College of St Hild and St Bede

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The College of St Hild and St Bede, commonly known as Hild Bede, is a college of the University of Durham in England. It is the University's second largest collegiate body, with over 1000 students. It is neither a Bailey nor a Hill college, and is situated on the banks of the River Wear between Durham's 'peninsula' and Gilesgate.

Contents 1 History 2 Buildings 3 Students 4 Notable alumni 5 References 6 External links

[edit] History

Hild Bede was formed in 1975 by the merger of two single-sex teacher training colleges: the College of the Venerable Bede, for men, was founded in 1838 and was associated with the University from 1892; while St Hild's College, for women, was founded in 1858 and was associated with the University from 1896. Graduates of St Hild's were the first female graduates from Durham in 1898. To maintain the history of the two original colleges, males in the College wear the Bede colours of light and dark blue, the colours that the College are more widely known for, whilst female colours are the green and lilac of the original Hild College.

[edit] Buildings

The college consists of several distinct buildings, including the main Hild building, which is the administrative hub of the college, other accommodation blocks, such as Thorp, Christopher, Bede, and several smaller houses such as Hild Gym, Bede Gym, Charles Stranks, Gables, Manor House, Manor Lodge, Belvedere and Grove House. At the centre of college is the Caedmon Complex, which contains a dining hall, bar (The Vernon Arms, named after the original Hild Bede Principal, Dr Vernon Armitage), music rooms and the only student-run cinema in Durham, Bede Film Soc [1]. The college is one of two colleges in Durham to have two chapels — The Chapel of St. Hild (now a function room named the Joachim Room) and The Chapel of the Venerable Bede (still in use).

[edit] Students

The college is sometimes regarded as having a slightly disproportionate public school intake and an inclination towards competitive sport. Hild Bede's sporting reputation is strong, putting forward several teams in a variety of sports. The college maintains a high level of participation and achievement in all intercollegiate sporting leagues.

Historically for the first time, as of the 2006–07 season Hild Bede will have three men's football teams in the highest university league, the premiership, which no other college can lay claim to.^[1] The men's hockey team currently reside in North East League Division 1, a feat unique among the Durham Colleges; rivals in this league include Durham University 3rd and 4th teams and Newcastle University's 2nd team. The college's affiliated rugby team, Bede RFC, were the university's Floodlit Tournament Champions for 2005–06, defending this title successfully to remain champions in 2006-07 whilst simultaneously capturing the College League title in the same year (2006-07), remaining unbeaten in both competitions In many years of touring the team is yet to be defeated, and include victories over the national teams of Mexico, Estonia and Australia amongst their recent successes.^{[citation needed]} The rugby team also recently wrote, directed and starred in a satirical production entitled Gladiat-Rah, which was performed at the Edinburgh Fringe Festival and won five Durham University Drama Awards. Many ex players are seen playing for A Few Good Men Cricket Club. The college has extensive sporting facilities, which aids the high level of sporting attainment.

Hild Bede's Chapel holds services twice a week during term time on a Wednesday evening and Sunday morning to which members of the public are invited to attend. Musically, the chapel choir provide some of the finest singing to be heard in the University.

Hild Bede Theatre is the biggest drama society in Durham. They put on at least four productions a year in Caedmon Hall, including the annual musical and the freshers play which is directed, produced and performed entirely by freshers themselves. In 2007-2008 HBT performed ‘The Marriage of Figaro’ (Best College Play), ‘The Hollow‘, ‘Crazy For You’ (Best College Musical) and daringly staged ‘The Real Inspector Hound’ in just 24 hours for the summer play! They even entered the Durham Drama Festival for the first time with ‘The Bald Prima Donna’. HBT have won ‘Best College Musical’ five times at the Durham Oscars (“The D’Oscars“) and ‘Best College Play’ for the past four years in a row- an achievement unrivalled by any other company. The society is renowned for its high standard productions, memorable socials and for the great friends and companions made through college life at Hild Bede.

Additionally, Hild Bede houses the only student cinema in Durham, Bede Film Society. The society shows recent films on a 35mm projector with Dolby Digital surround sound^[2] on most weekends of term, with the occasional midweek showing. The society was started over 30 years ago, before the merging of the two colleges, showing films on a 16mm projector.

Each year, several members of the college are awarded the Ann Boynton Award for outstanding contribution to college, for those who embody the spirit of the college whilst maintaining outstanding academic excellence. Winners of the award can be viewed on the college website.

[edit] Notable alumni

• Jack Cunningham (Bede), Labour politician^{[citation needed]}
• Nick Gibb, Conservative politician^{[citation needed]} (1978 - 1981)
• Nasser Hussain, former captain of the English cricket team (1985 - 1988)^[3]
• Gabby Logan, television presenter and 1990 Commonwealth Games gymnast^{[citation needed]} (1991 - 1995), Deputy SRC President in her final year.
• Sir Roger Moore (Bede), Actor (never graduated) (1945)^[4][5]
• Jack Dormand (Bede), a British educationist and Labour Party politician (1937-1939)
• Edward Short (Bede), Labour politician^{[citation needed]} (1920 - 1923)
• Charles Kidd (Bede), editor of Debrett's Peerage and Baronetage (never graduated) (1970-1971)

[edit] References

Original references no longer available.

• Team Durham: Fixtures, results and tables. Retrieved 16 May 2007
• SRC Presidents & Deputies Hild Bede Student Representative Council. Retrieved 16 May 2007
• [I rise again changed but the same College of St Hild and St Bede] in the Durham University Calendar. Retrieved 16 May 2007.

1. ^ "Overall Inter-Collegiate Leagues". Durham University Athletic Union. http://www.sportdurham.com/collegesport/colleges.php. Retrieved 28 May 2006. 
2. ^ "About the Society". Bede Film Soc. http://www.dur.ac.uk/hildbede.filmsociety/about_us.html. Retrieved 14 March 2009. 
3. ^ www.education.gov.qa/hei/DVC/Talk7.ppt
4. ^ www.education.gov.qa/hei/DVC/Talk7.ppt
5. ^ http://www.rogermoore.org/

[edit] External links

• College of St Hild and St Bede
• Hild Bede Student Representative Council
• Hild Bede Music Society
• Hild Bede Theatre
• Hild Bede Chapel Choir
• Bede Film Society
• Hild Bede Boat Club

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