NEWS

Pembroke in our Time: A Portrait of Pembroke College, Cambridge

31 October 2007

Pembroke in our Time in is a lavishly illustrated social history of the Pembroke College experience since the Second World War – recalling memories over the last seven decades from all living generations.

Written and portrayed in such a way as to evoke strong and affectionate feelings about this very special Cambridge College, it looks at how the college has grown – in numbers, in ambition, in international reach. It takes a candid, and not too serious, look at how it works: at its finances, its government, its kitchens, its yearly routines and customs. And at the parts that don’t always work: the occasional row, student rebellion or sporting disaster.

A vital element in the book is the testimony of Masters, Fellows, Members and staff of the College, vividly recalling their experiences of College life – the highs and lows, work and play, sport, music and drama, College characters and personalities, even glimpses of the famous before they were famous.

The College’s Dramatic Society, the Pembroke Players, undoubtedly played a part in shaping the future careers of such famous alumni as Peter Cook, Eric Idle, Tim Brooke-Taylor and Bill Oddie. “I am so grateful to the Pembroke Players for making my working life possible. I got into the Footlights because of the Pembroke Smoker,” says Tim Brooke-Taylor.

Former graduate and President of the Junior Parlour, Peter Taylor, remembers in the 1960s the highly contentious issue of allowing women to dine in the Hall. “On Friday 23 April 1965 Pembroke first opened its doors to women – but only as guests. On a clear summer evening a small group of us, the vanguard of the revolution, made our way into Hall and escorted our partners beneath the august gaze of past Masters of Pembroke. We wondered what they would have thought. Retiring that evening I wrote in my diary the first women to dine in Hall for 618 years.”

In his foreword, Sir Richard Dearlove, Master since 2004 and former head of MI6 comments: “It [Pembroke in our Time] captures successfully the essence of modern Pembroke over a period when it has probably changed more than at any time in its long history. Its pages also help to explain why Pembroke is able to command such loyalty and affection from so many individuals ….”

-ENDS-

NOTES TO EDITORS

Imprint: Third Millennium Publishing

Editors: Colin Gilbraith and Catharine Walston

Publication date: 30th October 2007 / RRP: £45 / ISBN: 978 1 903942 53 6

Specification: Hardback, 192 pages, 280 x 240 mm, over 200 illustrations

For further information contact Michael D Jackson, Marketing Manager, Third Millennium Information Ltd, 2-5 Benjamin St, EC1M 5QL. Tel: +44 (0)207 336 0144. Email: mj@tmiltd.com. Website: www.tmiltd.com