16th November 2024

Today Gonville and Caius celebrated the benefactors of the college, going right back to the days of Edmund Gonville. The Commemoration of Benefactors started with tea and a talk, followed by a special chapel service and a dinner in hall. I found it interesting to note how many of the original benefactors who were instrumental in founding and funding Gonville and Caius were from Norfolk.

We headed over to Cambridge, I dropped R & luggage off at the Ibis hotel by the Cambridge Railway Station, then parked the car on the Caius playing ground and walked back to the hotel.

We dressed in our glad rags, R was annoyed in that I had not brought the correct dress shirt for my dinner jacket, nor socks. I had on very smart gull designed FatFace socks but R deemed them unsuitable, so passed me the next day’s plain black socks. Oops, not plain black. They had Download logos, so gull socks it was.

Finally dressed, we walked to college for tea, where we met up with Richard & Andrea, before we all we went to the presentation from the architects for Project Agora, the redevelopment of various Caius properties east of Rose Crescent, including the recent purchase of Radcliffe Court. The aim is to renovate the retail space, making it more profitable, and adding in more student accommodation above the shops. There is already some accommodation there which is in use. We were shown a number of ideas. It will be some time and a large fund raising effort before the actual work starts, many retail leases have years to run.

After the talk we headed to chapel for the service where we sang several unknown (to me) hymns, listened to the excellent Caius Choir and prayed. Oh and we thanked the benefactors and admitted a new member to the title of Gonville Fellow Benefactor. The sermon was by His Honour Judge Mark Lucraft KC, the Recorder of London.

Back to the Senior Common Room for some fizz, and then the feast in hall. All four courses had excellent wine pairings, fruit and chocolates. The chef must be congratulated in serving around 180 people with such excellent food. I went for the meat offerings and R the vegetarian. There were five alumni from the 1972 era. I spent most of the time talking with the wife of a 1974 era chap.

Somehow I ended up in R’s bad books again when she suddenly saw streaks of red over my shirt & one cuff. Andrea suggested perhaps I had trailed my cuff in the sweet, with its cherry and espresso gel, and then managed to flick my hand over my chest. Lucky, I said, that I wasn’t wearing a dress shirt!

We didn’t stay long after the meal, just a quick whisky in the Senior Common Room, before catching a bus back to the hotel.

Next morning we met up again with Richard and Andrea for coffee and cake at Harvey Court, Said our adieus and departed homewards.