Tag Archives: downing

Downing Oldies Dinner

Right, that’s it. I’m starting my eighth year at Downing now and even the MCR freshers are starting to look like schoolkids. To celebrate this we had a wine-drinking, ham-eating, grumpy-old-men dinner at Erika’s house, accompanied by some really good chicken and chorizo casserole. Photos are all with the 50mm f/1.8 lens, no time to edit but they look pretty good straight out of the camera.

Fake degree day AD (after downing)

Having received no bribes not to publish, nor any superinjunctions, it’s time to talk about the second half of the MA day.

So reuniting 120 people after 3 years and then giving them near-limitless college own-label wine was never going to end prettily. I’m not saying it ended badly though, as we were whisked back 6 1/2 years to the times when work was forgotten, taxes were things that paid us, dessert was eaten without spoons (thanks Ollie) and wine went down in one gulp (and my word, did this stuff need downing).

Next step – making use of my free termly dinner 🙂

Fake degree day BC (before consumption)

Last Saturday my hard-earned BA disappeared into a puff of latin, to be replaced by that strangest of things, MA (Cantab). It was nice to meet up with people again, especially as our graduation had been fragmented by the 3-year / 4-year course length discrepancies. This was the first time since Matriculation that we’d had the chance to be photographed together, and how some people have changed (or not, surprisingly). Luckily I’ve managed to retain my ability to pull a ridiculous face when trying to smile, ably caught on camera this time round by Dad who was given a crash course in the DSLR and did a sterling job. Hence I present to you the first half of the photos, before the drinking started…

Center Parcs

Following our trip a couple of years ago, thirteen of us returned to Center Parcs last weekend for a heady mix of sport, fresh air and moderate drinking (in some cases). Terrible spelling and  slightly American fakery notwithstanding, Center Parcs is a fantastic place for a weekend. We managed to fit in a high-ropes course, badminton, squash, archery, table tennis, swimming, cycle rides, board games and, just occasionally, sleep.

Here are the highlights: