750th anniversary news
All photos by Rebecca Scott
Holywell Manor Festival By roBin winKLer (2011) As the graduate students’ contribution to Balliol’s 750th anniversary celebrations, the MCR hosted the first Holywell Manor Festival in late April.
Barney Mayhew
Members of the MCR
over the decades, Holywell manor has been a cherished temporary home to thousands of balliol graduate students, many of whom fondly remember its mix of relaxed domesticity and intellectual stimulation that is so unique in oxford. the festival celebrated not only the achievements of former ‘manorites’ but also the important and often formative role that Holywell manor, as the physical nucleus of balliol’s graduate community, has played in many an old member’s career and life. organised by the graduate students of the mcr, the festival revolved around talks by former balliol women and men with distinguished careers in the very walks of life that exemplify what balliol has long stood for: a rich tradition of charity and public service, a strong presence at the heart of the community, and a good dose of diversity. speakers addressed their audiences on important questions in their respective fields, ranging from climate change, medicine, and the natural sciences to politics, economics, and religion. central to many talks were the questions of how balliol
Professor Tapankumar Raychaudhuri (1953) Musicians Alex Vai (2012) and David Favara (2013)
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floreat d omus balliol c ollege news
has provided its students with much more than just an excellent academic training in the past, and of how the college needs to adapt to maintain its role in the next 750 – or, at any rate, five or so – years. we, the current graduates, felt enormously privileged to spend the day engaging in stimulating and encouraging conversations with former generations of ‘manorites’. we are particularly grateful to our speakers for their generosity with their time: Professor sir george alberti (1956), rabbi lionel blue (1950), Professor roger cashmore cmg (1965), bennett freeman (1979), the rt Hon the earl of gowrie (1959), the rt Hon damian green mP (1974), Jo Johnson mP (1991), Professor dorte rich Jørgensen (1989), sir nicholas Kenyon cbe (1969), martin Kettle (1967), Professor dame frances Kirwan dbe (fellow and tutor in mathematics), charlotte leslie mP (1997), the rt Hon the lord maclennan of rogart Pc (1955), Howard marks (1964), barney mayhew (1983), leif mills cbe (1954), Jonathan moynihan obe (1967), Professor denis noble cbe (emeritus fellow), dr raj Patel (1992), Professor Julian Peto (1964), dr rupert read (1984), neil record (1972), ben rowland (1993), the rt Hon lord Justice thorpe (1957), Professor timothy williamson fba, frse (1973), and Professor the Hon robin wilson (1962). many thanks are also due to the more than 200 college members and alumni who attended the festival and made this event so stimulating and pleasant. thanks to the generosity of the participants, we raised over £1,500 for the charities toynbee Hall (see Floreat Domus 2010, page 18) and students for Haiti.
The Rt Hon the Earl of Gowrie
Leif Mills
Denis Noble