Friday, 26 July 2019
Skipinnish come to Kings Lynn
Last Friday, Harriet and I went to Kings Lynn for a concert by Skipinnish - a band who play Scottish traditional music with a modern twist. We discovered Skipinnish when visiting Islay a couple of years ago (buying our first CD from the butcher's shop in Bowmore, of all places) and have been hooked ever since. The concert was huge fun, and the band were on top form. It's not often that they come south of the border - especially to deepest Norfolk - but we'll certainly go and see them again if the opportunity arises. In the meantime we'll just have to make do with singing along while heading back to Scotland in three weeks time.
Wednesday, 10 July 2019
Girton at 150
At the end of June, Girton College celebrated its 150th birthday with a weekend festival of events. I spent the Sunday at the festival with Harriet, listening to the talks and taking a few pictures.
The first event I attended was by Clive Oppenheimer, Professor of Volcanology at the University Geography Department (i.e. one of Harriet's colleagues). The talk concentrated on his collaboration with Werner Herzog in the making of Into the Inferno - a film about volcanos commissioned by Netflix.
The main hall on the college had been decorated with bicycles covered in garlands of flowers, and very good it looked too.
The final talk I attended related to two Greenland expeditions, over thirty years apart. The first, run jointly by Cambridge University and Imperial College London in 1963, managed to climb - and name - many of the mountains on the Stauning Alps. One of the peaks was named after Girton, and a second expedition from the college in 1998 set out to re-visit it. The two speakers were Professor Mike Graham and Dr Fiona Cooke, who were on the first and second expeditions respectively.
Avid readers of this blog (are there any?) will remember my adventures a few weeks ago, re-photographing the images to be used in the "Girton Peak" talks.
The first event I attended was by Clive Oppenheimer, Professor of Volcanology at the University Geography Department (i.e. one of Harriet's colleagues). The talk concentrated on his collaboration with Werner Herzog in the making of Into the Inferno - a film about volcanos commissioned by Netflix.
The main hall on the college had been decorated with bicycles covered in garlands of flowers, and very good it looked too.
While 2019 is the 150th anniversary of the college's foundation, it's also the 40th anniversary of admitting men as undergraduates. I remember this event very well as it happened during my third year at Downing college, and I knew several of the male "pioneers". Dr Roland Randall - another colleague of Harriet's - was one of the first male fellows at the college, and he chaired a fascinating discussion about the trials and tribulations of an institution becoming co-educational. Incidentally, Downing went co-ed in 1980, the year after I graduated, so I missed all the fun.
The final talk I attended related to two Greenland expeditions, over thirty years apart. The first, run jointly by Cambridge University and Imperial College London in 1963, managed to climb - and name - many of the mountains on the Stauning Alps. One of the peaks was named after Girton, and a second expedition from the college in 1998 set out to re-visit it. The two speakers were Professor Mike Graham and Dr Fiona Cooke, who were on the first and second expeditions respectively.
Avid readers of this blog (are there any?) will remember my adventures a few weeks ago, re-photographing the images to be used in the "Girton Peak" talks.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)