Lucy Cavendish garden event is bloomin’ marvellous

The taster event was organised to raise awareness of the college – Cambridge’s only college exclusively for women aged 21 and over – and to encourage people to think about returning to higher education.

The five talks, each given by a specialist, looked at the relationship between the garden and art, literature, the Bible, the development of medicine and the law. These sessions were followed by tea and tours of the college gardens led by college gardeners.

Participants included a number of women planning to apply to Lucy Cavendish to take undergraduate and postgraduate courses and those considering a return to education, as well as those keen to dip into some interesting topics and wander through the Lucy Cavendish gardens.

Kevin Levitt, secretary of Bedfordshire Gardens Trust, had come specifically to hear Dr Twigs Way (pictured far left) talk on the symbolism of the garden in art. “It was also a great chance to hear about other aspects of the garden and to see the gardens of a Cambridge college I’ve never visited before,” he said.

Also keen to delve into new aspects of the garden was Liz Perrett (centre), who said she was “newly retired and happily obsessed with gardening”. “I was thrilled to bits to find this event right on the doorstep as often you have to go quite a distance to attend talks on garden history and so on.”

Alison Heyn (right), who is PA to the Registrary of the University of Cambridge, said that the event was “an inspiration and a treat” as she had recently become interested in gardening and had just acquired an allotment.

Lottie Hanfling, who teaches maths at Hills Road Sixth-Form College, described the event as a “lovely way to spend a Saturday afternoon”. She was there with Brenda Purkiss, Assistant Registrary at the University’s School of Clinical Medicine and a Commoner Fellow at Lucy Cavendish.

Cambridge resident Richard Cook said that the word “garden” had drawn him to the talks. “When I was younger I couldn’t see the point of nature – I was interested in cars and planes – but now nature pleases me more than anything else and I never miss an opportunity to visit a garden.”

“I just love learning new things and have an emerging interest in gardening. It’s brilliant that something like this is free and open to everyone,” added Tamsin Knight, who lives in Cambridge and works for Phytopharm.

Jane McLarty, Lucy Cavendish admissions tutor, who had organised the event, said: “I was delighted with the turn-out, and people said they enjoyed the sheer variety of talks and different approaches to the theme and the wide range of interests represented.”

“We hope the afternoon gave a glimpse of how rewarding it would be to study at Lucy Cavendish where we believe in giving women the chance to study at Cambridge University at a time in their lives that suits them.”

The next taster day at Lucy Cavendish, which will focus on the study of English Literature, will take place on Wednesday, 17 June, 1 pm to 5.15 pm. For details click here