CSIA’s College Tour, led by Alex, focused on the Hill Colleges around Castle Hill, a part of Cambridge that is less familiar to many visitors but essential to understanding the university’s modern development. Starting from Fitzwilliam College, the group walked through a cluster of nineteenth- and twentieth-century institutions including Murray Edwards College, Churchill College, Lucy Cavendish College and St Edmund’s College, before ending at Castle Hill with a panoramic view of the city.

Unlike the central colleges, which are often embedded in the medieval streets and open courtyards of the city centre, the Hill Colleges possess a more independent and enclosed character. Alex explained how their location shaped forms of community life: students and fellows based here often live at a greater distance from the historic teaching and ceremonial centre, producing tighter internal communities and distinctive institutional identities.

The tour placed these colleges within the wider context of post-war Britain.…