradition started by my predecessors and concentrate on what’s been happening for the students of Homerton. The formation of a new union for graduate students has given them greater representation within College than ever before and has created greater unity between undergraduates and graduates. For PGCEs the change has been beneficial as they are now represented by both unions, which hopefully better suits their needs. Peter Farah has been a great President for the Homerton MCR and a pleasure to work with in smoothing the
transition between one union and two. It is also worth noting that without the work of Casta Jones, last year’s HUS President, none of this would have been possible. Some things do remain constant, however, such as the continued success of HATS, putting on a mix of classic drama and more modern experimental pieces such as the upcoming Boat in the Homerton Orchard. HATStands continue to entertain the students and staff with their Christmas show Winter Wonderland selling out quickly and showcasing the very best of Homerton talent, alongside some more unusual dance pieces from the Homerton football and rugby teams! Our list of successful student societies continues to grow with GODS, the ballroom dancing society, being a great
example of how keen Homerton students are to try new things. The diversity of societies within Homerton reflects the diversity of the student body and their interests. Homerton students also like to get involved in the wider University. We have in our midst a number of University sports players as well as journalists and people active in the University student union. Finally, the HUS Executive team this year has achieved a great deal and represented the students of Homerton admirably. Great campaigns on women’s health and safe drinking from the Welfare team as well as a successful Green Week from the Environmental Officer were very well received and increased awareness of important issues within the student body. It has been a great experience to work with such an enthusiastic group of people and they have made this year a very enjoyable one. If anyone has any questions about the student union or wishes to help us support the students of Homerton College in any way then please do get in touch on hus-president@homerton.cam.ac.uk. Luke Shepherd HUS President 2009–2010
Homerton College Graduands queue outside Senate House to receive their award
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Homerton students enjoying a day on the river
MCR – GRADUATE STUDENTS UNION This last year has been particularly exciting for Homerton’s graduate community as it saw the formation of the Homerton graduate union, traditionally referred to at Cambridge colleges as the Middle Combination Room (MCR). The graduate student body at Homerton has been steadily growing over the past few years and is currently one of the largest amongst Cambridge colleges. Recently, there has been a predominant feeling amongst graduates that they lacked representation in college. Last year a group of Higher Degree students, spearheaded by our HUS representative, successfully argued the need for the restructuring of the HUS to form separate graduate and undergraduate unions. Thanks to the support of college and the sabbatical HUS president, the split was effectively implemented at the end of Lent term last year. The MCR is run by volunteer graduate students in their spare time around their degrees and hence is by nature more informal than a union. We have set up the positions so that any graduate, irrespective of their degree, is able to get involved. A big portion of our time this first year was absorbed in getting the MCR on its feet. Yet
our events officer organised two very successful fresher’s weeks, an early one for PGCE students who arrive before most new graduate students and the usual October one for the whole MCR. Furthermore, there have been numerous formal exchanges with other colleges, which have proven popular with graduate students. Our main goal this year was to bring together a delocalised graduate community, as a substantial portion of our graduates live off campus. Our Vice-president has been busy since summer refurbishing our common room to make it a focal point for all the graduates living on and off campus. The communication officer has established a weekly email newsletter and she is in the process of populating our website. It is hoped that the website will be an effective reference point for all current or even prospective students and it already features a weekly updated calendar of relevant events. One of the challenges we are currently working through is to ensure the PGCEs are well represented in the MCR, as their course load means they are often away from college. This year we have two enthusiastic PGCE representatives. They are currently trying to establish a protocol for the best
way to welcome and engage with fellow PGCE students and to elect a representative to voice their concerns. Although the academic year is nearing the end, the MCR still has a lot cooking. We are compiling a questionnaire for next term to highlight any graduate issues. The welfare officers are planning midnight coffee breaks during the exam period to ease the stress students are under during this time. In addition we are planning a supervisors’ formal hall and a graduate conference to encourage the exchange of ideas amongst Homerton’s multi-disciplinary research community. In all, our college has been experiencing many changes this year. The formation of the MCR will undoubtedly have a positive impact on student life at Homerton and this year’s committee is doing a notable job to that end. Although most people will agree that Homerton is one of the better colleges with regards to student life, we are always looking for ways to add to it. If you have any suggestions, or indeed any questions, I would be happy to hear from you at president-mcr@homerton.cam.ac.uk. Peter Farah MCR President 2009–2010
EMERITI On 19th November, 2009, the day on which the College received official notification that the Queen would be granting a Royal Charter, two of our members, John Hammond and Peter Raby, were sworn in to Emeritus Fellowships. On 15th March, 2010, three days after the arrival of the Charter, another four, John Beck, Barry Jones, Ian Morrison and John Murrell were also sworn in to Emeritus Fellowships.
Left to right: John Murrell, Ian Morrison, Barry Jones and John Beck became Emeritus Fellows of Homerton College on 15th March 2010.
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HATS (HOMERTON AMATEUR THEATRICAL SOCIETY) This year HATS has gone from strength to strength. Starting off a new tradition for HATS we had our Freshers’ Show in Michaelmas; it was a great success. The Importance of Being Earnest was the chosen play of the Freshers’ Director, resulting in a very entertaining evening involving Freshers from both Homerton and other colleges. HATStands has continued as the mustsee show in College and the event in everyone’s diary. The winter HATStands was as enthralling as ever with an array of performers from singers to dancers and, of course, the rugby team singing well-known pop classics! Homerton writing talent has come to the fore again with David Stevenson’s Footlights Harry Porter nominated play Dawn of Man being performed in the auditorium to large and enthusiastic audiences. New
writing is being developed further by next year’s HATS committee through the establishment of the HATS New Writing Association. Boat was a mesmeric devised piece which was performed in Homerton’s Orchard. Like Dawn of Man it was conceived, written and performed by Homerton students. Henna night, performed at the Corpus Playroom, was a heart-warming piece of theatre. There has also been a zany musical, Nunsense, about nuns attempting to save their nunnery through the medium of song and dance. HATS has been proud to offer opportunities for individuals inside and outside Homerton. Skylight, a play by David Hare, was a thrilling two-hander with a production team and cast both from outside college and within. The production was well received and built
THE GRIFFINS CLUB Another year of successful year of college sport has gone by with Homerton teams continuing to impress as they make their mark around town. Homerton Men’s Rugby started their season positively, climbing Division 3 after hard-fought wins over Sidney and Churchill. Solid opposition from Robinson and Emma ended hopes of promotion in the league, but a terrific 50–15 win over 2nd Division Pembroke in Cuppers helped Homerton through to the tournament’s quarter finals, where they were narrowly beaten by the combined teams of Corpus, Clare and King’s. A strong Homerton squad now looks set to win the 7s tournament for the second year running, and the team should look forward to a very promising future.
Homerton’s Mens Rugby
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The women’s rugby team have continued to shine thanks to the coaching of second year Rob Howard, and the enthusiasm of the team. Of the five games played this year they have won three but played fantastic rugby in the other two none the less – the most notable of these matches has to be the rather hung-over win against Magdalene! Men’s Football have shown once again that they are not a team to be messed with. As numbers continue to grow, we now field four full teams who have all played well this year. Most notably the men’s first team are hoping for a promotion to the first division next term after their performance this year. They have also reached the cuppers semi-final and will be playing Downing in the all-important match next term. The annual Leyton Orient match will be taking place in Homerton next term, although the date has not yet been fixed. The women’s football team were unfortunately knocked out of cuppers quite early on but have as yet not lost a
further upon our ongoing partnership with the Corpus Playroom. We have also supported a production in a professional setting, The Marlowe Showcase, at the Arts Theatre in London. The Showcase comprises twelve of the finest acting talents, in Cambridge, performing in front of a theatre industry audience. Of those actors selected to be part of The Showcase, four were from Homerton: Josh Higgot, Robyn Hoedemaker, Ellie Ross and Sophia Sibthorpe. On behalf of the outgoing committee I would like to thank all those who have helped us this year, including the Homertonian alumni who have supported us. Sam Pallis HATS President 2009–2010
league match. They still have Girton and Jesus left to play, but have been training hard all term and this has shown on the pitch; hopefully this will continue next term! Exciting news in the Hockey as the men’s team were recently promoted to the third division after they came top of the fourth division in the league with a win against Sidney Sussex. They have now finished for the year but will be fielding a team in John’s sixes during May Week. The women are still combining with Caius college but the “Ho-Caius” (as they have been dubbed) have played well over the year. The ladies Badminton team got through to the cuppers quarter final and although they lost to Trinity they played well. They are currently in the second division but are hoping for promotion back to the first division by the end of the year, with two matches left to be played. Homerton are also still currently in the mixed cuppers and are due to play the second round soon. A new addition to the Griffins community this year has been the Homerton Pool team, who are currently in the first division and are mid-table. They have played all year and have been holding regular sessions in the bar on a Wednesday when the pool table is free.
Other teams include the women’s netball team who have played excellently this year. They are still in the second division and narrowly missed out in a place in the finals of cuppers last week. Men’s badminton have been playing well and the men’s basketball have branched off from Pembroke to form their own team, they too have been playing very well so far this year. That’s about it really from the Sports side for now but I will leave you with a special
mention of those Homertonians who have been representing our university this year: Alistair Argo (Pool, he also won the Open and the Masters games, making him the top university player); Corina Balaban (Tennis); Helen Bellfield (Football, Rugby, Cricket); Charlotte Brearley (Hockey Captain); Chloe Davies (Hockey); Seb Dunnet (Rugby U21s); Briony Jones (Basketball); Jon Rackham (Rugby U21 (A)s); Laurence Shaw (Pool); Rachel Smith (Hockey); Sorrel Wood (Rugby).
If you are interested in receiving more information about the Griffins club then please feel free to get in touch at hus-griffins@homerton.cam.ac.uk Laura Bevins Homerton College Griffins President 2009–2010
HOMERTON COLLEGE BOAT CLUB 2009 to 2010 has once again been another successful year for Homerton College Boat Club. It has seen another set of hard earned results from both the men’s and the women’s sides of the club but it has also been a year of change with increased contact with the alumni and a new boat for the women! The 2009 May bumps were generally a success all around and there was much merriment at the dinner on the last day. The men continued to make the most of the new Cambridge Racing Shell, which has now been named Stevie Stephenson after Philip Stephenson’s father, going up another two places in the bumps charts. The men’s second crew also rowed well, securing themselves another three places. The women also climbed another two places, bumping on the second and last day, and although they went down one place, the women’s second crew also bumped on the last day so there was much for us to celebrate.
October saw the start of a new academic year and a new committee for HCBC but before they arrived HCBC held its first alumni dinner. This was a great success and for my part I was very excited to meet some of the first ever HCBC rowers! We are hoping that with the success of this dinner we will be able to hold another
in September 2010, so if you think you might be interested then please do get in touch and we will add you to our alumni mailing list. Anyway, back to the rowing. Michaelmas term saw an unusually low intake of novices but this did not prevent the crews coming together and doing well in the Queens’ ergs competitions, with the fastest women’s time coming from Homertonian Flo Carr. Also in the Michaelmas term, the senior women’s four won their category in the Cantabrigian Winter Head competition, and both the men and the women rowed well in the senior Fairbairns. The small number of novices did not faze the club, however, as we still fielded four Homerton Crews for the Lent bumps races. Unfortunately the women’s second boat did not manage to get onto the bumps but, thanks to the hard work of the crew last year, the men’s seconds did not need to race in the getting-on race. In the bumps themselves, the men’s first crew unfortunately slipped by two places but will be racing shortly in the Head of the River Race as their main focus of the term. The Men’s seconds also slipped by two, as they were chased by a very fast Emma crew and another fast Christ’s boat. The women narrowly missed out on blades to a determined Robinson crew, but they
still managed to move up three places and will be hoping to continue their hard work into the May term. One of the most exciting events of this year has been the arrival of the brand new women’s first boat Pascalle, named by the parent of a current student who kindly donated the money needed to purchase the boat. We were very excited to christen the new boat with three bumps and hope that it will continue to serve the crews well in years to come. The success of the boat club this year has been hugely dependent on the generosity and kindness of the coaches as well as the hard work and determination of the crews. Without the support of the alumni our club would not exist. Although we hope to continue to improve our links with the alumni, we are still very grateful for the help we receive. We are hoping to hold a “back to rowing day” at some point for any alumni who are keen to get back in a boat. Details will be sorted shortly but if you think you might be interested then please do get in touch, hcbc.secretary@ googlemail.com. Laura Bevins Boat Club Captain 2009–2010
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HOMERTON COLLEGE MUSIC SOCIETY HCMS has continued to grow over the course of 2009/10. Beginning right back before the start of Michaelmas term with a set of musical exhibitions at the Reunion weekend, and running through to the end of Lent term, the society has provided high quality performances while encouraging as many students as possible to get involved with college music. This year saw the establishment of a new choir at Homerton, the Charter Choir – named in reference to the college’s receipt of the Royal Charter. Run by world-renowned Mozart expert Dr David Black, the choir has so far sung services in St. John’s College chapel and St John the Evangelist Church on Hills Road, as well as performing regularly at Formal Hall. The choir was initiated with a view to establishing a choral tradition in college, and to this end its first year has been an unequivocal success. Michaelmas term was brought to a close with the HCMS Winter Concert, and
performances by the Charter Choir, Pandemonium (the steel pan band) and the College Orchestra. The Charter Choir performed Adiemus by Karl Jenkins, The Snow by Elgar and a selection of Christmas carols under the expert direction of Anna Purkiss, Megan Wood and Eleanor Cocker. Then there were pieces by Mendelssohn and Rheinberger, as well as the beautiful Sure on this shining night by Samuel Barber. Pandemonium rounded up the first half of the concert with Caribbean arrangements of Silent Night and music from The Little Mermaid. The second half of the concert featured the Homerton College Orchestra performing Schubert’s stormy Eighth Symphony, the ‘Unfinished’. A number of recitals have taken place in college over the course of the year. In the latter half of Michaelmas term, Harry Dadswell and Helen Etheridge performed Carl Reinecke’s ‘Undine’ Sonata for Flute and Piano as well as Beethoven’s ‘Pathétique’ sonata and
Giulio Briccialdi’s Carnival of Venice. In Lent term there were recitals by up and coming singer/songwriter Edie Lobo, and multiple performances by HoJO, the Homerton Jazz Orchestra, both in Homerton and at other colleges. The HCMS Spring concert at the end of Lent term featured the Charter Choir and the College Orchestra and included music ranging from Mozart’s beautiful Ave Verum setting to Beethoven’s mighty Fifth Symphony. It’s been an exciting year for college music, with a number of new initiatives coming into fruition, resulting in greater exposure for musical activities at Homerton. I look forward to seeing music at Homerton build on the successes of this year and develop in the future. Raphael Hetherington HCMS President 2009–2010
RETIRED SENIOR MEMBERS ASSOCIATION A Tale of Two Years time as the Alumni Weekend and lunching with returning students was clearly a success and the same arrangement will be followed this year. Michael Younger’s seminar this term on ‘The Future of Education in Cambridge?’, followed by lunch in the Great Hall, was well attended and extremely well received. We have been fortunate enough to recruit new blood to our ranks in the healthy form of Bev Hopper, Peter Raby and Ian Morrison. We extend a warm welcome, thank them for lowering the average age of the RSMA, and look forward to their contribution to the life of the association.
It was the best of times, it was the worst of times… As for Charles Dickens, so for us this year. There have been good, even excellent, things to reflect on and be thankful for. We have solved (possibly) the question of organising convenient times for meetings and events and having inexpensive meals in College. Holding the AGM at the same 14
We have successfully raised the funding and initiated the process of selection for our Bursary, which will be offered for the first time this year to a Homerton graduate intending to become a teacher. Originally labelled the ‘Foundation Bursary’, we have decided to change the name to the more appropriate ‘Charter Bursary’, more accurately identifying it with the granting by the Queen of a Royal
Charter. The pleasure of this significant and happy moment in the history of the college is mixed with great sadness at the loss of six of our colleagues, including John Hammond. Their obituaries stand as evidence of the degree to which they played their part in laying the foundation of the reputation for excellence, which has enabled Homerton to reach its exalted, and well deserved, new status. For each of them we can only hope that it will be true to say, as Charles Darnay expressed it: ‘It is a far, far better rest that I go to, than I have ever known.’ Time alone will tell whether for those who work in the new Homerton it will be true to say: ‘It is a far, far better thing that I do,than I have ever done’ Professor John Murrell MBE Chairman. Homerton RSMA
OBITUARIES OF FORMER COLLEAGUES Joan Clark (1916–2009) Senior Lecturer in Education, 1971–1981
Joan Clark died peacefully at home on April 26th 2009, aged 92. Joan had lived in Stapleford since 1971 when she joined the staff of Homerton College as Senior Lecturer in Education. She was particularly interested in children’s religious education, as, prior to her appointment to Homerton, she was Adviser for Religious Education in Cambridgeshire. Joan worked with students preparing to teach in primary schools and is remembered as a supportive and sympathetic tutor who was much respected by the students. As the teacher training programme changed she became especially involved in the Language and Literacy courses. She was very interested in Children’s Literature, having been a Librarian earlier in her career. As part of her work she encouraged students to write and to make their own books.
Tony Crowe (1935–2009) Senior Lecturer in English, 1963–1993
Tony Crowe died peacefully at home on November 1st, 2009, aged seventy-four, after a long illness. He was born in 1935, and educated by the Christian Brothers at St Joseph’s, Blackpool, an experience that gave him a special empathy with the James Joyce of Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man. He won a scholarship to St Catherine’s College, Cambridge, in 1953, where he read English under the wise and liberal direction of Dr Tom Henn. Teacher training followed at the Cambridge Department of Education. One of his placements was at one of the new comprehensive schools in Tulse Hill. Tony was a strong advocate of the comprehensive system, and accepted a job
at Tulse Hill, from where he moved to the John Ruskin school at Croydon. Then, in 1964, he accepted a job in the English Department at Homerton, partly attracted back to Cambridge by the encouragement of Brian Jackson, of A.C.E., for whom he later taught many popular courses. Although he arrived fresh from six years teaching in London, during which his interests in film and theatre had already been explored practically, he characteristically decided to seek more experience as to how children acquire language, and worked one afternoon a week with Valerie Harbird at Babraham Junior school. This was to become a life-long study, fed by a sabbatical in 1975 at the London Institute with Harold Rosen, and by personal experience as a father to Lucy and Joseph. Another sabbatical in 1982 took him to France with Judith and his children – in the long-serving Land Rover, towing a trailer tent – where he studied at the Sorbonne and imbibed a good dose of structuralism, which in due course made its way into his Media courses. Part of a formidable English department, Tony could teach everything – perhaps his favourite author was Dickens, and his favourite novels Great Expectations and Hard Times. He took responsibility for the Secondary Postgraduate course in English, and this became a flagship course. He was deeply committed to the well-being and training of these students, and was involved in a great many innovations,
At this time and after her retirement in the early 1980s, she was an Ely Diocesan Bishop’s Visitor to Church of England schools. She brought her extensive knowledge and experience and was quite outstanding in this role. She also gave years of service as a school governor of the Community Primary School in Stapleford. Since then she remained as active as she could in St Andrew’s Church, Stapleford, organising the Tuesday Bible Study Group which met in her house right up until she died. Underlying her approach to people was Joan’s unobtrusive, genuine and deep Christian faith. Trish Maude Bye Fellow
including, with John Murrell, fresh methods for interviewing and selection (based around responses to a segment of one of his favourite films, Ken Loach’s Kes.) As in many of his ventures, he formed very close associations with a number of schools and teachers, and the work his students were involved in at Parkside over the years was especially remarkable. It gave him great pleasure that when he retired in 1993, one of his postgraduate students, Gabrielle Cliff-Hodges, took his place. Gabrielle remembers Tony as ‘an extremely influential P.G.C.E. tutor. He was closely attentive to our progress and always intellectually stimulating. He taught us to think about English teaching from learners’ perspectives, to care that we read literature aloud well or that our work on language would arouse pupils’ curiosity’. Tony drew continuously on his deep knowledge of literature, drama and film, and helped to develop the study of the latter with Saturday film courses, and with much input into the construction of GCSE curricula in Media and Film Studies. Again, this first-hand knowledge of issues, and practitioners, was immensely useful in the course he put together in Media as an option for Curriculum Studies in the B.Ed. Tony was an inspirational teacher. He was warm, caring; immensely supportive; imaginative; unassuming, gentle in manner, but at the same time absolutely certain about his aims and methods, as well as hugely knowledgeable; unstinting in the effort he put in before a class or lecture; 15
his feedback was rigorous but encouraging, sometimes longer than the piece of work he was commenting on. And he was wholly committed and protective towards his students, especially his post-graduates: he was a great trainer of teachers, eager to provide them with the very best models and materials. His reading lists and supplementary materials were generous, expansive, beautifully selected, and always practical. The Xerox might have been invented just for Tony. Viv Brands’s pulse rate would quicken when Tony came into the reprographics room, stubbed his cigarette out in the sink and advanced on the photocopiers with armfuls of black and white photographs…. Stella Hurley was at Homerton in the 60s, and was one of many ex-students
John A. Hammond (1935–2009) Head of Biology, Senior Tutor, 1965–1995
who wrote to Judith about Tony. “When I arrived in Cambridge as a very unsophisticated student from the backwoods of northern England, I felt quite intimidated by some of the supremely confident and self-possessed individuals I met. What a joy to find I was in Tony’s tutor group, and discover a man without pretentions, a genuine honest man of complete integrity. I remember with gratitude his sensitive approach to novels and poetry. One of the texts was To Kill a Mockingbird – I always associate it with Tony…I always felt there was more than a touch of Atticus Finch about him. He knew what many of my school teachers never realised, that a few positive words of praise achieve far more than criticism. Tony’s humanity and
At the end of that year he was appointed as a Biology Master at a prestigious and old foundation London County Council Grammar School, Emanuel School, in Wandsworth. He taught Biology there for the next seven years, becoming a Housemaster, coaching sport and serving as an officer in the RAF section of the Combined Cadet Force. He was also very much involved in the foundation of the Duke of Edinburgh’s Award Scheme. Correctly predicting that as a non-graduate teacher his career would be limited, he attended evening classes at the then Regent Street Polytechnic, firstly gaining A-levels and then going on to complete a BSc (Honours). His lecturers soon spotted his academic and teaching potential and he was offered a part-time evening lectureship on the completion of his degree.
John Hammond was a Suffolk Lad, who became a Homerton Man. Born in Rendlesham in 1935, he went to the local one-room village primary school from which he won a scholarship to Framlingham College. From there he went to work for a short time as a meteorologist before completing his National Service in the Royal Air Force. By the end of those two years he had realised that he wanted to teach and in 1955 he began a teacher training course at the College of St. Mark and St. John, which was at that time situated in London in the King’s Road, Chelsea. After successfully completing the two-year course, he was selected to take a newly instituted third year specialist course in science teaching.
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In 1965 he was appointed as one of only a handful of men on the staff at Homerton College, which was then one of the newly designated ‘Colleges of Education’ offering a three-year certificate in teacher training. Over the next forty-four years he served the ever-changing College at every level and in every capacity, ranging from Lecturer, Head of Department, Senior Tutor, to Staff Trustee. His love for his subject and his desire to improve his own knowledge never diminished, and despite a more than full workload at Homerton, he managed to complete a part-time M.Ed at Chelsea College, London. Typically, when he was given a year of sabbatical leave, he chose to use it to study for a Cambridge M.Phil. In achieving this, he became the first Homerton College member to be
dedication came across quite gently. The integrity of his philosophy has had a great impact on me, and I’m certain hundreds of other students fortunate enough to work with him.” Tony believed fervently in the value of education, in the need to make it as rich as possible, and available to everyone: great expectations. He set an extremely high standard, and his enthusiasm was infectious. He had a lovely sense of humour, and an inexhaustible supply of references, examples and stories. We send our sincere sympathy to Judith, and to Lucy and Joseph. Dr Peter Raby Emeritius Fellow
awarded a higher degree by the University of Cambridge, a fact of which he was justifiably, but quietly, very proud. His specialist enthusiasm and expertise were not confined to his work at Homerton. He played an active role in the local Flora and Fauna Preservation Society; the Cambridge Natural History Society, of which he became President; and he was a council member of the Wildlife Trust. As such, he played a seminal role in the evolution of Natural History, as it was known in the 1970s, to the currently wider Environmental Education. Similarly, at Homerton he was the moving force behind many innovations, not least of which was the Junior Year Abroad programme. His enterprise in developing this course, which offered suitably qualified students from overseas the chance to study in Cambridge, meant that by the time he finally retired, he had not only extended the reputation of Homerton internationally, but had also obtained for the College a total income in tutorial fees alone in excess of one million pounds. His commitment to Homerton continued long after official retirement. He was a stalwart supporter of the Homerton Retired Senior Members Association, believing it to be important to maintain the link between the Homerton that was and the new Homerton. He served as Chairman for ten years, the maximum period allowed by its constitution. He also continued in his role as Keeper of the Roll, editing the Homertonian, arranging reunions and travelling, always
as a welcome guest, to the various branches of past students across the country. A few weeks before his death, to his immense joy, he was elected an Emeritus Fellow, an event made even more poignant by taking place the very day on which the College received notification of the granting of its new Charter. He referred to the day as, “The ideal closure.” Significant as they are, these facts are but the bare bones of a life. What they do not identify is the uniqueness of the man. John was not only a gifted and well-loved teacher, colleague and friend, he was an exceptional person. He had an ability to find qualities in people, which were not immediately obvious to others, and
sometimes not even to the individuals themselves. As is shown by the responses to the ‘Facebook’ page, set up by the College on his death, there are so many former pupils, students and colleagues, who can identify a moment when his statement of trust, or belief in them, caused a significant change in their life. Sometimes it was a moment of intellectual truth, giving insight into a difficult academic concept, or as those who appeared before him in his role as Senior Tutor can testify, it could be a moment of personal truth, when he would gently, but firmly indicate how life could be more sensibly spent. Nor was this gift of being able to make you feel capable of better things limited to his students. Those of us privileged to be among his friends also
received the benefits of his wisdom, both professionally and personally.
John Jackson (1938–2010)
wit of his cockney forbears. His sense of humour and the apposite turn of phrase were always there. An example of this was the occasion when he spotted the rather large feet of a colleague. He immediately remarked on this with the polite enquiry as to whether or not his shoes had been crafted by Harland & Wolff!
Lecturer in Sculpture, 1973 John was a committed and distinguished working and exhibiting sculptor. He was also a splendid teacher of drawing. His professional involvement in the community of practising artists ensured that, through him, his students were always involved and well informed. He was indeed a natural teacher. The worlds of Art and Art Education are poorer with his death.
There is no doubt he was a devoted, loving and caring husband, father and grandfather. Alongside this devotion to his family, however, there was a rival for his affection. His wife, Judith, expressed it best when at his funeral she wrote that she always thought of John as “A stick of rock with Homerton College printed all the way through”. Homerton College, like us, must face the sad truth that we have to say, with immense gratitude, ‘Nunc Dimittis’. Professor John Murrell MBE Chairman Homerton RSMA
Everything about John will be missed. Mike Bibby Former Head of Art Department
John had inherited the quintessential irrepressible humour and free flowing
Mary Barbara Wallis (1922–2009) Lecturer in French, 1966–1983
Already by nature a very private person, Barbara always adhered strictly to her oath as a signatory to the Official Secrets Act. So very few of her colleagues and students at Homerton College, where she spent most of her later career, can ever have known of her intelligence work at Bletchley Park nor, probably, of her later experiences at the Nuremberg trials and her imprisonment in Egypt during the Suez crisis. Although born in London, Barbara was connected to Cambridge through a long family history. She could trace Cambridge links among her ancestors going back over 200 years. These included James Clerk Maxwell, the first Cavendish Professor of Physics, and her grandfather, Peter Giles, who was a long-serving Master of Emmanuel and Chair of the Girton College Council (1910–18). Two aunts
had also been at Girton, so her choice of college must have seemed predestined. Nevertheless the College recommended that, before coming up to read MML in 1941, she should spend a year with a German émigré family in Oxford to improve her understanding of the German language and culture. This was to prove a very influential experience. At the end of her first year she was called up for service in the ATS and posted to the initial training camp on Northampton racecourse – clearly something of a sartorial experience: “There” she wrote, “we were kitted out from the skin up, there being no lingerie allowance as there was for the WRNS. Naturally everything was a khaki colour, including rayon bloomers.” Transferred to Bletchley Park, she joined MI8 and played a crucial role. She tuned in to transmissions from stations all over Germany and, because of her acute ear 17
for the language, she could recognise and distinguish different voices, especially those that were mobile, and so pin down troop movements. She also read tapes from the Enigma machine and was able to pinpoint critical pieces that linked with her audio receptions. The German family in Oxford noted that her colloquial German was improving fast and wondered where she could be using it. After the German surrender she monitored remaining German units in Czechoslovakia, then moved to Germany and acted as a translator for many of the war crime trials at Nuremberg. By 1946 she was back at Girton, now reading Anthropology and Archaeology for Part II. On graduation she trained at the Roehampton Froebel Institute and then taught in Bethnal Green before spending five years as a child-care officer in Reading.
Sylvia Williams (1934–2010) Lecturer in Chemistry, Acting Deputy Principal, 1964–1992
Sylvia Williams started working at the College in 1964 as a member of the academic staff teaching Chemistry. In 1990 she was appointed Acting Deputy Principal, and also served on the Board of Trustees as a Staff Trustee from 1990 to her retirement in 1992. Following her retirement, Mrs Williams continued to work with the College through her involvement with In-service Training, and the Centre for Overseas Development of Education (CODE). Sylvia had little time for educational theorising and, as far as I know, never put pen to paper to set out her own educational philosophy. She was nevertheless a teacher with a very clear, passionately held and, in the context of Cambridge academicism, often controversial educational vision revealed most vividly in her practice. 18
1956 was a significant year for Barbara. She was initially involved in arranging billeting for Hungarian military personnel driven to Britain by the uprising. She wanted further involvement with them but, when that proved impossible, she took a British Council post as head of Victoria College, Cairo, only to become caught up immediately in the Suez Crisis and to find herself imprisoned and then expelled from Egypt. She returned to her Hungarians, acting as senior instructor for a group employed as miners in Wales. The following year she was back in Africa, taking a post as senior mistress at Tripoli College, Libya, where she remained for six years. She returned for a move into higher education, joining Leeds University as a Nuffield Research Fellow, working on teaching material in French for primary schools. This
experience led to her final and most long-lasting appointment, as Senior Lecturer and Warden–Tutor at Homerton College. There she remained for seventeen years, retiring in 1983. Most of her academic work there was in French, with only a small demand for German, but she also had the considerable responsibility of arranging student accommodation both in College and for the large proportion of students living ‘out’ with landladies in the City. This last duty, requiring great tact and much negotiation, left Homerton students from every discipline deeply in her debt.
First, she believed that people learned not just from books or from instruction but from experience – and that what was learned from experience deserved recognition, valuing, indeed accreditation by academic institutions, as much as any other form of learning.
took over the Old Sanatorium (then on the edge of Homerton car park and in a rather ramshackle state) and turned it into a HIVE (Homerton In-service in Vocational Education) of high-quality innovative activity with far-reaching impact.
By extension she valued the learning which was associated with work and working lives of all kinds. She valued the technical, vocational, presentational, administrative and entrepreneurial skills which people acquired during their working lives on a par with, and possibly above, other more traditional academic learning. She was angered by the lower status attached to such learning in educational settings and even more by the lower esteem which, in Cambridge in particular, was attached to people whose skills were of this kind or whose occupations were based on their exercise. She was at least as proud of the skills which her own sons Nick and Chris demonstrated in their respective world of IT and management consultancy as of their more conventional academic achievements. It was these and related commitments which led Sylvia to engage creatively with a number of educational initiatives that had their roots in what might be regarded as the ‘progressive’ initiatives of the Manpower Services Commission and the Department of Employment through, in particular, the 1980s: the Certificate of Prevocational Education, the Technical and Vocational Education Initiative and then the Enterprise in Higher Education Initiative – many of these in partnership with the Engineering Council as well as leading figures in the local and regional business community. She
Mr Peter Sparks Fellow, Girton College
But Sylvia’s quality as an educator was most vividly expressed through the way she related to students (most of them mature) and the colleagues she worked with. Whether in Cambridge or Ethiopia (she managed the Homerton/Kotebe link for several very successful years) or later in Bangladesh, she gave people a new belief in themselves and in the value of the skills and talents which they had, but which had hitherto been unrecognised. She showed them how they could acquire new skills and higher aspirations and she created situations and working relations which allowed them to develop them. People grew in confidence and self-belief under her influence. ‘Go on’ she would say – to the office secretary, the out of work teacher, the ‘failed’ student, the engineer seeking a career change, the anxious Ethiopian science lecturer in his barren laboratory or the Bangladeshi teacher-trainer tasked with producing a new resource book, “You can do it”. “Yes”, they replied in the face of Sylvia’s evident conviction... and they did! This was the mark and the achievement of a true educator. Professor David Bridges Retired Senior Member (Formerly Principal Lecturer in Education & Vice Principal)
This photograph was taken in 1973 by Vaughan Grylls and was exhibited with the following caption: The artist wishes to thank the Principal, staff and students of Homerton College Cambridge for their largess in making this pun-sculpture possible. Do let us know if you think you appear in this photograph.
Vaughan, who taught at Homerton from 1971-1973, returned in 2009 to take photograph an ‘A’ shape which was then exibited alongside the 1973 ‘S’ with the following caption: The artist wishes to thank the Principal, staff and students of Homerton College Cambridge for extending the original pun-sculpture into an essay. Most of those pictured are waving their own essays! Vaughan himself appears in the bottom right of each image. These photographs will appear in Vaughan’s forth coming book, Cambridge Then & Now to be published by Batsford in 2011.
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HOMERTON ROLL KEEPER’S REPORT 2009–10 Introduction For all at Homerton this past year has been a year of contrasts. We had record attendances at the Reunion and were blessed with beautiful weather. This made for a joyful day. However, it is with sadness, we record the deaths of six former lecturers. Each brought a particular contribution to College life, with John Hammond continuing to support College as Keeper of the Roll until 2004. John came to the September Reunion for a brief time, meeting some former students, and his photograph was published in the Roll News. We were able to give John a copy shortly before he died. The Homertonian is one of the ways in which College maintains its links with its former students. Yours is one of 10,000 posted from College. We also give one to each student completing their time at College. The Homertonian focuses on College News. There are articles by Fellows, Retired Senior members and by students, writing about the life and work of the College. The Roll News, published each November, contains information about the Roll and its members. This later date enables us to include reports and photographs from the September Reunion. We must again thank Dr Janet Bottoms for all her hard work as the Editor. Both publications are on the Website, another way to keep in contact with College.
Membership There are 11,712 members on the Roll database with 9800 active members. Therefore we have nearly 2000 ‘lost sheep’. Their names are listed on the website. Do help us to find them.
Reunion 2009 Some 290 attended the Reunion on Saturday and 140 the Dinner on Friday evening, both record turnouts. The College really buzzed 20
with so many former students, and husbands, meeting again. We had more members from the 1980s and onwards, and these younger Roll members did enjoy getting back together again. Dr Peter Warner, Senior Tutor, gave an excellent talk on ‘New Images of Homerton’, and the Music Society’ s concert was much appreciated. This was the first time the Society has contributed. Also new was the Boat Club dinner on the Saturday evening. Ann Muston, a recent Committee member, had searched the archives for the names of former crews. Some 400 were invited to the Dinner, hosted by Ann, by Philip Stephenson, Senior Treasurer, and Laura Bevins, Boat Club President. It was good that 35 attended, and as a result the Boat Club funds are much healthier. Thank you to all who made this event so successful.
Activities Dr Peter Warner and Dr Peter Raby received £480 from the Roll Committee to scan visual material and photographs in the archives. This has provided a rich and easily accessed resource for displays and exhibitions, including the prints in Paupers’ Walk. There were 132 former students and 4 Senior Members at the Leavers’ Dinner held on 19th February 2010. The Senior Tutor welcomed these ‘returners’, emphasising their continuing links with College and Cambridge. This was a very enjoyable evening, with many meeting for the first time since graduation. In May 2009, 31 attended the Cambridge lunch, including 3 Fellows and 9 Retired Senior Members. Trish Maude gave a very stimulating talk entitled ‘Observing Children Moving’ illustrated by a DVD. We were not required to move, but to observe and answer questions about the children’s movement! For the first time, we invited local Roll members to the Tuesday seminars and Formal Halls, one in November and one in February. We were delighted that seventeen
came to the November event and fourteen in February. At the latter the College Charter Choir sang a number of items during dessert. Roll members were delighted to be invited and to sit at High Table.
Links with Branches During 2010, Dr Peter Warner, Senior Tutor, visited the Oxford Branch, Steve Watts, Fellow and Admissions Tutor, the Manchester Branch, and I have been to the Newcastle and Wessex Branches. Local Branches are a good way to keep in touch with College, especially for those who are not able to come to Reunions.
Finance During the last financial year, the Roll had a small deficit but this was covered by our reserves. Dhiru Karia, the Roll Treasurer, looks after our finances very efficiently. The College Trustees provide financial support for Roll events including the Reunion, and for the printing and posting of the Homertonian. This is much appreciated.
Roll Office All of us must thank Alison Holroyd. Until recently Alison was the Roll Secretary and she has done much to improve the service to members. She continues to be with us but is taking on more of a development role for the College as well as overseeing all Roll matters. From 1st February, we have been joined by Cathy Bogg as the Roll Assistant. Both Alison and Cathy are part-time, but with the increased number of hours we aim to improve our service to Roll Members even more. Finally, I wish to thank all the Roll members for their support, and also the Committee members for their hard work. Dr Ian H Morrison Keeper of the Roll, Emeritus Fellow
HOMERTON ROLL COMMITTEE Chair: Dr Kate Pretty [Principal]; Keeper of the Roll: Dr Ian Morrison; Editor of the Roll News: Dr Janet Bottoms; Teaching Staff Member: Dr Peter Warner [Senior Tutor and College Archivist]; RSM: Mrs Carole Bennett; College Finance Officer: Dhiru Karia; President of HUS: Mr Luke Shepherd; The Vice-president [External] of HUS: Miss Bec Wilkinson; Past student members Mrs Lucy Barnett [Allen; 1961–1964], Mrs Jean Carnall [Barrie; 1966–1969], Mrs Dorothy Elven [Kemp; 1950–1952], Mr Dominic Norrish [1994–1998] and Mrs Diana Lucas [Barber; 1959–1961].
HOMERTON ROLL MEMBERSHIP The Homertonian is sent to every member of the Homerton Roll for whom we have a current address. Please help us to keep in touch by letting us know of your new address, telephone number and email; our on-line update form is available at http://www.homerton.cam.ac.uk/ homertonians/updatedetails.html. In order to keep costs down we are sending an increasing number of invitations by email, so do let us know your email address if you think we do not have it. We also welcome new members. If you know of a Homertonian who was in residence before 1980, is not a member of the Roll and would like to join, please contact the Keeper of the Roll, Dr Ian Morrison. Life membership for these former students is still £15.00 and covers the cost of the annual mailing. All other services, including the annual publication The Homerton Roll News, are provided on a break-even basis.
When in Cambridge, members are entitled to use certain College facilities. Please bring your CAM card with you when visiting College. Unfortunately, College has had to increase its security measures recently. It would also be very helpful if you let us know that you are visiting College so that we know to expect you. You can use:
Our current database of College members (with the exception of former HSHS students) is shared with the Cambridge University Development Office. These members should receive copies of CAM Magazine, which is published three times each year. You are also entitled to a CAM Card, which identifies you as a member of the University, and allows you to visit the Colleges on the Backs without paying an entrance fee. Discounts are available in some shops, including the Cambridge University Press Bookshop. If you would like a CAM card please contact CARO on 01223 332288, or at http://www.alumni. cam.ac.uk/benefits/camcard/.
Dr Ian Morrison
• The Dining Hall, Buttery and Bar; • The Library for reading purposes with prior notification; it is not possible to borrow books; • Members can attend the Alumni Formal Halls which are held during the Michaelmas and Lent terms. The Formal Hall is linked to the research seminar at 6pm. Please contact Alison Holroyd in the Roll Office if you would like to attend an Alumni Formal Hall. Information is available on the website at http://www.homerton.cam.ac.uk/ homertonians/eventsdiary.html.
Keeper of the Roll
Ms Alison Holroyd Development & Roll Officer
Mrs Cathy Bogg
THE HOMERTON ROLL NEWS The Roll News is a newsletter for members of the Homerton Roll. It concentrates on news sent in by members of the Roll, news about Branches and reports of the Reunion. It includes death notices and obituaries. We also welcome longer accounts from Homertonians of their work, travels, publications, awards and achievements. The Editor, Dr Janet Bottoms, really does encourage articles under the general heading of ‘After Homerton’. By publishing in November, we are able to include so many more of your updates, and also accounts of the Reunion. The closing date is 30 September. You just have time to include Reunion reminiscences and photographs. Do keep us busy; it is YOUR news. The Roll News is available to purchase and we will send it out to you in November; it is also available on-line at http://www.homerton.cam.ac.uk/ homertonians/rollnews.htm.
Where Are They Now? We do not have the current addresses for about 2000 Roll Members. We publish a list of our ‘lost sheep’ on the Homertonian pages of the College website, at http:// www.homerton.cam.ac.uk/homertonians/ lostsheep.html. They are listed by year of entry to Homerton College. If you know the whereabouts of a contemporary listed, please contact us at roll@homerton.cam.ac.uk.
Roll & Alumni Assistant
Tel: 01223 747270 / 747280 Email: roll@homerton.cam.ac.uk Website: http://www.homerton.cam.ac.uk/ homertonians/index.html Homertonians can keep in touch with the College on Facebook: become a fan of our alumni page, ‘Homerton College Cambridge Alumni’, and receive updates on latest events and College news.
SURVEY TO MEMBERS We have recently undergone a change in our database and we now share this with the Cambridge University Development Office. In this Royal Charter year we would like to strengthen our links with everyone who has studied at Homerton. The College and the University have teamed up to carry out an extensive survey of what our alumni find important in maintaining their contacts with Homerton. This survey will be sent to you in the coming months. In addition to updating your details, we would like to hear what University or College Societies you were involved in and how you would like to be involved in the College in the future.
JOHN HAMMOND MEMORIAL EVENT The Reunion programme this year includes a Memorial event for John Hammond, former Keeper of the Roll and Emeritus Fellow, who died in December 2009. Many of you will know John from his constant presence at the Roll Reunion weekend, even after he had retired as Keeper of the Roll. A Memorial event is planned on Sunday 26th September. As we go to press we are unsure of the details. If you would like to attend this event, do please let us know your email address and we will keep you informed of the details. Please indicate your likely attendance in the box provided. roll@homerton.cam.ac.uk
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BRANCH CONTACTS AND NEWS During the year, there are groups of Homertonians meeting together around the country. So if you are unable to make it to the Cambridge Reunion, you may find that there is an active group near you. Each group has a local secretary/organiser. Cambridge
Anthea Wicks – 01223 234706 wicks.hmc.eeur@lineone.net London
Erica Hirsch – 0208 941 1084 ericahirsch@hotmail.com Jean Carnall – 0208 788 0118 jdcarnall@tiscali.co.uk Manchester
Margaret Blott – 01745 570913 mblott_8@yahoo.co.uk Newcastle
Elise Wylie – 01914 885106 elise.wylie@gmail.com
Details will be circulated early in the summer term and we look forward to as many as possible joining us. Erica Hirsch (née Straw) 1965–1968
Jean Carnall (née Barrie) 1966–1969
London Branch As well as events celebrating the University’s 800th anniversary, the London Rollers have met twice during the past year. Excellent museum visits to Sir John Soane’s and the British Museum sandwiched between lunch and tea proved highly successful. It was good to have such a large turnout with many members joining us for the first time. Once again Dr Peter Warner was able to provide us with such interesting insights into the museums over lunch and we were delighted that he was able to join us.
Oxford
Dr Dorothy Evans – 01865 240209 fidevans@talktalk.net Wessex
Coral Harrow – 01258 820517 coralharrow@waitrose.com Yorkshire/Derbyshire
Chris Cox – 01142 314488 c.j.cox@sheffield.ac.uk
Cambridge Area Homertonians We are pleased to have around forty Homertonians in our Cambridge group. Members have enjoyed termly meetings in each others’ homes and gardens sometimes for lunch, coffee or time with a visiting speaker. We are considering holding an evening meeting in the Summer term to enable those working full-time to join us. Notices will be sent out giving dates of future meetings and these will also be on the web site. The next meeting will be on Wednesday, 31st March in the afternoon at my home. New members are very welcome. Anthea Wicks (née Pearey) 1958–1960
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Manchester Homertonians At the AGM in October 2009 the Branch presented a picture of Homerton in the snow to Margaret Mackie in celebration of her 90th birthday. (Not that you’d ever guess her age if you met her!) The weather forced us to cancel our January luncheon but we shall hold it on Saturday, 17th April 2010 at the Cathedral Visitor Centre. Mr Steve Watts, College Fellow and Admissions Tutor, will be our honoured guest. The son of a Homertonian brought us a beautiful picture of College which had belonged to his mother, Ruby Talbot, (Smith 1938–40). We decided that the President should have it during her year of office so that it would stay within the Branch. So Sheila Duncan (1951–1953) will have the pleasure of caring for it until the next AGM. Margaret Blott (née Davies)
A few of us braved the rain for preChristmas tea at the Foundling Museum café which proved a delightful venue. We then moved to the Crusting Pipe in Covent Garden for our pre-Christmas drinks where the uninviting weather perhaps explained the much lower than usual turnout. The mulled wine proved most welcome as we enjoyed lively conversation and an excellent meal. We plan to put the meeting back until after Christmas this year and hope that the date will be much more convenient for everyone. With over 90 members on our lists we can only keep in touch by e-mail so do please make sure that we always have an up to date e-mail address. Plans for our summer event, in June this year, are in hand, together with a special celebration in the autumn to mark the college’s new status as a full member of the university.
1949–1951
Newcastle upon Tyne Branch The North East group continues to meet twice yearly. We are very much looking forward to our Spring meeting at the home of Mary Dowse. Dr Ian Morrison, Keeper of the Roll, is very kindly visiting us and and will be enlightening us on Homerton’s activities and progress. Later we will take lunch at the Badger Inn, Ponteland. During that day we will make arrangements for the Autumn meeting. Hopefully the Theatre Royal will figure in our plans for that occasion. There will be many other opportunies for visits to wonderful venues in the wider area. The Northumbrian Cambridge Association was able to contact Cambridge alumni in
2009, including many members of the Homerton group. This has increased their membership to about 250 people and widened its age spectrum. I was fortunate to attend their Spring walk and a Summer cruise up the bracing river Tyne. There was a wonderful jazz band from the University of Newcastle and an excellent meal. The programme for 2010 looks splendid. We would very much welcome new members to our very friendly and hospitable group. Elise Wylie (née Wood) 1958–1960
Oxford Branch The members of the Oxford Homerton Branch continue to thoroughly enjoy each meeting. We are always pleased to welcome friends and, of course, visitors from other branches. During 2010, we plan to have our usual three meetings, in which we have opportunity to socialise with each other, to visit specific places of interest, or to welcome speakers to our meetings at the lovely home of our member Sonia Hewitt, and her husband Ron, at Toot Baldon, near Oxford. Our plans for 2010 included a talk in March by Dr Peter Warner which bought us up to date with news of Homerton – very much appreciated by all of us. In May, we are going to have a visit to the newlyreopened Ashmolean Museum in Oxford. Further possible plans for the future include a visit to the Bodleian Library to be conducted by Peter, the husband of our member, Christine Jackson; a visit to Cheltenham, hosted by our member, Alison Hall, to include a visit to the Holst Museum; a visit to Abingdon to make a tour of the Alms Houses; and, on one of our social occasions, to have a talk given by a friend of our member, Muriel Fraser.
So, our programme is a very interesting and enjoyable one and we are always delighted to welcome ex-Homertonians and their relatives or friends to any of them. Our own members come to enjoy meetings whenever they can, many of them still being occupied with their full-time posts or their family commitments! Homerton ensured that we all became very active people! It has been a good year for us and we look forward to a similar type of programme for each year. If you would like to visit us – and even to join us! – please contact either Mrs Sonia Hewitt, (at The Manor House, Toot Baldon, Oxford OX44 9NG, Tel: 01865 343398) or Dr Dorothy Evans, (Flat 8, Diamond Court, 153 Banbury Road, Summertown, Oxford OX2 7AA; Tel: 01865 515341). Dr Dorothy Evans 1945–1947
Yorkshire and Derbyshire Branch Over the first year since it was re-formed, the Yorkshire and Derbyshire Branch has swelled to a membership of nearly thirty ex-Homertonians, spanning a total of seven different decades. Our meetings to date have thus been a very interesting mixture of reminiscences. 2010 should see a further three outings across the region, starting with a rescheduled guided tour of York Minster (and then lunch/shopping) in early Spring, with further events to come in better weather. Last summer’s meeting in the grounds and restaurant of Chatsworth House was particularly well attended, and a fun day out for us all, basking in the fine weather and beautiful surroundings.
If there’s a venue near you that you’d like the Branch to visit, let us know. If you’d like to join the e-mailing group, just to keep up with what we’re up to next, you can contact the Branch Secretary, Chris Cox, who’ll be happy to talk to you. Chris Cox 1992–1996
Wessex Branch Our news from the Wessex Branch is that we currently have 54 members on our roll. We’ve lost 2 recently, but gained 2 new ones! On 31st October 2009, 25 members of the Wessex Branch met up for lunch at the Monks Yard at Horton Cross near Ilminster in Somerset. This was an interesting place as it’s a farm that has been converted into a stylish restaurant. It was a lovely sunny day and we all enjoyed ourselves.
Wessex Branch gathered in October 2009
On Saturday 20th March 2010 we met up at The King’s Arms in East Stour Common in Dorset, & 31 gathered for an enjoyable lunch & a chat! Dr Ian Morrison joined us to tell us about the Royal Charter and other College News. Coral Harrow (née Hemsley) 1949–1951
CALLING ALL HISTORIANS, AND LANDSCAPE HISTORIANS Although it is some time now since we taught the Landscape History course at Homerton, it still seems to evoke many happy and hilarious memories. Whether stories involving hapless minibus drivers lost on Dartmoor or scary adventures down castle dungeons, when Landscape Historians get together there is usually a ‘Do you remember when...?’ followed by peals of laughter. When I first came to Homerton specifically to teach the Landscape History course in September
1980, it already had something of a reputation under Jack Ravensdale’s tutorage. The balance between scholarship and fieldwork was crucial, and followed very much in the Leicester University tradition of W.G. Hoskins. Being deskbased now and rarely getting the chance to take students out to look at the historic environment, I really miss the practical/ visual dimension that to my mind is such an important stimulus to understanding history ‘all around you’.
So if you did the landscape course and would like to share with me in some very fond memories of the last thirty years, please join me on the Friday or Saturday of the Reunion. We had planned to do a fieldtrip, but it would have been so disruptive to the main event and our glorious charter year, that I had to cancel the minibus! We will save that idea for another year perhaps. Dr Peter Warner Senior Tutor
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HOMERTON ROLL ANNUAL REUNION Friday 24 to Sunday 26 September 2010 SPECIAL ANNIVERSARIES organised for this Reunion
PROGRAMME Friday 24th September 19.30 for 20.00
Dinner in the Great Hall
Please contact the people named below for more information on your Special Reunion this year. If your year is not mentioned and you would like to help organise a Special Reunion, please contact Cathy Bogg on 01223 747280 /747270 or by email at roll@homerton.cam.ac.uk.
Saturday 25th September
DIAMOND GIRLS GOING 1948–1950
Members of the Homerton Roll and their families are invited to visit the College for the day.
DIAMOND GIRLS IN 1950–1952
Special Anniversary groups – meetings independently arranged.
GOLDEN GIRLS GOING 1958–1960
Contact: Elise Wylie (Wood) Tel: 0191 488 5106 Email: elise.wylie@gmail.com & Sue Prideaux (Aldred) Tel: 01823 480736 Email: sj_prideaux@yahoo.co.uk
Contact: Angela Payne (Mortimer) Tel: 01359 244244 Email: angela@mulberry-farm.co.uk
9.30
Registration; Coffee available
11.15
Principal’s Address in the Auditorium
12.15
Reception, followed by lunch with wine
(approx)
14.00
Tours of the College and Gardens
RSM Annual General Meeting
Dr Peter Warner will give a talk entitled “January 1894 to March 2010 – an illustrated history of Homerton in Cambridge”
15.00
Tours of the College and Gardens
Music
16.15
Tea – open to all attending
19.30 for Saturday Dinner 20.00 The Fellow’s Dining Room (numbers will be limited to 80)
Sunday 26th September 12.00
Memorial event for John Hammond, former Head of Biology, Senior Tutor, Keeper of the Roll and Emeritus Fellow
Please return the booking form and appropriate remittance by Friday 3 September 2010. The University’s Alumni weekend will be held from Friday 24 to Sunday 26 September 2010. A full programme of the University’s events can be obtained from: Cambridge Alumni Relations Office (CARO) 1 Quayside, Bridge Street, Cambridge, CB5 8AB Tel: +44 (0)1223 332288 Email: alumni@foundation.cam.ac.uk http://www.alumni.cam.ac.uk/
GOLDEN GIRLS IN 1960–1963
Contact: Brenda Buchanan (Wade) Tel: 01225 311508 Contact: Dorothy Elven (Kemp) Tel: 01223 324215
40 YEARS ON 1967–1970/71
Contact: Pat Saxton (Hemmings) Tel: 01223 359983 Email: patsaxton8@googlemail.com & Rosemary Thackray (Davies) Tel: 01223 368301 Email: et@ethome.fsnet.co.uk
40 YEARS IN 1970–1973/1974
Please contact Cathy Bogg, Roll & Alumni Assistant Tel: 01223 747280
Special Request 1978–1982
Contact: Vicki Addey (Sutherland) Tel: 01962 884355 Email: Vicki@addey.co.uk
30 YEARS OUT 1976–1980
Contact: Ann Muston (McDonald) Tel: 01223 276412 Email: ann@amuston.com or apm@theleys.net
30 YEARS IN 1980–1984
Please contact Cathy Bogg, Roll & Alumni Assistant Tel: 01223 747280
25 YEARS IN 1985–1989
Contact: Caroline Marcus Tel: 020 7485 4962 Email: caroline@marcusgordon.co.uk
21 YEARS IN 1989–1993
Contact: Andrea Jarman-Peebles (Jarman) Please contact Cathy Bogg, Roll & Alumni Assistant Tel: 01223 747280
HISTORY REUNION
Please contact Cathy Bogg, Roll & Alumni Assistant Tel: 01223 747280 Email: roll@homerton.cam.ac.uk
DATES FOR YOUR DIARY 30 September 2010 55 Copy deadline for the 2010 Homerton Roll News 24 September 2010 55 Annual Reunion Dinner in College 25 September 2010 55 Annual Reunion in College 26 September 2010 55 John Hammond Memorial Event in College November 2010 55 Alumni Formal Hall in College (please see the website for further information) 25 February 2011 55 Recent Leavers’ Dinner in College
February 2011 55 Alumni Formal Hall in College (please see the website for further information) 7 March 2011 55 Items for inclusion in the 2011 Homertonian to be submitted May 2011 55 Cambridge May Event 19 June 2011 55 Event for Younger Alumni in College 30 September 2011 55 Copy deadline for the 2011 Homerton Roll News 23 September 2011 55 Annual Reunion Dinner in College
Data Protection Statement: All information is securely held in the Roll & Alumni Office and will be treated confidentially and with respect for the benefit of the College. All our information is shared with the University Development Office who in turn make information available to the University departments, their office in the United States, recognised alumni societies, sports and other clubs registered with the University, and to agents contracted by the University for purposes directly related to the interests of the University and/or its alumni. Information may be used for direct marketing purposes which include alumni activities, the sending of the Homertonian, notification of alumni events, fundraising and the alumni email forwarding service. This information may be communicated electronically. The information will not be disclosed to external organisations other than those acting as agents for the College. If you do not wish your information to be used in this way please contact the Development & Alumni Office.
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