JESUS NEWS 2021 450th Anniversary Issue - Jesus College, Oxford
←
→
Page content transcription
If your browser does not render page correctly, please read the page content below
JESUS NEWS 450th Anniversary Issue 2021
Contents
Welcome from the Principal 1
Fellows on the Front Line 2
The Ocean & Me 12
450 Years in 12 Objects 16
An Interview with Francesca Simon 19
A Day in the Life of Kirsty McCabe 23
Private Passions: Trainspotting 26
Beth sy’n Gwneud Coleg? 30
Love Letters to College 34
Escape to… Jamaica 60
Sport at Jesus 66
Welcome our new Chaplain 68
Development Update 70
Access During the Pandemic 72
Shakespeare Access & Outreach Project 74
Celebrating the Elizabethan College 76
Forthcoming Events 81
Your copy of Jesus News includes
a commemorative fridge magnet in
celebration of the College’s 450th
anniversary. With thanks to alumnus and
Campaign Board member Paul Bostock
(1978, Physics) and his wife Sylvia
(see p. 60).
Follow us on…
@jesus.alumni
@jesuscollegeoxford
Jesus College Oxford
@JesusOxford
Welcome from the Principal
Professor Sir Nigel Shadbolt FRS FREng FBCS
Reading the Betting Book in the SCR the other day, our Fellows in Regenerative Medicine (p.2) as their
my eye was drawn to a wager made at the start of important work promises a way to repair damage
World War I. A Jesus Fellow confidently bet on a inflicted by disease.
version of “it will all be over by Christmas”. Our
We read about the Oxford Anthroposea Sailing
academic year – and our 450th – began with a hope
Project (p.12) with Arzucan Nur Askin describing
that we could resume many of the normal patterns
her interdisciplinary expedition examining human
that define life at Jesus College.
connections to the sea, and highlighting global marine
In October we welcomed Freshers, although they issues facing our coastlines.
were confined to “family households”, there was
This issue contains the lovely poem by Ll ^yr Gwyn
social distancing, no large events, and we exerted
Lewis, Beth sy’n Gwneud Coleg? (What makes a College?)
extreme caution for the safety of those in our own
(p.30), which was read by Llewelyn Hopwood at our
and the wider community. As a result, we had very few
450th Commemoration Service held on 27th June at
cases of COVID-19 in College, and teaching, tutorials,
St Mary’s Church, admirably led by our new Chaplain,
assessments continued. But nature finds a way: it wasn’t
Chris Dingwall-Jones.
all over by Christmas for us either. Lockdown followed
lockdown as wave followed wave, disrupting this Horrid Henry’s creator Francesca Simon recounts a
academic year more profoundly than last. decidedly mixed experience of College in the ‘70s
(p.19), and Kirsty McCabe relays her passion for science
We have missed so much: magical musical soirées
communication (p.23). Bill Parker reveals his own
in the Lodgings, College Gaudies, matriculations and
private passions in Confessions of a Train Spotter (p.26).
graduations. Sports and extracurricular activities have
been particularly hard hit – all the more impressive As befits the Elizabethan College we report on an
then that we should have a report on what was exciting new Jesus College Shakespeare Project (p.74)
possible (p.66). We did, finally, manage to have some and hear about our digital exhibition 450 Years in
outdoor gatherings for Freshers and Finalists, with Bev 12 Objects (p.16), curated by experts and led by Paulina
and I meeting many students for the first time in June. Kewes and College Archivist Robin Darwall-Smith.
The challenges and tragedies of the pandemic have Paul and Sylvia Bostock introduce us to their wonderful
affected us all, and I have been touched by the many home in Jamaica (p.60). Thanks also to Paul who has
messages of support from our alumni and supporters; supplied a 450th memento to accompany each copy of
we have been tempered and strengthened by facing the magazine.
them together. Nothing represents this better than
Our remarkable Access Team describes how their
the response to our 450th anniversary. It has been
work has been changed by the pandemic to reach
a busy year – not exactly what we imagined – and
even larger audiences as everything has become virtual
a huge credit to the Development Team. This
(p.72).
450th anniversary issue of Jesus News is a wonderful
affirmation of the College’s spirit as it celebrates past, The pandemic has changed so much, and there will
present, and potential future accomplishments. be many lessons to learn about education and how
we teach. I am leading the University Working Group
Look no further than Love Letters to College
developing its next Digital Educational Strategy. Whilst
(p.34). What a trove of friendships made, passions
recognising the power and reach of new technologies,
pursued, and a reasonable amount of youthful
we also understand the importance of face to face
transgression! In these letters you will discover
instruction, mentoring and tuition. It is the essential
Jesusfreundschaftsausdehnungswirkung – a linguistic
ingredient in the tutorial model that underpins an
confection capturing the ripple effect of the Jesus
Oxford education.
community – rounded off with David Newbold’s
Alumni Love Song (p.59).
Whilst Oxford research has helped vaccinate the
world, we read of the exciting developments of
1
2
Fellows on the Front Line
A world first in developmental
and regenerative research
A conversation between two Opening in early 2022, the £35m
Jesus Professorial Fellows was MS-Tetsuya Nakamura Building at
the serendipitous catalyst for Headington’s Old Road campus will
the foundation of the Institute of be home to the new Institute of
Developmental and Regenerative Developmental and Regenerative
Medicine (IDRM), a collaborative Medicine (IDRM). In all, over
world first that will bring together 240 researchers – experts in
hundreds of renowned experts congenital diseases affecting the
from around the globe to harness cardiovascular, the nervous and
and share common approaches to the immune systems, regenerative
advancing research into the heart, medicine, and tissue engineering
brain and immune system. – will address human diseases
affecting these three tissues within
During that first meeting in the
the body. They will study how
Jesus SCR in April 2012, Professors
these organs are normally formed
Georg Holländer and Paul Riley
and maintained, and identify the
discussed the gap between
molecular and cellular mechanisms
developmental biology as it relates
that cause birth defects, including
to medicine and, explored their
congenital heart disease, and
common interests. Holländer
defects in the immune and nervous
(Head of Oxford’s Paediatrics
systems.
department, and Hoffmann and
Action Medical Research Professor With Jesus Tutorial Fellow
of Developmental Medicine), in Medicine and Professor of
and Riley (Chair of Development Developmental Biology Shankar
and Cell Biology in Physiology, Srinivas, Riley and Holländer will
Anatomy & Genetics, and British lead research groups on cell and
Heart Foundation Professor of tissue movement, cardiovascular
Regenerative Medicine) developed development and regeneration,
a plan to extend the initial concept and thymus development and
of an Institute of developmental regeneration, respectively. It is
medicine to include a logical hoped that their collaboration will
second focus: from understanding enable them to understand the
the molecular and cellular basis of cellular and molecular control of
organ development to applying that normal human development, and to
knowledge to regeneration. They harness this knowledge to identify
left that meeting entirely oblivious the pathogenesis of diseases and
to how much time and work it design novel therapies that will
would require to see their ideas correct birth defects and repair
grow from inception to Institute, adult organs.
yet the time taken to realise those
ambitions is impressively short
when compared with other Oxford
projects of similar scope.
Lymphatic endothelial cells as
spheroids undergoing sprouting
(lymphangiogenesis) upon stimulation
with drugs.
3
Professor Paul Riley
Paul Riley. Photo courtesy of the British Heart Foundation
Paul Riley is a British Heart Foundation Professor of Regenerative
Medicine and Chair of Development and Cell Biology within the
Department of Physiology Anatomy & Genetics. He is also Director
of the BHF Oxbridge Centre for Regenerative Medicine and inaugural
Director of the Institute of Developmental & Regenerative Medicine. He
was formerly Professor of Molecular Cardiology at the UCL Institute of
Child Health, London, obtaining his PhD at UCL and completing post-
doctoral fellowships in Toronto and Oxford. In 2008, he was awarded an
Outstanding Achievement Award by the European Society of Cardiology,
and was elected as a Fellow of the Academy of Medical Sciences in 2014.
Cardiovascular development and regeneration
Cardiovascular research at IDRM will examine the genetic basis and
environmental modulation of the mechanisms that control normal
cardiac development in the embryo, to both inform on congenital heart
disease, and mark the potential of multipotent cardiovascular progenitor
cells in the adult heart capable of initiating repair following ischaemic
injury and acute myocardial infarction (or “heart attack”). Combining
restoration of lost cell types after a heart attack with immuno-
conditioning of the local injury environment will provide a holistic
approach to regenerating the injured heart and preventing the onset of
heart failure.
Led by Paul Riley, the cardiovascular research group aims to:
• understand the cellular and molecular pathways underpinning normal
heart development to model congenital heart disease
• reactivate embryonic programmes in endogenous adult cells to
restore lost tissue after a heart attack
• modulate the local injury environment by targeting the immune and
fibrotic responses, to optimise repair and regeneration and prevent
heart failure. Embryonic mouse heart at 18.5 days of
gestation showing the developing cardiac
conduction system (green fibres).
Photo: Judy Sayers (Riley group)
4
Professor Georg Holländer
Georg Holländer. Photo by John Cairns
Georg Holländer is the Hoffmann and Action Medical Children’s Hospital. He divides his work and time
Research Professor of Developmental Medicine between Oxford and Basel, where he supervises
and Head of the Department of Paediatrics at the research on the developmental immunobiology of
University of Oxford. He is also the Director of the the thymus. He received the Fanconi Prize of the
Botnar Research Centre of Child Health in Basel, Swiss Society for Paediatrics in 2009, was elected
Switzerland. Trained in paediatrics and experimental corresponding member of the Swiss Academy of
immunology he has held academic positions at Medical Sciences in 2012, and elected as a Fellow of
Harvard Medical School and Basel University’s the Academy of Medical Sciences.
Thymus development and regeneration
Immunology research at IDRM will focus on Led by Georg Holländer, the developmental
understanding the genetic and epigenetic mechanisms immunology research group aims to:
that dictate the development and function of the
• understand the cellular and molecular pathways
immune system’s competence to efficiently respond
underpinning normal thymic stromal development
to potentially injurious antigens, such as infectious
and hence the conditions that enable the regular
agents, while being immunologically tolerant towards
generation of T cells with a self-tolerant antigen
the body’s own tissues and molecules. Human
receptor repertoire
primary immunodeficiencies are “experiments of
nature” in which this competence is lost due to • use different gene-targeted mouse models that
specific genetic mutations. Elucidating the molecular model human thymus stromal pathologies to
mechanisms responsible for these pathologies decipher the importance of distinct embryonic
provides a rational strategy for new therapies. In programmes in shaping the complexity of the
parallel, inflammation, in response to tissue injury, thymus stromal compartment
will be investigated to advance insights into novel • employ genetic pathways identified to be critical
immunomodulatory therapies prior to, and in during thymus organogenesis to delay the organ’s
parallel with, a cell-based repair of the cardiovascular, postnatal senescence and to rejuvenate its capacity
neurological or immunological systems so that the for normal T cell formation following chemo-
immune system does not mistake normal tissue radiotherapeutic injury
regeneration as a process to respond to with a
destructive immune rejection. • target thymic epithelial cells by different means,
including in vivo methods, to change their genetic
programmes.
6
Epithelial cells in the thymus form a continuous scaffold of supporting stroma cells from the other aspects (cortex) to the inner core of the organ (medulla). Using immunohistochemistry, different epithelial cells in cortex (grey) and medulla (cyan, pink, red, blue) can be distinguished from fibroblasts and vessels (green).
Professor Shankar Srinivas
Shankar Srinivas.
Shankar Srinivas is Professor of molecular genetics of kidney
Developmental Biology and a development. He moved to
Wellcome Senior Investigator at London’s NIMR as an HFSPO
the Department of Physiology Fellow to work on how the head–
Anatomy & Genetics. He is Zeitlyn tail axis is established, where he
Fellow and Tutor in Medicine at pioneered the use of time-lapse
Jesus College. He completed a BSc microscopy to study early post-
in Nizam College in Hyderabad, implantation mouse embryos.
India, and joined New York’s Shankar started his independent
Columbia University where he group at the University of Oxford
received a PhD for work on the in 2004.
Cell and tissue movements that shape the embryo
The trillions of cells of the body Led by Shankar Srinivas, the cell
all arise through the repeated and tissue movement research
division of a single starting cell, the group aims to:
fertilised egg. The shape of our
• understand how the diversity
body, internal organs, and their
of cell types that make up
relative positions is not simply the
the heart arise, and precisely
result of growth in size of a pre-
which cell types give rise to
formed ‘homunculus’, but requires
others during the course of
large-scale coordinated cell and
development
tissue movements. For example,
the region of the embryo that • determine how the heart, the
gives rise to the heart actually first organ to function in the
starts out in front of the region embryo, starts to beat
that forms the brain. Perturbation • understand how the Embryos undergo profound changes in
of this finely choreographed series coordinated cell movements
shape during development, so do not
necessarily resemble the adult form.
of cell movements can lead to that shape the early embryo are Here, twin mouse embryos shortly
profound congenital defects, but controlled.
after implantation have been stained
to reveal different cell types. The cells
little is understood about the coloured cyan give rise to the foetus,
molecular genetic control of this while all the other cells give rise to
tissues that support the development
process. of the foetus. Image: Dr Shifaan
Thowfeequ, Srinivas Group.
89
So, is this the perfect research platforms and mathematical The aim is for the IDRM to become
storm? It is certainly no accident modelling, making it a synergistic an internationally-recognised centre
that three of Jesus College’s fit with the College’s Digital Hub of excellence for developmental
Professorial Fellows are founding – part of the new Northgate biology and regenerative medicine
members of the IDRM project. The development project – and its research, and it’s inevitable that
College has arguably some of the plans for associated studentship the Institute’s research learnings
strongest links with developmental programmes. There is significant will be of significant value to wider
biology across the University, interest from Riley, Holländer and areas of medicine in a post-Covid
with Senior Research Fellows and Srinivas to secure funding for a world. With two thirds of all
Professors Yvonne Jones, Ilan Davis, PhD studentship for a future Jesus deaths globally attributed to non-
Martin Booth and Tutorial Fellow doctoral student to join an IDRM communicable diseases, it is not
Berta Verd each making significant research team; raising funds for unreasonable to say that we are
contributions to award-winning graduate studentships is a priority all stakeholders in the Institute’s
biomedical research. Furthermore, for the College, and it’s a natural mission to use its insights into organ
to achieve its goals, the IDRM step to involve a Jesus DPhil student development and regeneration for
will combine experimental and in cutting-edge research at the the development of new drugs and
computational biology with machine Institute. strategies to treat birth defects and
learning, artificial intelligence acquired disease.
About the Institute
The home of the Institute of The Institute plans to run a interest through its engagement
Developmental and Regenerative weekly seminar series of internal programme, presenting at local
Medicine, the Tetsuya Nakamura and external speakers as well as and national science festivals,
IMS building, was supported by workshops and themed research school visits and hosting tours of
a very generous donation from afternoons with an emphasis on the Institute.
Dr Tetsuya Nakamura, Chief trainee presentations. It will also
Director of Itabashi Medical have capacity to host courses
System Group (IMS-Group), and and conferences. To find out more about the Institute of
substantial fund-raising from the Developmental and Regenerative Medicine, visit:
British Heart Foundation. There are opportunities for www.idrm.ox.ac.uk
transitional Fellows, students To learn more about funding a Jesus DPhil
student associated with the IDRM, please contact
and post-graduates, and the Development Director Brittany Wellner James at
Institute actively invites public E: brittany.wellnerjames@jesus.ox.ac.uk.
10Photo: Brittany Wellner James
The Ocean and Me
Arzucan Nur Askin
(2020, MSc Biodiversity, Conservation & Management)
12Arzucan Nur Askin (2020, MSc spending a lot of time below the
Biodiversity, Conservation and surface.
Management) is a United World
College alumna, Fellow of the Why conservation?
Royal Geographical Society It’s been a complex journey into the
with the Institute of British conservation world, starting with
Geographers, and the newly a transformational scholarship to
appointed 2021 European ROLEX attend the United World College in
Scholar of the Our World- Hong Kong. There, I was provided
Underwater Scholarship Society ®. with my first opportunity to
She is currently studying for an undergo scientific dive training and
MSc in Biodiversity, Conservation monitor the coral reefs that thrive
and Management at Jesus, focusing there together with the WWF
her research on the intersection – and yes, Hong Kong has reefs!
of migratory sharks and human Despite living in polluted, industrial
society with Lisa Wedding’s waters, I was amazed by how these
Seascape Ecology Lab. living creatures seemingly flourished
in such a hostile environment; if
In May 2021, Arzucan led the
we can understand how, then Arzucan Nur Askin.
Oxford Anthroposea Sailing solution I had to work on land, no
we can leverage this information
Expedition, a new interdisciplinary matter how much I loved being in
for other reefs around the world.
expedition examining human the water.
During that time, I also went
connections to the sea, and
to Sipadan Marine Reserve in
highlighting the global marine issues As a result, I studied human
Malaysia to learn how to conduct
facing our local UK coastlines. We geography for my undergraduate
more complex reef surveys. It
caught up with Arzu in April 2021 degree at LSE, focusing on political
was there that my understanding
just before the Expedition set sail. ecology, environmental economics
of marine conservation shifted
and governance, as well as the
Tell us a little about you: where fundamentally after being caught in
intricate connections between
you were born, your childhood the blast of dynamite fishers and
gender and the environment.
and family. feeling the wave of the explosion
Even though the ocean is the
hit our bodies. We saw colourful
My parents are originally from world’s largest and most important
coral species, some of which take
Turkey but moved to Berlin in the ecosystem, covering 70% of our
between 50 to 100 years to grow,
hope of building a new life. I was planet, we barely spoke about
literally shattered into dust and
born and raised landlocked, but like it at the university. Wanting the
hundreds of fish injured around
most immigrant families, we would university’s departments – and
us. While I had always wanted
travel back home every summer. social sciences in general – to
to study marine biology, this
The seagrass meadows, fishing engage more with the oceans,
experience opened my eyes to the
boats and remnants of old ships in I founded the LSE Marine
importance and challenges of socio-
the Mediterranean were my first Society and hosted a series of
economic empowerment, effective
playing ground and later became talks and events to showcase the
monitoring, and community
the source of my passion for the importance of also training lawyers,
management as a vital response to
underwater world. My parents economists, political scientists and
increasingly inequitable suffering
loved the sea as much as I did, anthropologists in “blue thinking”.
of people and wildlife under the
yet they would never swim out of To effectively protect the marine
consequences of failing governance.
their depth. I always wanted to go world these disciplines are critical in
deeper and explore the sea beyond I realised that the problems we face implementing the science produced
what I could do on one breath, at sea, are the result of decisions by biologists and oceanographers.
ultimately learning how to dive and made on land and to be part of the
Through fieldwork and research,
13I came to understand more people’s connection with the ocean Who inspires you?
about how the sea bears witness in a contemporary setting: we There are so many individuals who
to some of the most calamitous are living on an island with a rich do! My mother – who has given
human experiences, such as human maritime history, after all. The aim up so much to enable me to do
trafficking in the fishing sector, the of this expedition is to also highlight all of this – and who relentlessly
ferocity of geopolitical tensions, the importance of the marine supports me even though she
the impact of natural disasters, social sciences in addressing ocean is afraid of the sea. I also deeply
but also the peaceful exchange problems. admire the conservationist and
between disparate regions of the photographer Christine Mittermeier
We will be sailing on Merlin, a
globe through trade. I firmly believe who constantly breaks down
Sigma 41 offshore cruiser-racer and
that the beauty, diversity and barriers as a Latin American
Sail Britain’s beautiful flagship vessel.
intricacy of stories from below the woman in the often highly
It won’t actually be my first journey
surface need to be heard more if Western-dominated conservation
on Merlin, as I sailed her from
we are to mobilise more people, world. She co-founded Sea
Hamburg to the UK to start my
particularly those who do not sail Legacy, a non-profit organisation
degree course at Oxford through
or dive, to care about our marine dedicated to promoting the
an unforgettable two-week, 500
environment. We also need a protection of the world’s oceans
nautical mile journey that enabled
greater understanding of people’s through storytelling and uniquely
me to get here without carbon
relationship with the ocean and of incorporating human stories into
emissions.
more awareness of its cultural value her environmental advocacy.
to society. Because our core crew comprises
women studying Masters’ degrees What’s next for you?
With that in mind, it was while
in the Biodiversity, Conservation If Norway opens its borders this
I was at LSE that I also founded
and Management Programme year, I will be joining Barba’s Arctic
and led what was essentially the
at the Oxford University School Sense expedition from June to
base of the current Anthroposea
of Geography and Environment, October, circumnavigating Svalbard,
expedition; known then as the “LSE
the project also celebrates the an archipelago between mainland
Marine Social Science Expedition”.
centenary of women at Oxford. Norway and the North Pole.
It was essentially a human
With the UN Ocean Decade The expedition will explore the
experiment, where we put social
starting this year as well, 2021 polar Atlantic ecosystem, assess
science students on a boat – many
is an important year for ocean its current health, and highlight
of whom had never been at sea
governance and research conducted its vulnerability to climate change
before – to sail around Scotland and
by women at the University. and pollution. We’ll be researching
put their disciplinary insights into
practice on the water. At the time of writing (April 2021), whale populations, specifically orcas,
we’re hoping for an expedition and it’s a dream come true for me
What is Anthroposea and why is crew of nine, but Covid restrictions as I have long admired the work of
it important? may not permit that. We’ve already Barba’s founder and our Captain,
Anthroposea is the continuation had over 50 applications to join the Andreas B. Heide.
and expansion of this project. With expedition from brilliant marine Then I will embark on one year of
the Covid-19 pandemic impacting social science researchers across intensive training in conservation
travel abroad, we decided to focus all departments. As we can’t take technologies, technical diving,
this year’s expedition on the global everyone on board unfortunately, underwater photography
issues we’re facing on our local we’re now forming a separate and filmmaking and science
UK shorelines: species extinction, community that will keep the communication with a scholarship
marine plastic pollution, rising sea conversation going on land through from OWUSS.
levels. We want to turn our boat discussion groups, panels, and a
into a floating ocean think tank and separate ocean hub. Despite spending the majority of
storytelling platform to examine my studies locked in my room
14in Oxford and not seeing the ocean,
I am incredibly excited to be here
and am deeply inspired by my peers
and the degree programme, which
has provided me with valuable
insights into terrestrial conservation
that can be applied at sea. I want
to continue to push the boundaries
as a diver, scientist and ocean
researcher and, looking to the
future, my goal is to have my own
boat and run my own expeditions
examining the intersection of
oceans and society.
Ultimately, I dream of a life at
sea and a career dedicated to
interdisciplinary research that
contributes to the protection
of our global oceans and the
livelihoods that depend on a healthy
underwater world.
The Oxford Anthroposea Expedition:
www.anthroposea.com/the-expedition
Barba’s Arctic Sense 2021 Expedition:
barba.no/expeditions/arctic-sense-2021/
15450 Years in 12 Objects
A digital exhibition, curated by a range of exper ts led by Paulina Kewes
and College Archivist Robin Darwall-Smith, is celebrating a landmark
anniversary of the foundation of Jesus College.
Every month throughout 2021,
our 450th anniversary year,
the digital exhibition 12 Objects
reveals an item from the College’s
collections – a manuscript, a
book, a punchbowl. Images of The first Charter of 1571.
these objects are accompanied
by brief descriptions and links
to films which tell their stories.
Among the presenters are current
and Emeritus Fellows, lecturers,
alumni, members of staff, and our
archivist Robin Darwall-Smith,
who has been a leading light of this
enterprise.
Our series does not aim to be a
comprehensive history of Jesus
College. Rather, it offers glimpses
into our past, our present, and
our aspirations for the future. Nor
does it, strictly speaking, showcase
just twelve objects. There is, for
example, the case of the two
Charles I’s watch c.1630.
foundation charters, as explained
by Professor Norman Jones, former In #2: Charles I’s Watch, introduced to the Fellows’ Library,
Visiting Senior Research Fellow. Dr Felicity Heal, former Tutorial a fine space used extensively in
The first Charter of 1571, which Fellow in History, also discusses teaching, research, and access, by
side-lined our true founder Hugh a mourning ring with the king’s our Librarian Owen McKnight.
Price by proclaiming Jesus College likeness: both items were Then, we hear from Professor
to be of ‘Quene Elizabethes bequeathed to the College by Susan Doran (Senior Research
foundation’, was soon superseded former Principal, eminent lawyer Fellow in History) and Professor
by a second Charter issued in and diplomat, Sir Leoline Jenkins. Paulina Kewes (Tutorial Fellow in
1589 which sports an infinitely English Literature) about several
finer picture of the Queen than its #5: The Works of King James
early modern printed books the
predecessor. I offers three, or maybe even
Library houses, from King James’s
five, objects in one. We are
folio Works (1616) and folios of
16Ben Jonson (1616) and Shakespeare We had a long-list of candidates for But others were more debateable.
(1632) to the History of King Henry inclusion in the exhibition. Some We considered, for example,
VIII (1648) by Henry Herbert Lord were ‘no-brainers’. How could we displaying a set of memorabilia
Cherbury who donated his unique not showcase the first Charter, connected with our 400th
collection of books to the College. the Red Book of Hergest, or #6, anniversary celebrations in 1971.
the Finals dissertation in History, We have photographs of the
Kept in the vaults of the Bodleian
‘The influence of the Crusades on Prince of Wales opening the Old
Library rather than in College,
European military architecture to the Members’ Building and meeting and
#3: the Red Book of Hergest
end of the twelfth century’, by one greeting people in the College; a
(as introduced by Professor
of our most illustrious alumni, T. E. copy of the music commissioned
Thomas Charles Edwards, former
Lawrence (Lawrence of Arabia)? from Peter Maxwell Davies in
Chair of Celtic) is the largest single
medieval manuscript collection of
Welsh literature and history. The
Red Book’s cultural importance is
such that no treatment, whether
academic or popular, of the Welsh
literary tradition could afford to
omit it.
Yet not all the items featured in our
exhibition are ‘treasures’ in terms
of their singularity or monetary
value. We treasure them because
of their association with people or
moments that have an honoured
place in our shared memory and
maintain our sense of being a
collegiate community. Take #4, the
magnificent punchbowl presented
to the College by the eighteenth-
century Welsh magnate and former Red Book of Hergest, c.1400.
student Sir William Watkins Wynn
whose portrait hangs in the Senior
Common Room. Professor Peter
Davidson, Lecturer in English at
Jesus and Senior Research Fellow
of Campion Hall, shows that the
punchbowl documents the strength
of the College’s Welsh connection,
and reminds us of the Stuart-
loyalist and conservative strain in
both Welsh and Oxford politics.
And it is somehow an object, in
its round amplitude, which invites
affection. It epitomises the value of
commensality and the wonderfully
welcoming spirit of the College on
every day of the year – not just as
we celebrate St David’s Day. The Collected Works of James I, 1616.
17honour of the event, and copies of
the script for A Jesus Miscellany, the
play/revue in which Christopher
Muttukumaru (1970, Jurisprudence)
was involved, and images of the
cast and the piece’s author, Douglas
Cleverdon, the radio producer
famous for Dylan Thomas’s Under
Milk Wood, sitting on a bench in
Second Quad. But we judged the
celebration of the 400th a subject
fit for a substantial lecture rather
than a short film. In choosing the
items we were guided by their likely
interest, not only to members of
the College past and present, but
also to the wider public, among
them potential applicants. Over the
coming months, you will see a range
of objects illuminating the ongoing
transformation of the College from
the C20 and into the C21.
To find out more about the
Sir Watkin Williams Wynn Punchbowl, 1732.
12 Objects digital exhibition and for
short films on each object, please
visit: www.jesus.ox.ac.uk/
450th-anniversary/12-objects/
T. E. Lawrence’s History Finals thesis, 1910.
18An Interview with Francesca Simon
(1977, English)
Your tertiary education took work they were doing. At Oxford,
you to Yale and then Jesus everyone bragged about how little
College. How important was work they did. No one wanted to
your time at Jesus, and how talk about their subject, either; it
do you think your Oxford felt like a taboo and bad form.
experience shaped you?
There were huge social hurdles to
When you tell an American you overcome. I had trouble reading
are going to Oxford, it’s like saying people and couldn’t tell if people
you are going to heaven. I’ll be considered me a friend or not. I
honest and say that Oxford in the discovered that British people are
late 1970s wasn’t heavenly. I was more cautious about friendship,
shocked by how conservative it in a way that Americans aren’t.
Francesca Simon read English at was, and how homogenous the I also had to learn that inviting
Jesus College, matriculating in students were – mostly privately someone to tea, and not lunch, was
1977. A medievalist and one-time educated, middle and upper class, the most casual invite. And that
freelance journalist, she is perhaps barely a black or Asian face to people thought nothing of spending
best known as the author of be seen. I felt in some ways that a fortune on drink, but kept their
the award-winning Horrid Henry I was attending a finishing school, rooms unheated to save money.
series of books for children (and where students aspired to be
greatly enjoyed by adults too). exactly like their parents as soon as That said, I never planned to stay in
She has published a range of other possible. There was also a distinctly the UK after Oxford, and yet here
books for early readers and older anti-intellectual attitude. At Yale, I am, so attending a finishing school
children, including The Lost Gods, everyone bragged about how much turned out to be quite helpful
The Sleeping Army, Two Terrible
Vikings, Helping Hercules, and The
Monstrous Child, which she adapted
for opera in collaboration with
composer Gavin Higgins and was
performed during the 2018/19
winter season at the Royal Opera
House.
You were born and raised in the
US, tell us a little about your
childhood and early education
I had a peripatetic childhood, and
attended 10 schools, in New York,
London, Paris and Los Angeles.
My father is a screenwriter and
was writing Judy Garland’s last film
(I Could Go On Singing) which took
us to London and then Paris, where
I learned to speak French. When
I was eight, we moved to Malibu
where I lived for six years. I love the
beach and the sea, but I prefer living
in Europe.
19professionally as well as personally. escape, however. And learning newspapers (Washington Post,
I have lots of dear friends from my to eat a three-course meal in 22 Guardian) and some non-fiction,
Oxford days, including one of my minutes, and not sitting in Hall especially about early American
publishers, Andrew Franklin (Profile where a certain scout always history. I’m a huge fan of Yale
books). Oxford made me Anglo- splashed soup on you. And history professor (and Hamilton
American, and enabled me to I adored the beautiful buildings – specialist) Dr Joanne Freeman, and
straddle both worlds. for someone who loves medieval attend a weekly online American
studies, it was like stepping back history seminar she hosts every
I found my course very difficult (Old
in time. Friday afternoon. I hate reading
and Middle English language and
books online and much prefer print,
literature) as it was so philologically- You describe yourself as a but I do read articles online.
based, and I am much stronger on ‘medievalist’: tell us more.
literature. I was saved by Professor The inevitable one: who was the
I studied Medieval Art and
Eric Stanley, the Rawlinson and inspiration for Horrid Henry
Literature at Yale, and for a while
Bosworth Professor of Old English and also Perfect Peter, or are
I considered doing a PhD in the
who had taught me at Yale, who let they alter egos?
subject. I love the Middle Ages,
me audit his graduate seminars and
especially gothic architecture, and The simple answer is I wanted to
gave me extra tutorials. Eric and I
I have huge sympathy for the urge write comic stories about families
stayed friends until his death at 94
to bring order out of chaos, with where there was a good child
in 2018, and I miss him to this day.
everyone in their little niche. I also and a bad child (i.e. every family).
Any fond (or otherwise) love alliteration, which obviously There was no specific person who
memories of Jesus? influences my writing. And Horrid inspired the stories, apart from
Henry, stripped down to basics, myself: I was perfectly behaved at
A key reason I chose Jesus was
is an alliterative collection of school and less so at home. I also
that it was one of only five mixed
archetypes and humours. There realised a few years after I started
colleges. But when I arrived I was
would have been no Horrid Henry writing the books that Horrid
given rooms on Ship Street, where
if I hadn’t studied Anglo-Saxon and Henry and Perfect Peter are two
seven other Jesus girls lodged, and
the Middle Ages. sides of everyone: the desire to be
it was like being hurled back to
good and to conform; the desire
the 1950s, as the two puritanical What/who do you read to disrupt and go your own way.
scouts who lived on the ground and why? (Authors, news, On one level their sibling rivalry has
floor enforced their own strict magazines, web resources) been going on since Cain and Abel;
rules, utterly at odds with College
A better question would be, what it’s also cathartic to read about a
rules. I was actually reported to
DON’T I read? I’m pretty broad character who never thinks about
the Dean for having a man in my
in my taste, but my favourites consequences but lives entirely in
room (an American friend who
are Victorian novels, especially the moment. Essentially, the books
was visiting). The Dean refused to
Anthony Trollope, who taught are westerns for kids. Horrid Henry
budge about this unfairness (‘It’s not
me most of what I understand is the outlaw we all secretly root for.
Yale or Berkeley here’), and for a
about British society. I also love
time I considered leaving Oxford, as The Horrid Henry series is
modern fiction (Bernardine
the attention to my morals seemed enjoyed by both children and
Evaristo, Amanda Craig, Maggie
to far outweigh the attention to adults alike. When writing the
O’Farrell), and loads of children’s
my academics. Francine Stock was Henry books, do you consider
books for all ages. I have always
also in the nunnery, and I know she your adult audience too?
been a compulsive reader, and I
agrees with me that our oppressive
don’t like being anywhere without Always! I read to my son until he
living arrangements blighted our
a book. That said, lockdown has was 11, and I think shared books
first year.
made concentration harder, so I that both parents and children
I did like my knotted rope fire have found myself reading a lot of enjoy are supremely important.
20Your collaboration with Gavin
Higgins on The Monstrous Child
opera was innovative and well-
received, and another way of
delivering a children’s story to
an adult audience. How did that
come about?
This story is almost too good to
be true: writer gets first opera
commissioned and performed at
the Royal Opera House, Covent
Garden, to rave reviews. But it
really did happen. While I was
writing my young adult novel, The
Monstrous Child, about Hel, the
Norse goddess of the dead, as
an angry, funny teenager, it struck
me that this was a very operatic
subject. Even though I knew almost
nothing about opera. But I knew
opera was about big emotions:
love, hate, death, jealousy, passion,
revenge, which all featured rather
prominently in my book.
Two years earlier I’d had a chance
encounter with John Fulljames, then
Gavin and I love working together, disagree with them, or who hold
associate artistic director of the
and have since written a cantata for opinions they dislike. This has
ROH, and, as it turned out, a big
two singers which will premiere in happened to two writers I know,
Horrid Henry fan. He gave me his
2022. We are also hoping to create who’ve left Twitter because of it.
email and said I should get in touch,
another opera with our wonderful But Twitter can also be an excellent
if I ever had an idea for an opera. I
director, Tim Sheader. place to share ideas, and to connect
thought the chances of that were
with people.
as likely as becoming a football How do you view social media,
commentator, but I kept his details. both as an author and a What’s next for you?
I knew the composer Gavin consumer? Is it a valuable tool I’m writing a new funny series for
Higgins socially, and was a big or just a necessary evil? young readers set in the Viking age
fan of his music, so I sent him I don’t particularly enjoy being my called Two Terrible Vikings, about
the manuscript and asked what own publicity department, but I do riotous Viking twins Hack and
he thought. He loved the novel, enjoy Twitter as a way of praising Whack and their gang of friends:
and said he’d love to compose an books and authors I’ve enjoyed, and Twisty Pants the braggart, Dirty Ulf
opera based on it. We approached keeping up with politics. It’s lovely who hates baths, and Elsa Gold-
the Royal Opera House together, to tweet at an author you don’t Hair, the village goody-goody who
and they commissioned us almost know, especially new authors, to say likes to share. And because they are
immediately. It was quite a fairy how much you’ve liked their book. young Vikings, they can steal boats,
tale, and definitely the best creative What I think is reprehensible are run away to raid neighbouring
experience of my life. I fell in twitter pile-ons, when self-righteous islands, track trolls and rampage in
love with opera, and also with people decide to hurl abuse and the forest. I’m also hoping to write
collaborating, which I didn’t expect. threaten violence to those who another opera.
21A Day in the Life of…
Kirsty McCabe
(1997, MSc Res Earth Sciences), Meteorologist, Columnist, Weather Presenter
Center in Maryland, where I used unsurprisingly I got a wee bit wet!
MAGSAT data to interpret crustal
Meanwhile in my personal life
structures in Australasia, and got
I married Renato, a South African
to grips with driving on the ‘wrong’
architect, and we now have three
side of the road.
children. My eldest, Ethan, arrived
In 1997 I began my research on on Christmas Day 2010, Logan was
environmental magnetism at the born in May 2013, and Ava was
Department of Earth Sciences, born on Valentine’s Day 2018.
studying palaeosols from the Greek
As many working parents will tell
Island of Santorini. I was lucky
you, especially women, I have been
enough to get into Jesus College,
juggling career and family ever since
where I sang in the choir, was
I became a mum. Over the years
president of the MCR (or GCR as it
I’ve taken on various freelance and
was known back then), rowed with
part-time roles at the BBC, Channel
the graduate team, got a green belt
5, The Weather Channel and Sky
in Karate, and made some amazing
Ali Painter, © Sky
News to try and find that elusive
friends for life.
work-life balance. I was the world’s
After College, I switched from first Meteorologist in Residence at
Meteorologist, columnist, and academia to science journalism, the London Marriott Hotel County
Sky News weather presenter working as a sub-editor for New Hall, and regularly write about a
Kirsty McCabe (1997, MSc Res Scientist. It was actually an advert variety of topics from weather to
Earth Sciences) graduated from in the magazine’s job section that parenting for publications such as
the University of Edinburgh with led to me joining the Met Office HuffPost, Junior and BritMums.
a first class honours degree in in 2003, where I dusted off my
thermodynamics textbooks, What motivated you to pursue
Geophysics before undertaking your career?
an internship at NASA’s Goddard qualified as an aviation forecaster
and began my career as a broadcast I was very passionate about
Space Flight Center in Maryland.
meteorologist. the environment when I was
She left College to work for New
younger, but back then there
Scientist, before retraining as a For 5 years I was a core member of
wasn’t the same level of interest
broadcast meteorologist with the the BBC Weather Team, presenting
or opportunities around climate
Met Office. She was nominated for forecasts across the entire range of
science. I loved the real world
a TRIC award for Best Weather BBC television and radio channels,
aspects of Geophysics but most
Presenter in 2011 and is a Fellow of including BBC One’s Countryfile,
of my fellow students ended up
the Royal Meteorological Society. and the all-important shipping
in the oil industry. So I chose to
forecast on Radio 4. I then joined
Tell us a little about yourself come to Oxford, where I could
the world of breakfast telly and
I was born and raised in Kilmarnock analyse ancient soils and decipher
3am alarm calls, as the weather
in southwest Scotland, youngest the climate of the past to help
presenter and environment
daughter of Patrick (a podiatrist) understand what might happen
correspondent for GMTV and ITV.
and Norma (a teacher). An early to our climate in the future. I’m
I produced programme strands
obsession with the environment very excited that COP26 (The
on topics such as flooding and
and how the world works sparked United Nations Climate Change
coastal erosion, and on a lighter
my interest in Geophysics, which Conference) is scheduled to be
note helped celebrities like Kylie
I read as an undergraduate at the held in Glasgow this year. While the
Minogue to do the weather with
University of Edinburgh. I then Earth’s climate has always changed,
me. One time Sooty and Sweep
spent a summer as an intern at we’ve now reached a point where
used water pistols when I said the
NASA’s Goddard Space Flight the dominant cause of the current
word showers during my forecast,
rates of warming is greenhouse gas
23With Sooty and Sweep in the Daybreak studio.
emissions produced through human I have time I’ll do some exercise or head into the studios for 4am.
activity. And now we all need to do I might have lunch with colleagues If I’m producing and only doing
something about it. or friends. It’s great to finally be able voiceovers then I can work from
to meet up in person now we’re home, one benefit of lockdown, so
Describe a regular day, coming out of lockdown. Then I don’t need to get up quite so early
personally before I know it, the children are or even brush my hair.
If I’m not on shift then I’m like most home and chaos returns.
No matter what shift I’m on, the
other parents, and the mornings
And professionally? first thing I need to do is get on
are a whirl of activity sorting out
top of the weather story; in other
breakfasts, school bags and packed These days I’m part of the Sky
words I need to know what’s just
lunches. Then I spend far too much News Weather Team, which
happened, what’s happening now
time repeatedly asking my children involves producing and presenting
and what’s going to happen next.
to please get dressed, brush their live and recorded weather
I’ll look at the synoptic (pressure)
teeth, and put on their socks and broadcasts for TV, radio and digital
charts along with the output from
shoes. Once I’ve walked to and platforms. If I’m on the presenter
various computer models as well as
from school and nursery, I catch shift then I get up very early, do
current weather observations (eg
up on admin at home, both of a my hair and make-up (super quietly
satellite and radar), to see if what’s
domestic and a business variety. If so I don’t wake anyone else) and
24actually happening matches the
forecast.
It’s important that I have the
weather story in my head, as
weather presenters don’t read the
forecast off an autocue. Instead
we ad-lib over the graphics, which
we can only see via monitors in
the studio if we are using a green
screen. How long we talk for can
vary, as weather is often used as a
buffer in a news programme, so a
fixed script just wouldn’t work.
Next it’s time to sort out the
weather graphics. As well as live
weather broadcasts every half hour
on Sky News, there are a host of
recorded forecasts that get used
on multiple platforms. These cover
local, national and international
weather, both short range and Behind the scenes at Sky News.
longer term, as well as air quality, summer, with my husband in charge fascinating people and learned
pollen and even sporting events of keeping the kids out of shot. a lot, both from an educational
like F1. and a personal perspective. At
The children are back at school
In between weather broadcasts, I College, I discovered the beauty of
now, but we’re still trying to find
write articles for the website, post getting up very early to row on the
the right balance between careers
on social media, and contribute to river at sunrise. A useful skill I’ve
and parenting, because everyone’s
editorial discussions in the news transferred to my early presenter
needs change as your children get
room. shifts, especially those where I’m on
older. I have been working part-
location doing an outside broadcast.
time as that worked well for me
With three young children and a But ultimately, the best thing to
with younger children, but now I’m
year of home schooling behind come from my time at Oxford
ready to return to full-time work.
you, how do you and your were the friendships I made that
That’s if I can find the right role that
partner find the right balance have stayed strong all these years.
excites me professionally, but still
between successful careers and
allows for quality time with family What’s next for you?
parenting?
and friends. With hybrid and home
My mother was a teacher so I’ve Who knows?! I’m very aware that
working likely to continue in the
always had a lot of respect for things never stay the same for long
future, I feel more positive about
them, but even more so after in television. I’ve been a STEM
finding that elusive balance.
lockdown! I never want to do home ambassador for a while now, as I
schooling again. It’s not much fun on How did your time at Oxford want to inspire a love of science
very little sleep when you’re trying shape you, both personally and and the environment in the next
to explain fractions and fronted professionally? generation, especially girls. So
adverbials, entertain a pre-schooler I’ll keep doing that, keep doing
I think my time as a postgrad at
who won’t nap, and juggle work. I weather broadcasts, and of course,
Oxford played a pivotal role in my
was presenting the weather on Sky keep learning and communicating
subsequent career choices and
News from my back garden last about our climate.
success in meteorology. I met some
25Private Passions: Confessions of a Train Spotter
Bill Parker, (1966, Geography)
The first steam engines I suppressing any overt enthusiasm
remember were in Canada. Dad for railways. I didn’t join the
taught at McMaster University in railway society despite Jesus
Hamilton in the mid-50s and they legend Johnny G (Classics don
ran on the freight line nearby, John Griffith) being president–
scaring me at first. But the interest and didn’t apply to British Rail’s
took hold after we moved back management programme for
to Brighton. Platforms 1 & 2 the same reason. After staying
extended past the engine shed, on to do post-graduate research
and 11-year-old Bill could admire while my American wife read
the best the Southern Region History at St Anne’s, I left for
Bill Parker in his workshop.
could offer, including the Brighton the USA, developing expertise
Belle and the Brighton Works’ in valuing commercial property
shunter painted in its original which subsequently gave me the
colours. I would take a trolley-bus wherewithal to quit for a few years
after school to the station, where in the early 80s.
a kindly driver gave me my first
The Dean Forest Railway was close
ever footplate ride up platform 2.
to my parents’ house and in 1980 I
Once I was summoned home by
was persuaded to buy an ex-Great
the station announcer, “Master
Western Railway tank engine, no.
Parker’s mother wants him home
5521, built in Swindon in 1927, that
for his supper”.
worked on West Country branch
Mum and Dad took my brother and lines before ending up in the famous
me up to London, spotting with scrapyard at Barry. This was to
swarms of other boys, and at 12 change my life. I was told 5521
Mum let me take the morning train could be running in a year for about
to Southampton, pulled by either £10,000 – in reality it took 27 years
‘Holsworthy’ or ‘Templecombe’, and at least 20 times that – arguably
Brighton regulars, all on my own. 100 times that because it led to
I remember leaning out of the me taking on Swindon Works and
window to see, hear, and smell the finally creating my own.
loco, which literally clanked, and the
DFR did not have the capacity to
yellow china fixtures in the toilet.
overhaul the engine, so I contracted
At the age of 15 I spent a week with British Rail at Swindon to
in Scotland, with thirty bob a repair various parts, and when
night from Dad to spend on B&B, the closure of the works was
saving the lot by sleeping in railway announced I joined a consortium
carriages. I was in search of fast- to keep part running for heritage
disappearing steam, but in reality work, although eventually it was just
I was seeing the world and finding me who shook hands with Steve
adventure, all by myself. Reeves of Tarmac Properties.
By the time I appeared at Jesus Around the same time, over lunch
in 1966 I had worked as a porter at the Four Seasons in New York,
at Oxford station for the best one of my banking clients confided
part of a year, resulting in some that they were eager to finance a
culture shock, and I was very high-value luxury train operation,
L.150 at Bluebell Railway. insecure in my first year or so but couldn’t find anyone with the
27expertise to value it as a going
concern. They could establish the
replacement cost of the carriages,
but not what they could potentially
earn in operation, and thus their
market value. Could I apply the
same techniques used on luxury
hotels for what turned out to be
the Venice Simplon-Orient-Express?
You bet I could!
My partners allowed me to put
the firm’s name on the valuation
for a nominal sum, and so Swindon
Heritage Trust was formed with
money in the bank. With two fellow
trustees, the late Dame Margaret
Weston and Bill Bradshaw (now Lib
Dem transport spokesman Lord
Bradshaw), we started with one
machine in 1987 and in four years
had over a dozen employees.
In 1990 the National Railway En route to Machu Picchu.
Museum in York closed to replace
its roof, and we moved over to don Ernest Paget taught them too) The association with the Orient
make room for many of its crown I met the Princess of Wales, who Express has proved hugely
jewels, including Mallard, the world’s told me that her boys were ‘mad rewarding personally – you can’t
fastest steam engine. Thanks to about trains’ – within weeks Princes value it without sharing the
a Pembroke geographer working William and Harry had their first passenger experience, and with
for British Rail (Jesus Geography footplate ride on a steam engine each refinancing I had to ensure
(GWR City of Truro). standards were being maintained!
Then there was the Royal
When the ‘90s property recession
Scotsman, my absolute favourite.
put paid to Tarmac Properties, I
Then the White Pass and Yukon
was forced to leave Swindon in
Railway, and even the concession
1992 – an awful blow – but was
to operate the Southern Railway
able to open my own workshop
of Peru. Not only have I been to
in the Forest of Dean on 1 July
Machu Picchu on business, but in
1996 and 25 years later I’m still
my own train, even if it only had
running it. Two high points that
four little wheels.
stand out are building a near-exact
working replica of Stephenson’s And what of the steam locomotive
1829 Rocket for the Science that got me so involved? 5521 was
Museum in 2009, and overhauling finally finished in 2007 and went off
and running Metropolitan Railway by sea to Poland, later steaming all
1898 No. 1 through the Circle Line the way across Eastern Europe to
tunnels to Moorgate for London Budapest. We were there when
Underground’s 150th anniversary the Orient Express returned from
A letter from Diana, Princess of Wales, August 1990. in 2013. its annual trip to Istanbul, and
28You can also read
