This week's collection of whimsical and curious stories will once again discuss the lighter sides of British politics, such as they are. This is the first part of two.
Oxford v Cambridge - As many Oxford alumni like to point out, their university has mass-produced British Prime Ministers ever since the position evolved into existence around 300 years ago. In fact, out of the past 63 PMs, 44% (28) graduated from Oxford University (the current one included)*. Some might argue that this goes a long way in explaining their mixed quality but this newsletter will of course not do that. Instead, today and next week we will focus on the contributions that Cambridge University has made to silliness in general and British politics in particular. You see, Cambridge is not just the birthplace of Newtonian physics and the rules of football, but also that of the independent joke political candidate.
The Cambridge University Raving Loony Society - It all started in the early 1980s when a group of students founded the Cambridge University Raving Loony Society (CURLS) to "... challenge the very basis of rationality" and spread "terror, outrage and mild annoyance" (Link). The following summarizes two of their more infamous exploits:
Prince Edward comes to Cambridge - In the Fall of 1982, the Cambridge Raving Loony Society learned that Prince Edward (Earl of Wessex) was going to enroll at Cambridge the following year. The story goes that one evening one of its student members rode his bike past the town's cinema which advertised in large movable letters the following movies:
"Gandhi"
"Dead Men Don't Wear Plaid"
"Licensed Bar"
He realized that those words happened to be anagrams of:
"Prince Edward's an idle dolt and mean bighead"
"Retarded Eddie now has place in Magdalin" (the latter referring to Cambridge's Magdalene College)
A late night operation promptly rearranged the letters and produced the following result:
Members of the Cambridge University Raving Loony Society posing in front of their work, 1982 (Source)
The great Oxford University toilet paper raid - In his memoirs, Lance Forman (a Cambridge alumni and former CURLS member) recounts how he and his fellow lunatics launched a surprise raid on Oxford University's toilet paper supply. You see, until this day, undergraduate students at Oxbridge rely on cleaning staff to ensure their student accommodations don't actually look as such. This also gives them a monopoly on replenishing toilet paper for their young charges. Armed with a van and a large supply of plastic bags, Forman and his friends headed to Oxford early in the morning on a Saturday in 1985 and proceeded to steal every roll of toilet paper from every cupboard in every hall of residence. Since stores would not open again until Monday, this would leave the entire undergrad student population wanting for Andrex Classic White. Even though the Oxford constabulary got wise to their mischief, they managed to escape back to Cambridge and concluded their day's work by placing c. 1000 rolls of toilet paper on the pews of King's College Chapel just in time for the Sunday morning service.
King's College (Cambridge) Chapel
Next week's edition will continue this story and discuss how the CURLS went political and left its mark on British politics with its special brand of silly anarchy.
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*Source: Link