Part I: Seals teeth and whales ears - Scott Polar Research Institute ...

anything like it, hadn’t the faintest idea what it was and couldn't even guess!
By contrast the Botany viva went quite well. I was examined by Professor Harry
Godwin, FRS who was very friendly and asked me questions about various plants he
produced, which I had no difficulty in answering - fortunately remembering the
Latin names. I was a bit stumped when he handed me a mouldy lemon and asked
me to comment. But I talked about Penicillium, which I was familiar with from
Peter’s operations and it had recently been in the news as a ‘wonder drug’;
fortunately it was the required response. In the written exam my brief acquaintance
with the work of the Freshwater Biological Association also paid off, as I was able to
write a substantial essay on the phytoplankton of Lake Windermere in answering
one of the questions!
Then I moved across from St Catharine's to Peterhouse to sit the exam there. I
was given a room in the oldest part of the college, on a staircase built about 1243 AD
and called ‘Noah's Ark’. I began the exams, but to my relief after sitting some of the
papers, I was told on 23 March that I had been successful at St Catharine's and had
been awarded an Open Scholarship (value £60 annually; quite a substantial sum in
those days). Naturally I was delighted. That was the only exam that I’ve been able to
walk out of, without completing it! Later I was also awarded a State Scholarship
(about £100) and a Northumberland County Major Scholarship (£60 a year) on the
basis of my performance in the Higher School Certificate. These scholarships covered
most of the costs of my university education, although there would still be a small
call on my parents' limited resources. I returned to Windermere.
While taking the St Catharine's exam I met twin brothers, Roland and Sidney
Leeson, who were taking the same exams. They were day-boys at the Perse School
in Cambridge and lived at home. The Perse had a strong academic tradition, they
had received a proper formal training in biology, and were very accomplished in
field work. I envied them this. They also obtained scholarships at Cath's and we
became good friends. In the weekend between my two exams we went out on one or
two field trips together, and in the months before the start of the University term we
corresponded and exchanged ideas and specimens of natural history interest.
My remaining time at Windermere went all too quickly. In mid June I travelled
to Cambridge again for a week of exams – for the First MB in Chemistry - necessary
for registration as a medical student. That was quite a month for exams. I took my
Higher School Certificate in June and afterwards went home to Whitley Bay. There
were heated arguments with my parents over my friendship with Freda and
Cuthbert Woods, which they wanted me to end. Perhaps it wasn’t surprising. They
were not happy about the fact that I had picked up pacifist inclinations from them (a
feature of the Quakers’ faith) questioning the war, which was anathema to my
Father, coming on top of his own wrecked life and Peter's wounds. But I was
unwilling to give up my close friendship with the Woods household after living
there for 4 1 2 years as a member of it. So I returned to Green Gables. I went home
again several times in August for further talks, but each time was put under a lot of
pressure and returned to Green Gables. They threatened not to support me at
Cambridge. It was a very stressful time for me and also for them.
(As it happened the strength of my anti-war feelings was not put formally to the
test. The War in Europe was now drawing towards a close and military
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