The 500th anniversary celebrations of the House (“Cardinal College”) got off to a grand start with a splendid dinner in Ironmongers’ Hall in the Barbican, City of London. There were about 160 of us; there simply was not enough room for the many more that wished to come. The Worshipful Company of Ironmongers (Royal Charter 1463) is older than us. Its vast hall was rebuilt in 1925, a pleasing pastiche of medieval and arts and crafts, the previous hall having been destroyed by a bomb dropped in World War 1.

The Dean chatted at the pre-dinner drinks. It was a hard job with much travel and punishing schedules, quite different to the imagined life of croquet on the lawn. A fascinating insight into the selection of the new title of the head of college – not Warden (think prison), not Rector (cannot be above Dean), not Master (for obvious reasons), not Principal (too girlish), not President (for head of republic) – so it is to be Provost, politically and etymologically correct.

There were alumni from seven decades; most people were strangers to each other but there was a friendly ambience. Such occasions are an opportunity to accost people you half recognise but never got to know.

The House is in good hands – bring on the next five centuries and let’s meet up in 2046, if not before!

Dr Anthony Barton (1974, Medicine).