Trinity Hall, Cambridge

Founded in 1350. A College of the University of Cambridge.

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We have moved!

The Trinity Hall blog has moved to our new website.

Visit us at www.trinhall.cam.ac.uk/news-events for content from around College.

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Trinity Hall travels - Australia and Hong Kong

By Rachelle Stretch, Development Director

Over the past couple of weeks the Master and I have met with over 200 Cambridge alumni in Australia and Hong Kong. We started with a wonderful dinner for Trinity Hall alumni in Perth, kindly hosted by Mladen Ninkov, with an excellent introduction to Australian wines.

Alumni Development Director and the Master in Perth

We may have been greeted by cooler weather in Melbourne but there was a warm welcome. The Master spoke at the Cambridge Society of Victoria's annual black tie dinner. His talk on "College cats and Cambridge eccentricities" drew a record crowd of 150 people and we were pleased to be able to meet with 30 Trinity Hall alumni at drinks beforehand. We were also able to have further discussions to develop links with the law school at the University of Melbourne.

Then it was on to Sydney where we had meetings with several alumni - updating people on news from Trinity Hall and discussing how we can develop College connections overseas. We were privileged to have the amazing Sydney harbour as the backdrop for these meetings. We held a dinner for 20 TH alums on the first night at the RAC and the Master spoke to the Cambridge Society of New South Wales on the second night.

The Master travelling to the annual Hong Kong dinner at the Royal Yacht Club

We then continued onto Hong Kong for our annual visit. We had meetings with the WYNG Foundation and Philomathia Foundation who kindly continue to support the College. We also held a dinner for alumni and friends at the Royal Yacht Club. Thanks to Gail Southward for helping to organise the venue which offered great views of the harbour. We had 31 alumni attend and we were pleased to see many alumni at the dinner for the first time, as well as the regulars partying until late!

As always we are grateful for the warm welcome and hospitality when we travel and we look forward to returning.

There is no rest as we head back to Cambridge: the THA are holding their annual dinner in College tomorrow and then the academic year begins again and we will be welcoming the Freshers into the Trinity Hall community - a community of over 8,000 alumni in 97 countries across the world. We look forward to meeting with more of you next year.

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At the centre of the web - being a Year Rep

By Peter Hill, 1958 Year Rep

Being a Year Rep is enjoyable. You are the spider at the centre of the web. You keep in touch with a far wider range of colleagues than you ever did at university. You get to know the scientists (who I never knew when I was a classicist) and the rowing men (who I never mixed with as a rugby player) and the hearties and public school types (I was an arty and a bluecoat boy). And you find out they are a lot more interesting and friendly than when you were 20. Of course, we have lost a few along the way. Of 123 freshmen in 1958, I am now in contact with 85. Some are lost – missionaries in Africa, army trainees on a one-year course, men who didn’t enjoy their time at the Hall, or who went down early. And I say men, because there weren’t any women in those days. And 30 are dead. That means, as we all approach 80, that 70% of what sociologist might call my ‘cohort’ are still alive. That is good news. Many have been successful in their lives as professors, engineers, politicians or churchmen – we include several QCs and judges, a number of emeritus professors, a retired bishop and the new Lord Speaker of the House of Lords. Several are still active, producing books, conducting research, travelling around. I send out about four newsletters a year, mainly cheery gossip, although one of our number said to me that increasingly he was wary of opening my attachment in case it contained another obituary. But life, miraculously, goes on and all I have to do is to outlive the rest of them!

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65 years and still going strong

By Bob Ely (1950)

Photo: (l-r) Chris Angus, Bob Ely and Colin Hayes

I arrived at the Old House from the Army, National Service. We felt it an advantage to have that bit of maturity and get more out of university. I needed a grant to afford it and got it from my Higher School Certificate results from East Suffolk CC. Fees paid and £225 a year for living! When I said I thought it very generous the Education Officer said, “Mr Ely, we are sending you to Cambridge not a technical college. There will be extracurricular activities, which you will enjoy but which all cost money. Besides, you may wish to keep a bottle of sherry on you sideboard for visitors to your rooms!” What a true concept of education.

As now, it was a small college and thus more intimate than some of our mighty neighbours and more friendly. No ladies of course, so we marched across the court in our dressing gowns to the baths and loos and those of us on higher floors agreed to pee in the sink! We all shared rooms. A few years back I stayed in College, before refurbishment, and was asked what I thought of my room, “fine” I said. “Not a bit primitive?” And then I realised my standards were marginally out of date.

Some famous characters there were. Daddy Dean the Master who called himself an anachronism; Lancelot Fleming, Antarctic explorer and later Bishop of Norwich like our Founder; Tony Tremlett, Chaplain and also later in the same Bishopric! His rooms were a constant source of Nescafé and conversation for all and sundry; and J W C Turner the world’s leading criminal lawyer and Secretary of the University Cricket Club. As  a Life Member I sat on the roof of the Pavilion at Fenners with him during matches and met many famous masters of the game, including Jack Fingleton, Richie Benaud, both Australians and our own Raman Subba Row. In those days, half the Test team were Oxbridge.

But some things have not changed. The wisteria outside my ground floor room on E staircase, punting on the river, hoards of cyclists rushing to lectures, eating in Hall. But the menus are different because those were days of pretty severe rationing! And we had to be in College by midnight and no ladies after 10pm. Girls were scarce, outnumbered 9 to 1 by men. And, contrary to some impressions, we actually worked pretty hard, though perhaps with a broader and more contemplative outlook than the modern world of headlong rush and social pressures allows.

I was a member of the Union and spoke in one debate when Greville Janner was president of the Union. The topic appealed to me and I supported the motion, “This seat of learning needs patching.”

These days I am still in touch with a couple of very old Hall friends and a delightful selection of new ones who have done me the honour of making me an Emeritus member of the THA Committee. In fact, I am still on three committees to keep me out of mischief. And two dining clubs and two lunch clubs, all in London, help keep me in touch with the world. They all help take up my day as does catering for myself and playing croquet with my fellow residents in our supported living complex; a wonderful and beautiful setting for those us of mature years. We are 28 in all; nine nonagenarians and a lady aged 105! I also run an annual lunch for my year with great help from the office.

So you can imagine how I look forward to the THA autumn dinner where I meet so many friends and enjoy greatly the cross generational contact that is so typical of our College.

It’s more than worth the effort of a four hour journey each way and I warmly commend it to all. You will meet so any people who are not strangers but merely, as the Irish put it, friends that you have not met before! www.trinhall.cam.ac.uk/alumni/events

Bob Ely (1950) has been an active member of the Trinity Hall community for over 65 years. He arrived as a student in 1950 and has since volunteered as a Year Rep and member of the Trinity Hall Association, arranging events and keeping alumni connected with College.

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An evening ‘Looking East’ with Susie Fowler-Watt

By Genevieve, Trinity Hall undergraduate

Having a passion for words, sharing stories, and creativity, journalism is always something that has appealed to me from an early age – whether it be through written or spoken word. I had always longed to write stories or poems, and later articles or reviews. Thanks to the opportunities during my second year at university, the possibility of presenting these through TV and film became a potential future career: one that would allow me to share stories and to pass on my passion for words. Keen to see how I could put these practises of writing, planning and presenting into a potential career, I sought some experience in TV and was lucky enough to speak to the Trinity Hall Alumni Office who quickly offered me advice. Not only did they give me websites and possible internship opportunities to seek out but they also put me in contact with a member of our very own College alumni community – Susie Fowler-Watt, journalist at the BBC Look East Studios at Norwich! Just as the Alumni Office at Trinity Hall had lived up to the ‘friendly’ name of our College in their immediate offering of advice and contacts, so was Susie friendly, willing and eager to help me. It was only a couple of days later that we spoke on the phone and she invited me up to shadow her at the studios in Norwich! I couldn’t quite believe my luck!

Located in the heart of the centre, at the Forum, in Norwich, BBC Look East Studios form a vast open-plan area on the second floor of the glass-walled building that looks out over the market and streets below. Susie meets me in the reception and takes me straight up to the huge main room. Desks are formed in little clusters from one end of the office to the next, interdependent, with each existing as a unit yet all collaboratively working as an interwoven whole. At one end Susie showed me the ‘Features’ section, then the ‘Radio’ department, next the ‘Online’ area and finally the ‘TV and News’ department. Although different mediums, each functioning in different ways and with different focuses, all worked under the same big BBC umbrella, borrowing and exchanging materials, stories and documents with each other. Susie described how they all worked together to offer the up-to-date news to the rest of the world, whether this be heard over the radio, seen on TV or on a smart-phone, or read about via social media. The interlinking of all of these different medias enthralled me and encouraged me to draw my own links as to how I could pursue my own career across various mediums, employing several skills and developing new interests.

After showing me around the office, I was introduced to many members of her news team – meeting the producer, specialist editors, film crew, presenters and reporters. I had never known so many roles existed, and not thought about how many people it took to make a single news broadcast! The half an hour show – 6.30pm BBC1 Look East – consisted of a weather reporter, a sports presenter, two show presenters: Susie and Stewart White, as well as other individual presenters who had filmed and pre-edited ‘packages’ to air on the show. And that’s not to mention the behind-the-scenes workers: editors, producers, technicians, camera crew, production assistants, broadcast assistant… I never knew that there was someone sitting in the gallery counting down the seconds for each timed section of the programme; or someone in control of switching through the different screens to show different cameras, or move to pre-recorded and edited packages at the allotted intervals… it was incredible to watch!

As well as meeting everyone, I was privileged to watch the live broadcasting of BBC Look East. We went down to the film studios at 5.45pm, for Susie to get changed and ‘made-up’, ready for her live presenting alongside Stewart. At 6pm we filmed the first instalment: ‘and coming up next in the news at 6.30pm…’ – for this, the technical team let me press the button to put us live on air! I felt so honoured! Then at 6.15pm, the same again, a short snippet showing viewers what to expect on the 6.30pm news.

But in the middle of this, at 6.05pm, only 25 minutes before the live programme, breaking news hit: Alex Neil, manager of Norwich football team had been sacked! All the sports packages were dismissed, the newsroom above me went wild in a flurry of people and paper, rushing around to find evidence, find materials, find news clips to air in time for the live show…satellites were sent out to gather more data and information...interviews came in to be screened…the entire production plan for that evening’s show went ‘out of the window’ as the producer came down to give new orders and instructions that kept changing with new evidence coming in even during the live show at 6.30pm!

With copies of both the initial and adapted production plans in hand, I avidly compared what was going on to what had been pre-organised. Even as the live programme was being filmed and broadcast, things were changing as news items had to be ‘scrapped’, order entirely rearranged, packages dismissed and forgotten about…People rushed in and out with new updates, the counting changed from moment to moment to adapt to a renewed script and yet still keep to the strict time-frame of the programme – down to the very second!

Wow! It was an incredible atmosphere! It was both tense and calm, exciting and under-control at the same time. I absolutely loved the environment of rush and spontaneous adaptation that, to the innocent TV viewer, would go amiss and unnoticed! I had anticipated some of the planning and preparation that Susie had opened my eyes to in the initial introductions, meetings and tours around the newsroom with its members, but for all of this to be thrown upside-down in a moment’s breaking news and things to be rearranged on the spot – it was amazing! What an experience to witness and be a part of it all!

An evening of learning, of news, and of unforeseen drama: my experience at the BBC Look East Studios with Susie is one that I will remember and continue to tell people about for a long while yet. It is also one that has enabled me to learn more about what I really want to do, the career path that I really want to pursue and the areas of possibility that are available for me as an avid story-teller, writer and presenter. This experience has opened my eyes in more ways than one and has enabled me to seek further opportunities and experiences in the world of media, presenting, creative industry, writing and journalism, where I hope to find a successful future! Thank you to Susie and to everyone in the Alumni Office, especially James, for making this happen for me!

Photo by Elliot Brown Creative Commons license 2.0

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Trinity Hall travels - North America East coast

By Rachelle Stretch, Development Director

It was wonderful to return home to Cambridge in the spring sunshine, a victory for the women in the boat race and to a group of students enjoying their conversations with alumni as part of the telethon. This time our travels had taken us to New York and Toronto and I also had the opportunity to meet a TH alumnus in New Orleans last weekend.

Last Wednesday evening began with a panel discussion at Cambridge in America's office marking the achievements of forty years of women at Trinity Hall, Selwyn and Sidney Sussex. Thirty TH alumni and guests then headed to nearby Benoit restaurant for our annual NY dinner. Matriculation years from five decades were represented and as always it was a lively evening.

We battled freezing rain and cancelled flights to eventually arrive in Toronto a day late, but as ever, we were treated with a warm welcome and enjoyed dinner for 20 at the Albany Club; with matric years of attendees spanning six decades!

The following day the Master, Bursar and I were able to attend the annual alumni Varsity ice hockey match. All three of us have dual allegiances so we were content to watch an exciting game whatever the outcome! It was to be a dark blue victory this year and the Master braved stepping out onto the ice to present the trophy. As players went on to the post match reception we headed to the airport for our trip home.

It is always enjoyable to connect with Trinity Hall alumni around the world. Thank you to everyone for making us feel so welcome and to Cambridge in America for their help with our events. We look forward to seeing you in New York next year! In the meantime we will be heading to Paris and Brussels in June and then Australia and Hong Kong in September.

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Telephone Campaign - We’re halfway there

By Genevieve, 2017 caller

Halfway through the Campaign definitely marks a milestone as we sit down for the evening session, determined to keep up the motivation and willpower that we all began with! Things have certainly changed though. To begin with we have been moved around the calling room several times, trying different places, sitting with different people, hearing different conversations and not to mention talking to around a hundred different people on the other end of the phone – and a lot of answer machines in between!

Today I had my fair share of answer machines as call-backs starting coming through, but, nevertheless, I ploughed on, determined to continue and find one person who would answer my call! I did – resulting in several interesting conversations that evening, and many generous donations too!

The conversations that we have range distinctively – from topic and experience as individuals tell of their diverse careers and many memories of life as an undergraduate and life at Trinity Hall especially! So far I have really enjoyed talking to such a wide-range of people, all sharing their different life-stories and interesting experiences and opinions with me! From lawyers to consultants, from engineers to judges, from mining experts to MasterChef winners – it really has been a rollercoaster already! The jobs that Trinity Hall alumni have achieved astound and inspire me as many offer me advice for my own career, giving me ideas for insightful routes to pursue and helpful places to research more information and consider other opportunities.

Furthermore I have loved hearing about each individual’s life as a student at Trinity Hall – be it undergraduate, postgraduate, or both! College has definitely changed over time as older alumni tell me of a time when it was solely male, or when bedders made their beds for them each morning! I hear hilarious tales of breaking into May Balls, of pranks played on friends, and on sneaky attempts to smuggle guests into College – it all sounds like fun and reassures me of one thing, that life here at Trinity Hall has always been an adventure, has always been filled with diverse experiences as well as fantastic achievements, and continues to be a fun and fulfilling place to spend one’s student years!

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Telephone Campaign - A brief rush of sentimentality

By Matt, 2017 caller

This is my fourth year at Trinity Hall and my first Telephone Campaign! It is a special opportunity for me – now in the later stages of my PhD in social psychology –  to contribute towards the profound sense of collegiality that has defined my time here. I originally picked Trinity Hall for its intimate size and strong academic standing, but have since also come to love College for its all-round geniality, candle lit dinners, diverse fellowship and quaint grounds. Through the calling campaign I have met many alumni who share similarly fond sentiments.

For instance, I recently had an enriching conversation with an Australian-based alumnus. He works to translate climate change research insights to the farmers who are affected most. He stressed that climate change effects are often hard to communicate outside because they manifest mostly as changes in the long-run averages in things like rainfall. Then, he passionately told me some of the ways his team used behavioural insights – like framing things in terms of relative risk – to help farmers maintain their yields. As a budding psychologist bent on doing impactful work, his career trajectory and passion helped cement the idea that I too might have an impactful and pro-social career. It was a timely reminder now that I have entered the somewhat myopic ‘write-up’ phase of my PhD.

From there, we spoke about our respective times at Trinity Hall. Despite being years apart we had both lived at Wychfield, sipped coffee in the MCR, and lingered in conversation at the end of countless formal dinners. He told me of the time when Master Lyons (1985-2000) humbly helped a fresher carry her bags through front court, and another when he found himself sitting right beside Stephen Hawking in a lecture! I’d have easily told him about our recent Harry Potter Hall and Master Morris’s lyrical dinnertime addresses, but I was taken with a brief rush of sentimentality.

True, Trinity Hall’s 2017 Telephone Campaign does aim to raise money for pressing philanthropic needs, like student support and outreach. However, it is much more about kindling (and rekindling) the kinds of intergenerational relationships that make collegial Cambridge, and Tit Hall in particular, so special. It is these, as much as any sum raised, that will sustain College now and into the future.

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Telephone Campaign - A touch of déjà vu

By Katie B, 2017 caller

I’m a fourth year MMLer and I’m taking part in the Telephone Campaign this year as a returning caller, having first worked on it as a fresher, and I have been hoping I would be very confident picking up the phone again. I remember in first year I was quite intimidated by the older students working on the Campaign, they seemed to know exactly what they were doing and had a much greater wealth of experiences at Trinity Hall to draw form, and more of an idea where they would be headed after graduation; what sort of career they’d be pursuing; which alum’s path they might be following. It was with this in mind that I felt enthusiastic to face the challenge again, and I’m glad I chose to do so.

It definitely hasn’t been as scary as first year, though not knowing the outcome of each number dialled continues to be a little tense. I’m always hoping to get to know the person on the end of the phone, and hear some intriguing stories of their time at College, and if they are able to support the College that’s an added bonus. Not everyone realises how much money Trinity Hall needs to raise to continue supporting all of its students, and I personally think it’s something that current students need to be made more aware of. Many assume because we are already paying such high tuition fees then everything should be covered! This isn’t the case and besides that, College needs to be able to better support its students that may struggle financially. I think that is the most important aim of the Telephone Campaign, to raise money for student support. I received a bursary in first and second year, so I know how essential they are for students who may otherwise struggle with money. College life here is so busy and demanding, if I had been worrying about money it would have detracted hugely from my experience. With the financial help of the College, we can instead focus on studying and making the most of our time at Trinity Hall through extra-curricular activities and the like. Since I received my bursary, the government has cut maintenance loans, so students need even more support! This issue really needs to be expressed to current and previous students alike, so that we can raise more support for the cause.

It’s been three years since I last took part in the Telephone Campaign, and it’s quite a nostalgic trip to look back over that time, from first year to fourth year at Trinity Hall. In first year, a four year degree (with a year abroad as third year) seemed like it would last forever, of course it’s gone by so quickly. I spent my year abroad in Barcelona and Colombia, desperately trying to improve my Spanish but also just having an amazing time, enjoying a year off from studying and English weather. I’m always eager to talked to ex-MMLers about their years abroad and whether they went off again after they graduated. I’m currently torn between staying in the UK and getting a ‘proper’ job next year, or heading back to Europe for more ‘language practice’. I’m also interested in finding out from alumni what they think of postgraduate study, whether that’s something that has contributed to their career, or if they think it’s unnecessary. Any advice I get is much appreciated and I look forward to asking you about your careers and where life has taken you since your Tit Hall days!

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Telephone Campaign - Phoning for the future

By Genevieve, 2017 caller

Following two days of training – starting with the ideal but elusive ‘perfect call’ and then covering all and any sticky situations that may arise – I wouldn’t be telling the truth if I wasn’t absolutely terrified to begin the actual calling! Although we had gone through many scenarios; practiced and rehearsed many times; done multiple role-plays; repeated different versions of our written and prepared individualised scripts; learnt the overarching narrative framework…I was still a little nervous about speaking on the phone! Yet there was a part of me too, a tiny part, that also couldn’t wait to get started, that anticipated the putting-into-action all of the practice and training that we had gone through over the past 48 hours.

And so it was this, albeit small, part of me that I harnessed when going through the information for my first call. Carefully I read their notes, made my preparatory introduction and dialled their number, waiting with baited breath for an answer. But, alas, no answer came. A mixture of relief and frustration as I tried all other numbers but to similar futile attempt. No one was picking up. Undeterred I moved on, anticipating the next prospect in a similar manner. Yet, again, no luck! After six unanswered calls my nerves strangely seemed to dissipate as I frantically hoped for someone to pick up the phone!

Finally – yes – a voice on the other end! My call had been answered! A nice conversation followed, as I enjoyed talking to her about her year abroad in a patisserie in France, her current business and how it had evolved from her own experiences at Trinity Hall. Discussing Trinity Hall brought us together over the phone as we shared memories of June Events, undergraduate hobbies, friends, and the notorious ‘Vivas’ of Trinity Hall – now in a redesigned and updated bar and under a new name: ‘Crescent Room’. A pleasant conversation yet no donation in conclusion. However, I persisted, reinvigorated at having had a genuinely nice chat, and after a few more calls I hit gold in more ways than one!

My next answer was golden in both senses of the word: a lovely, shining and bright personality greeted me in friendly tones over the phone and concluded in a generous annual donation! Although the donation did boost my spirits considerable as the bottle of wine reached my table (!), it was the conversation that I enjoyed the most! A friendly recent graduate, coming back for his MA Celebration and Reunion this Saturday, shared all his memories and fond happy times at Trinity Hall with me. His involvement in sport, his year abroad, his anecdotal tales of breaking into Johns’ May Ball…making me laugh over the phone as I re-imagined the stories of his undergraduate days – not so long before my own!

It struck me how college memories can bring would-be strangers together, how sharing reminiscences over past university experiences through the mutual lens of college life can enable conversation over any medium and, not for the first time, I thought myself how lucky and privileged I am to be allowed to be a part of this wonderful and unique experience. That, partly, compelled me to take part in the Telethon campaign this year and will definitely motivate me moving forward to trickier calls and stickier situations – as well as pleasant experiences hopefully (!) – to come. Knowing that I am not only ‘phoning for the future’, to enable others to benefit as I have done, but also knowing that I am phoning for myself, phoning as a way to say ‘thank you’ for everything that I have benefitted from. For, although only one day on, the telethon has already enabled me to do this: to secure future aid and to say thank you for the wonderful experiences I have had so far and hope to continue to have here at Trinity Hall!

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Admissions Team visit the South-West

(l-r) Dr Andrew Murray, Dr Stephen Plant, Pauline Kiesow, Dr John Biggins, Martin Walker and Helena Blair at Cheddar Gorge

Hello from Bristol!

I’m Helena, Trinity Hall’s Schools Liaison Officer (a role within the College’s Admissions Team). I’m writing this while on a four-day trip around Bristol and Bath schools talking to teachers and students about applying to Cambridge.

My role at Trinity Hall is focused on helping school and college students make informed decisions and aim high when applying to university. Trinity Hall aims to encourage all potential applicants regardless of background, though a large portion of my work involves running schemes that improve the progression of students from backgrounds with less tradition of studying at Oxford or Cambridge.

Trinity Hall works particularly closely with schools and colleges in Bristol, Bath and North East Somerset, North Somerset, Somerset and South Gloucestershire through the University’s Area Links Scheme – I spend a lot of time in the South-West!

Three weeks ago, I was also accompanied in Somerset by three Trinity Hall Fellows and two PhD students, who delivered subject taster sessions to over 100 16–17 year old students: Dr Andrew Murray delivered a Natural Sciences session on human physiology in extreme environments; Dr Stephen Plant (Theology, Philosophy and Ethics) asked students to consider “Are we making progress?”; Dr John Biggins explored the Physics behind gauss cannons and chain fountains (complete with demonstrations!); Pauline Kiesow’s group of students compared wars across history; and engineer Martin Walker explained multistable structures in nature and engineering.

Dr Stephen Plant at a taster session with students

This was part of the HE+ Somerset programme that we co-coordinate with Cambridge Admissions Office and Somerset schools, which brings highly able students from ten schools together for at least three events over an academic year – two are hosted at a ‘hub school’ in Somerset (Kings of Wessex Academy in Cheddar), and the final is a residential visit to Trinity Hall. Through sustained contact like this, we can help school students learn much more about universities such as Cambridge and Oxford, feel increasingly confident about the prospect of studying there, and become competitive applicants.

We aim to adopt this ‘collaborative programme’ model much more throughout our outreach work. On Wednesday this week, Dr Andrew Murray and I spoke to students from multiple schools in the Bath and North East Somerset region at an ‘Oxbridge Conference’ based at Hayesfield Girls’ School – we typically invite these students on a residential visit to Trinity Hall too – and we’re also looking to establish something similar to HE+ in Bristol. Sustained and intensive outreach programmes make much more difference than one-off events – it’s brilliant to meet so many teachers, academics, students and outreach practitioners who are committed to helping them succeed. We’re all excited to see what difference we can make to improving access to Cambridge and Higher Education in general.

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Trinity Hall travels - Hong Kong and Singapore

By Dr Rachelle Stretch, Development Director

Above (l-r): Dr Andrew Murray (Admissions Tutor), the Revd Dr Jeremy Morris (Master), Dr Rachelle Stretch, Paul ffolkes Davis (Bursar)

September is a busy month for us – two reunions and the THA Dinner in College, Front Court mailed out and our annual trip to Asia. This year we flew to Singapore – it was the first visit there for myself and the Master. The College hadn’t held an event there for a number of years so we were pleased to have the chance to meet with alumni and host a dinner for 36 alumni and friends – including current students and freshers – at the Tanglin Club. Thank you to everyone for welcoming us and to our investment advisers, Leo and Anthonia, who helped with the arrangements for the dinner.

After two days we flew on to Hong Kong, nervously watching to see if Typhoon Meranti might adversely affect our travel and event plans. We arrived safely and, as always, were greeted by generous hospitality. On Thursday we met with another 36 alumni and friends – again including current students and freshers – at the Ladies Recreation Club. Thanks to Jonathan Pyne for hosting. It’s always a lively gathering and yet again Trinity Hall alums were the last ones in the venue.

We are also grateful to Anthony Ng of the WYNG Foundation and Leslie Chung of the Philomathia Foundation for so generously welcoming us to Hong Kong again and their support of the College.

The Master with the WYNG Philomathia student essay contest winners

Our Admissions Tutor, Dr Andrew Murray, had been in Hong Kong all week visiting local schools to dispel myths about applying to Oxbridge. Before our alumni dinner we joined him as he gave a talk to around 100 schoolchildren in Kowloon. During the presentation the Master awarded the 11 finalists of the WYNG-Philomathia essay prize competition with their certificates. There had been over 140 entries this year on the topic of waste. The top six had won the chance to come to Trinity Hall for an open day a few months ago and the others took part in the Cambridge Hong Kong summer school. One of the winners gave a very moving account of her experience of coming to Cambridge and having a supervision on her essay: “it was intimidating at first but very rewarding and helped me develop my thinking”.

We are sorry that travel this year coincided with the mid-autumn festival and meant some people were unable to join us. We hope everyone enjoyed the festivities and that we see you next year!

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Hong Kong summer school

By Dr Thomas Bennett, Research Fellow

Members of Trinity Hall in Hong Kong. Dr Bennett is top row, third from the left.

I took the opportunity to visit the Wuhan University of Technology, Hubei, China, for a few days before the Hong Kong summer school. I have a visiting researcher position there and really enjoy working with the Chinese PhD students.

It's also a fascinating opportunity to gain a much deeper understanding of the Chinese culture and people - I spent about four weeks travelling through China in 2009 and that's where my interest really started.

It did, however, mean that I arrived in Hong Kong late in the evening, ready for a 8am start the following day. I had one intensive weekend course, followed by two the week after - one running from 8.30-11.30am and the other from 12.30-3.30pm for five days.

One of the things I enjoy most (as well as meeting the students and the food!) is meeting those donors who, like us, work to make Trinity Hall better. I particularly enjoyed seeing Leslie Chung and catching up with Anthony Ng!

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Trinity Hall travels - West Coast USA

By Dr Rachelle Stretch, Development Director

The heatwave in the UK almost prepared us for the temperatures on the west coast of the States... but not quite!

The Master, Bursar and I travelled out to California last week for various meetings and events. We started with a day in San Diego to meet friends (above) then took the train to LA where we were pleased to host a dinner for nine alumni and friends. Thanks to Alan Diamond for help in selecting a venue and advice on where to stay, as it was the Master's and my first trip to LA.

I then flew on to San Francisco for a drinks reception for 20 alumni, with matric years spanning 1957 to 2004. Thanks to Roderick Jones for organising the venue in a club with a fabulous view of Coit Tower.

I then went on to Las Vegas for a few days holiday - as a geographer, seeing the Grand Canyon had always been on my to do list! It was great to also have the chance to meet our one alum currently in Vegas.

Thanks to everyone for their warm welcome on our travels as always. In six weeks we will be in Hong Kong and Singapore and then back to the States next spring. We hope to see some of you there!

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Trinity Hall travels - East Coast USA

By Dr Rachelle Stretch, Development Director

It is certainly a contrast from the start of the trip: meeting an alumnus by the turquoise waters of the Caribbean in 30 degrees vs a capital city experiencing 0 degree temperatures thanks to a "clipper" storm. Still at least we have avoided the snow! 

The Master, Bursar and I (pictured above with Dr Nick Guyatt) spent the past week travelling to cities on the east coast of the States meeting with alumni. Before that I had the chance to meet alumni in Miami and the Cayman Islands - hearing how an alum's first journey to Cambridge in the 1940s took 12 days by boat. We hosted drinks events in Boston and also in New York, with thanks to Frank Morgan.

Last night we were joined by Trinity Hall Fellow Nick Guyatt who spoke to 40 Cambridge alumni in Washington DC about "The American Promise" and the Obama Presidency. Thanks to Cambridge in America for their help in hosting the event.

As always we are grateful for the warm welcome we receive from alumni when we travel and we enjoy exchanging stories from across the Atlantic. We look forward to the next trip! (Once we have recovered from American food portion sizes!)

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World famous cosmologist, Professor Stephen Hawking, joined members of the Trinity Hall for the opening of the Stephen Hawking  Room

World famous cosmologist, Professor Stephen Hawking, joined members of the College for the opening of the Stephen Hawking room on Saturday 17th October. The seminar room is a ground floor room on "P" staircase, overlooking the iconic Latham Lawn which leads to the river terrace.

Stephen was pleased to be honoured in this way: "As much as I would like to say that I spent all my early Cambridge research career at Trinity Hall thinking about the universe and everything, I spent some of my time enjoying this beautiful setting by the river. It is therefore a pleasure to be back in my old college and a privilege to have this room overlooking Latham Lawn named in my honour.  I hope that the next generation of cosmologists, and of course other Trinity Hall scholars, gain inspiration from working in this space."

Read more at http://www.trinhall.cam.ac.uk/news/

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Trinity Hall travels - Hong Kong

It has been another busy but enjoyable week for the Trinity Hall team in Hong Kong. Our admissions tutor, Andrew Murray, has spoken with over 1,000 school children across 14 different schools. 

The Master and I have enjoyed having the opportunity to meet with many of our alumni and friends, culminating in the annual Trinity Hall Hong Kong dinner last night (congrats to those who made it through to the survivors photo after midnight!). 

There have been many memorable moments as we are always made to feel so welcome when we visit; but a highlight for me was one of the Essay prize winners talking about her experience of going to Cambridge for a supervision on her essay. Anne spoke so enthusiastically about her visit to the UK and her memorable moment from her visit was the beautiful and peaceful surroundings of Cambridge which she felt must have contributed to the development of the world-changing ideas at the University. Read more about our trip and the essays written by the schoolchildren on our website: www.trinhall.cam.ac.uk Thanks again to everyone who made us feel so welcome on the new Master's first visit, and in particular to the WYNG and Philomathia Foundations for their support. We look forward to seeing you again next September!