Letters

Education

It was great to read about the impact of social inequality on educational attainment (School of Thought, CAM 102); it was one of the most stimulating and thought-provoking things I’ve ever read in CAM. Kat Brown puts her finger on the problem when she writes, 'for meaningful change to occur, policies should address the structural reasons that cause some students from lower socio-economic backgrounds to underperform'. It gives the lie to the view that it’s just hard work that counts in education and that it’s all down to the individual’s effort so that people get what they deserve, and clearly highlights the importance of investment and social background, aka class. One might say that this is a conclusion that’s been hiding in plain sight for decades, but it’s good that Cambridge research has backed up what most of us knew all along.

Tim Evans (Fitzwilliam 1983)

The Bumps

Your article on the Bumps (CAM 102) brought back many happy memories. I was a member of the Fitzwilliam 5th boat in the 1973 May Bumps, a scratch crew of first-year friends who had never rowed before. The first day of the Bumps arrived and we had only just arrived at our station when the gun sounded. Eventually we got the boat moving, and with our cox screaming encouragement, we bumped the boat that started five in front of us just before the railway bridge – a double over-bump! As head of the division we went again and were able to catch the boat three in front and bumped right in front of the massed crowds at the Plough. The next three days we got bumps pretty quickly off the start. The oar still hangs in my dining room as a record of our row although the signwriter couldn’t fit all the over-bumps on, so it understates our true achievement.

Peter Mather (Fitzwilliam 1972)

The excellent article on Bumps racing commented: 'The Bumps might seem slightly mad' and this reminds some of us that one mad aspect that added to the excitement has now gone. Before laws banning hand guns were passed, all boat clubs owned .455 Webley revolvers, and bicycling coaches communicated to their racing crews by firing revolver blanks. If a boat went up half a length, one round was fired, then two rounds for a full length, and three for overlapping the boat in front. A frenzied coach wobbling at full speed on a crowded towpath and firing a heavy service revolver was something the old heavies will never forget, and probably accounts for their deafness – and that of many shell-shocked spectators who were closer to the muzzle than we were in the boat.

Andrew MacTavish (Downing 1958) 

Your Bumps article brought back memories. In 1950 there were no Bumps for women but, since the doctor commented on my slow heartbeat, I thought I should try rowing – a sport new to all of us. I rowed Five in the Blue Boat of 1953, and I remember two moments of that day: the elation when we knew we had won, and the pain laughing at the Marx Brothers film later that evening, when I discovered waist muscles, hitherto unknown!

Daphne Pollard (Newnham 1950)

Soundtrack

Although Too Marvellous For Words was a flop theatrically (Soundtrack, CAM 102), it was quite an experience to perform at the Edinburgh Fringe. I was the choreographer (and played various female parts) and attempted to get out of the show before we went up, but a replacement could not be found. The irony is I performed, choreographed or directed almost 20 shows at Cambridge and this was the only one my parents ever saw me in!

Fiona Davidson (Homerton 1981)

My room, your room 

Older alumni of Downing will have been amused to read the article (My room, your room, CAM 102) which refers to two aspects of recent College life: the radiator and the microwave oven. In the winter of 1963, when the Cam froze over (enabling an ice-hockey match between American and Canadian students on the river), my roommate and I had no heating whatsoever in our bedroom on N staircase in Downing. Our bedding was supplemented by the inevitable duffel coat, and microwave ovens were then the subject of development projects in electrical appliance manufacturers.

Roger Payne (Downing 1960)

Kettle’s Yard

In 1954 I was assigned to College digs near Parker’s Piece during my freshman year at Emmanuel. My gloomy bedsitter was dominated by a huge pre-Raphaelite gold-framed print depicting a romantic encounter between a rosy-cheeked shepherd and an equally rosy-cheeked shepherdess at a very convenient stile. Unfortunately, in those days, there was no Kettle’s Yard available, so my only choice was to quickly rotate the Edward Burne-Jones classic to face the wall!

Kenneth Lee (Emmanuel 1954)

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