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muztco (muztco) wrote in little_details,

Everyday life in Cambridge University in 1930s

Setting: Cambridge, 1930s - Queen's college

I have a few questions about daily life in Cambridge in 1930s. I’m planning a love story between two students (one would be a foreigner, from Germany), and it would deal a lot around details of everyday life in the prestigious university.

- Basically, what kind of leisure things did they do? What about on free evenings and on week ends?
- When did they have free time/holidays? i.e when could they return to their homes? Easter, Christmas?
- What offered the city of Cambridge? And was it normal for students to go on trips outside of the city during week ends (organized by the university clubs but also by restricted number of students)?
- About slang: how did students refer to each other? Using their grades?
- Any common meeting places (in the campus and in the city), like cofee bars and such?

And what about the university (specifically Queen's college)?

- I’m feeling stupid for asking, but there were some kind of curfew and uniform, right?
- How was the academic year structured? Are there significant variations from today organization? How long did terms last?
- How were dormitories arranged? Single rooms, double rooms, common rooms? And what about laundry and canteen services?
- What kind of punishment did they perpetrate for prohibited possession of alcohol and inobservance of curfew and such?
- And ore specifically: would it be more likely for an aristocratic foreigner to live in a room on campus or to rent a room in town?

Any kind of information/reading would be greatly appreciated! I honestly don't know what to do…! And thank you so so much for your patience!

I've googled different variations of "Cambridge life", “British university life”, “higher education”, "1930s", but I had a hard time finding anything useful...

Thank you in advance!

P.S.: oh, and since I’m curious, how were homosexuals treated? Still seen as “indecent” and punished by civil law like in Wilde’s times?
Tags: 1930-1939, uk: education, uk: history (misc)
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