50th annual Cornwall reading party!

Hard work, outstanding dhal, toxic dolphins, unsolved Murders in the Dark, and exploration of the full capabilities of a small vehicle’s reverse gear characterised the fiftieth annual Wadham Cornwall Reading Party, one of the liveliest and most joyous reading parties in recent memory. Lamledra House, much-loved home to the reading party for many years, can seldom have seen intellectual labours of such intensity, late-night cèilidh-dancing of such frantic enthusiasm, or the unaccountable disappearance of quite so much olive oil.

Applications for the reading party were invited from all current Wadham undergraduates. The fifteen successful applicants, selected by a process of uncompromising objectivity and rigour, were drawn from several different year-groups and from subjects ranging from Law to Physics. Callum Long also attended.

This year’s reading party, facilitated by Peter Thonemann and Sarah Cullinan Herring, was tinged by a note of sadness: this was the first reading party in five decades to have taken place without Ray Ockenden, whose Mafia-narrating skills were greatly missed. Glasses were raised both to Ray and to the late Reggie Lennard, whose far-sighted bequest continues to fund many of the Reading Party’s costs.

Seven hours each day were set aside for quiet self-directed work on an extraordinary range of topics, from Hegel’s Phenomenology of Spirit to atmospheric physics and the archaeology of Achaemenid Persia. Leah Mitchell ingested dangerous amounts of Cicero, Asha Kiggins penetrated the darker sub-cultures of 1980s Sheffield, and Eli Rubies saw Helen as the sun saw her, with no Homeric shadow. In the brief intervals between downpours, we enjoyed a glorious cliff-top walk to The Mevagissey Hill of Terror and a picnic on Hemmick beach; Alex Orlov-Holmes braved the freezing waters off the Cornish coast, and Hannah Gardner showed off her mastery of the innovative beach-sport of frisball.

No recent reading party has matched this one for quality of cuisine. Particularly memorable were Cara Addleman and Amelia Hughes’ courgette and lemon orzo, Sav Sood’s extraordinary butter chicken, Karishma Khosla’s wholemeal bread and a mutant self-reproducing bulgur-wheat salad. With so large a houseful, washing and drying up was a major enterprise, but the A Team, if no other, proved up to the challenge. Particular highlights among the evening entertainments included Rosie Wiles unsuccessfully attempting to pick up a Jenga pile, Kate Shipley’s RADA-standard magic dolphin, and a treasure hunt of demoniacal complexity orchestrated by Eva Hayward and Ben Pery. Few of those privileged to witness it will be able to forget the sight of Betsy McGrath channelling Jeremy Corbyn impersonating a chicken.

An outstandingly enjoyable and hard-working week was had by all. Next year’s reading party will be advertised in January 2024.

written by Peter Thonemann, Tutorial Fellow and Professor of Ancient History