I was very saddened to read in Peter Wilby’s column of the demise of Ruskin College in Oxford (First Thoughts, 9 July). In the early 1960s, I was a conventional entry straight from school: I had the luck to bump into a Ruskin-educated student at breakfast on my first morning. He was five years older than I and through him I got to know well several Ruskin graduates at various colleges. Having knocked about before entering higher education, they brought maturity and worldly wisdom to an institution that was otherwise pretty callow. They included Oxford’s then oldest undergraduate, a man in his forties who had served previously at the Colonial Office. Mostly, having no Latin, the Ruskin entrants took their degrees in two rather than three years. All those I knew went on to distinguished careers; my first-morning acquaintance became a lifelong friend. The college that gave them their opportunities will be much missed.
Robert Chesshyre
London SW14
[see also: First Thoughts: A warning from Canada, mask wars, and the loss of Ruskin College]
Content from our partners
