Newnham College, Cambridge

🏆 Celebrating Freya Moody’s Sports Awards Nomination! 🏆

We’re absolutely delighted that Newnham student Freya Moody has been nominated for Sports Person of the Year 2026 at the University of Cambridge Sport Awards! 🎉

Freya has had an extraordinary year as captain of Cambridge University Women’s Lacrosse Club - leading the Blues to the BUCS national quarter-finals, scoring 60+ goals in just 10 games, and supporting the club in every way imaginable, from coaching to umpiring.

At just 19, she also earned her first senior GB cap and competed internationally against the Netherlands and Germany as the youngest member of the squad - all while studying for a demanding Biological Natural Sciences degree.

Off the pitch, Freya continues to give back, helping Centaurs Lacrosse Club become European Champions and inspiring younger players through coaching and mentorship. Her dedication, energy and positivity make her a true role model 💙

📅 The Sports Awards take place on Monday 22 June - if you’d like to attend and support Freya, you can book a free ticket here:
https://www.eventbrite.com/e/sports-awards-2026-tickets-865602198477

Please join us in wishing Freya the very best of luck - this nomination is so well deserved! 👏👏

🎭🌿 New Student Theatre Society Presents The Ash Tree

We are so excited to share this one! This year, a group of Newnham students launched NESST (Newnham Site-Specific Theatre) - a new drama society creating original promenade shows in our beautiful College gardens. Their work draws on the ecology and landscape history of Newnham, Cambridgeshire, and the fens 🌾

About the show:
Set in a drought-stricken fenland where marshes are draining, The Ash Tree follows wandering musicians, strange encounters, and a touch of magic - where cups refill, platters multiply, and crumbs become feasts. Inspired by Ovid’s tale of Baucis and Philemon, it’s reimagined as a roaming folk-play about the origins of the Granta and the trees of Newnham Gardens.

Expect storytelling, movement, puppetry, and a live, original folk-infused score (with a hint of blues!) 🎶

📍 Newnham College Gardens
🗓️ Sat 20 June, 6:30pm
🗓️ Sun 21 June, 6:30pm
🗓️ Mon 22 June, 5:30pm

They’re hoping this May Week production becomes a new annual tradition so let’s support them - this could be the start of something really special 🌟

Booking link https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/nesst-presents-the-ash-tree-tickets-1990223398761?aff=oddtdtcreator

🌹 History in Bloom 🌹

Is still a thing? I'm going with it so I can share this...

Our Rose Garden has recently been renovated, with new edging carefully installed throughout. To ensure the work stayed true to its heritage, Jonathan Dunlop from our garden team collaborated with Archivist Frieda Midgley, consulting the original designs.

In the process, Frieda uncovered early photographs showing that the garden’s original layout may have incorporated an existing tree - since removed. This suggests that the 1906 Powell plan accurately reflects the garden as it was first built, including the sunken design we still enjoy today.

Blooming marvellous! ✨

Congratulations to all our wonderful postgraduate students graduating today in this glorious sunshine!

We hope you enjoy a magical day with your friends, colleagues and loved ones.

We can't wait to hear what you do next

🍾🌞🎉👩‍🎓

Some beautiful visitors to College today. Six beautiful rare breed goats visited to offer a much-needed break from study. Students were able to walk the Golden Guernseys round the sports field in what was a wonderful interlude during a busy term. And they only nibbled a few of the flowers.

In honour of earlier this week, we wanted to share these objects from our Mathematical Models from the Newnham College Collection. Given to the College in 1925 by Margaret Annie Graves (NC 1893).

Can you guess what these are and how they were used?

(I'll post in the comments tomorrow but would love to hear your guesses first!)

A lovely piece in the Guardian this week featuring the work of Dr Kate Noble at the Fitzwilliam Museum, who is a member of Newnham’s high table. Kate is assistant research professor in museum participation and practice and the museum’s monthly family-friendly drop-ins were born out of research by her and former colleague Nicola Wallis. “If you weren’t brought to a museum as a child, it can be really intimidating to do that as a parent,” Noble says. https://www.theguardian.com/artanddesign/2026/may/11/toddler-ceramics-fitzwilliam-museum-cambridge-family-friendly

The Cambridge Society of London are pleased to invite Newnham alumnae to join them on 4th June for an evening talk with the BBC's Tom Heap at the RAF Club in Piccadilly. The talk - Power to the People… Ending the Reign of Fire - will explore energy, climate, geopolitics and the changing nature of power in what promises to be a timely and thought-provoking discussion.

There will be drinks, conversation and informal networking beforehand and afterwards with your fellow University of Cambridge alumni. Tickets are £13 and full details can be found here:

Power to the People...Ending the reign of Fire - The Cambridge Society of London Thursday, 4th June 2026 CamSocTalks – Power to the People…Ending the reign of Fire Fire is the friend that betrayed us. As the ‘fire ape’, flames delivered cooking for more nutritious food, feeding bigger brains and the time to think, not just graze. It then gave us smelting, iron, weapons, ...

Badgers – bothersome or brilliant? Love them or loathe them, you can’t deny this is a handsome pair who had been happily sunbathing until the moment of their discovery by our keen-eyed Archivist Frieda Midgley. 🦡🦡