I have previously mentioned St. Catharine's College, Cambridge, and have heard a lot about it via Presidents who went there themselves.
Ashley Kent told me something about this, as being one of the 'hotspots' for Geography - something I'm going to develop a little more perhaps, by focussing on some of these other hotspots such as Hull and Bristol.
A number of Presidents can connect themselves to this college in some way, and I have previously blogged about them.
It's time for our alphabet #ThrowbackThursday! Today it's G for Geography. St Catharine's alumnus, Alfred Steers (pictured wearing glasses in this 1920 College rugby team photo), gained a 1st in the first Geography Part II Tripos exam in 1921. He went on to Head @CamUniGeography. pic.twitter.com/96fAbX7yRq
— St Catharine's College (@Catz_Cambridge) August 2, 2018
The St Catharine's College website is here.
There is an archive of magazines dating back many decades, and in which one can find mentions of the GA Presidents who have been connected with the college. I had a quick look and
Here's Ashley Kent with some memories of St. Catharine's:
My college...St Catharine’s College Cambridge....has always been a Geography ‘hotspot’....a great place where quite a few people who were prominent in the GA...attended.These include...Steers, Balchin, Spooner, Kent, Bradford, Keeble et al. Many of us were very fortunate to have been tutored by ‘Gus’ Caesar.......arguably the ‘source’ of an extraordinary group of geography professors across the world.....Haggett/Dury/Hall/Randall/ et al...a remarkable ‘father figure’ to many.
Someone who Ashley mentions is 'Gus' Caesar.
More on Gus was added in a separate blog post previously.
J A Steers was someone who was very definitely linked with the college.
His memorial has been mentioned as well. It can be seen in the college magazines, which would also reveal other details on the geographers who passed through the college. This was a signed silver salver presented to J A Steers in 1966 on the occasion of his retirement:
