Category: News

A big ‘Thank you!’ to all of you who have praised our web site, and who congratulated us for updating it so frequently. And thanks to those of you who suggested that the web site was a worthy successor to, and perhaps even an improvement on, the once-per-year appearance of The Record. But to the couple of you who remarked “but if only you had a members’ news section…..” well we have an update! We have taken heed of your suggestion, and are delighted to say we have a brand new area of the web site where we can share news from our members.

You’ll find ‘MEMBER NEWS’ in the navigation strip, or you can take a look here…… for news from Dr. MC Black, Dr. ‘Bob’ Pickup, Dr. Leslie Hughes, Prof. Albert Curzon and from Jill Shacklock.

If you have any bits of news, or any information that my be of interest to fellow members, just email the details to the Hon Sec. [...] Read more...

Hot on the heels of saving the Union Bar table, which is a historical relic dating back to 1911, the RCSA are at it again. We’ve rescued a tradition that isn’t quite so old; this time it is the RCSU President’s ceremonial jacket that has been cleaned, restored and given a new lease of life.

Once upon a time the RCSU had several of these stripy purple, black and white jackets, sufficient for all of the exec, but for many years now we have been down to the last one, reserved for the president. But what a state it was in! Dirty, worn, ink-stained……. it was desperately in need of conservation and restoration.

Into the story steps Anne Barrett, Imperial’s archivist. She, of course, had a top garment restorer on her books who was confident of making an enormous improvement.

So RCSU President, Trinity Stenhouse, handed over the jacket and patiently waited whilst the restorers set to work. A few weeks later and……. “The results are magnificent,” Trinity tells us. “There is a black ink stain that hasn’t entirely gone, but otherwise the jacket is back to its best – as good as new!“

The RCSA is delighted to have funded this initiative and delighted to breathe new life into this old and traditional item of clothing. [...] Read more...

The RCSA are delighted to announce these Ellingham Awards, instituted in 2023, and named for the late Harold Johann Thomas ‘Tom’ Ellingham.

The RCSA propose to fund 35 awards, each of £20, which will allow an RCS student who is already receiving hardship support to attend an RCS or RCSA formal dinner at a reduced price. The awards will be administered by the RCSU president who will allocate awards by ballot from those qualifying students who apply.

More awards, or fewer awards, or larger awards may be made as funds allow.

‘Tom’ Ellingham was born in London in 1897 and died, aged 78, in 1975. Tom studied chemistry at the Royal College of Science from 1914 to 1916 and then went off as part of the Mesopotamian Expeditionary Force to Iraq from 1917 to 1919 with the Royal Engineers. He returned to College and was promoted from demonstrator to lecturer in 1922 and to a reader in 1937 and, very unusually, became a lecturer to all three constituent colleges. Tom expended enormous energy in the collection of monies for the Memorial Fund which purchased the sports ground, the boat house and the war memorial plaques. He spoke with thousands of students and ex-students in the process. [...] Read more...

By rescuing a piece of IC Union history, the RCSA truly have ‘saved the day’. One of the two large tables in the Union Bar, both of which are ‘dripping with history’, was desperately in need of repair. At any time, a slice of the table-top, about a fifth if it, was about to break away. And two of the table legs, despite looking the epitome of robustness, were on the verge of dropping off.

With the Union strapped for cash and bogged down with their ‘back to basics’ agenda, it was the College Archivist, Anne Barrett, who put us in touch with her favourite restorer/conservator. And it was the new RCSA Exec who completed the jigsaw puzzle by coming up with the all-important funding.

RCSA President, Mike Munroe, commented…. “considering the amount of time we have all spent chatting over, drinking at and, yes… dancing on that table over the years, it seems only fitting that Alumni should get involved.“

So the table was restored over the Christmas and New Year and is now returned the Bar. It is back to its best and ready for the next 112 years of its history. But do you know the story of the Union Bar tables? [...] Read more...