by James Cormick
‘It must be something in the air’, people often say when remarking upon someone’s surprising longevity. While that is true of the Trust’s house in Brooklands Avenue, which is situated in an oasis of green south of the centre of Cambridge, it is certainly not the whole truth. I am convinced that books, particularly old books, add to the environmental mix that prolongs a person’s life. How else can we explain the fact that four people closely associated with Trust have approached, reached, or exceeded 100 years old?
Sir Harold Bailey, one of our founding trustees, who actually lived in the house, died at the age of 96. James Kinnier-Wilson, one of Sir Harold’s colleagues at the University, and a frequent visitor to the house, died at the age of 101. And amongst the living, Charlotte Pippard, Lady Pippard, our immensely skillful bookbinder, who still comes to the house every Monday, recently celebrated her 100th birthday. And Aileen Adams, the distinguished professor of anaesthetics, who is a Friend of the Trust and until recently a regular attendee of our lectures, is celebrating her 100th birthday today (5th September 2023).
Photo: Lady Charlotte Pippard celebrating her 100th birthday at the Trust earlier this year.
