Northumbrian Cambridge
Association
The Northumbrian Cambridge Association (NCA) has brought together alumni living in the North East of England for over 90 years.
We meet in most months for walks, talks, concerts, films, freshers and festive events, an annual dinner, and an AGM. We very much welcome suggestions for further group activities.
For more information, visit our What We Do page (link above), or contact a Committee Member (via Who to Contact, link above). You can also visit our Facebook page, and follow us on LinkedIn, Bluesky or X
We very much need to recruit new committee members. We currently have six ex-officio committee members and can add one more. We need to plan for succession as officers wish to step down over the next few years, so please do consider volunteering to ensure the sustainability of the NCA. If you want to find out more about the NCA committee, please contact NCA President Heather Cordell (heather.cordell@ncl.ac.uk)
We always welcome new members (our subscription is £10 a year). For information about joining, or attending a forthcoming event, please contact us using our How to Join page (link above). Prospective NCA members are welcome to attend one of our meetings and bring guests.
Membership subscriptions are due by March 1st 2025. Please note that the UK General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) bars us from holding information on non-active members. If you have been a member for some years but have not been paying subscriptions and completed a GDPR form, during 2023 we requested you to send a completed GDPR form and arrange payment of your subscription (to our new bank account, see booking form for July meeting below) or confirm your resignation from the NCA. We reached the point where we had to remove dormant members from the NCA database. We no longer hold and use their email addresses, but they may continue to visit this website and rejoin if a future meeting or event takes their interest. Similarly, members who receive all communications by post were asked in early October 2023 to complete a membership renewal and/or GDPR form to remain on our active members list.
If you have received no NCA email or postal communications in 2024 and want to rejoin the NCA, please do so using the form(s) on our How to Join page.
You can read our current newsletter, follow us on social media (LinkedIn, Facebook, Bluesky or X) and join our Facebook group.
Meetings for 2025
Monday June 16, 2025
Early Summer Short Walk: Bowes Circular
A circular route around the village of Bowes, located in the Pennine hills and on the Roman road through Stainmore, with much to see en route. For example
• St Giles Churchyard containing the grave of William Shaw,
headmaster of the old school in the village known as Shaw's Academy - which became Dotheboys Hall, with its headmaster Wackford Squeers, in Dickens' "Nicholas Nickleby"
• the remains of Bowes Castle (1170)
• woods around the River Greta
• Scargill Low Moor with extensive scenic views over the surrounding countryside with Stang Forest and Mickle Fell (the highest point in County Durham) in the distance.
Walking time without stops will be 2.25 hours. Total time will depend on how much time we spend in St. Giles and at Bowes Castle.
Saturday July 5, 2025
Booking deadline is Monday 9 June 2025
Visit to Ad Gefrin
Excavated by Cambridge archaeologist Brian Hope-Taylor between 1953 and 1962, Gefrin (Yeavering) is one the most
important archaeological sites in England. Many of its archaeological finds are displayed in The Great Hall, which recreates the royal palace of Gefrin and displays a unique collection of objects which highlight the intricate craftsmanship and creativity of 7th century Northumberland. An on-site distillery combines heritage and tradition with the contemporary, using traditional whisky producing methods supported by the latest technology.
There will be an opportunity to visit Ford village or go for a walk in the nearby area during the afternoon.
Saturday 30th August, 2025
Summer Barbecue, Ovingham
We will have a third summer barbecue, following on from two previous well attended and very enjoyable afternoons. We have submitted a request for good weather.
Details of remaining meetings for 2025 will be posted here as they are finalised. Please note the planned events opposite.
Note that we plan to discontinue this website before the end of this year. We will move all online communication to our university alumni groups webpage. We have been running most of the content there in parallel for over over a year now. We are now also making use of the university's ability to email all alumni in the region, and are thus letting more northeast alumni know about NCA activities. Please familiarise yourself with the university's NCA webpage at https://www.alumni.cam.ac.uk/group/northumbrian-cambridge-association
There are five sections to our Cambridge University Development and Alumni Relations group page: overview, about us (committee details), join us (to be updated soon), group events (meeting details), and group news (newsletters).
Annual Lecture and AGM (Wednesday 1st October, 2025)
Christmas Lunch (Friday 5th December, 2025)
Please note that the NCA changed its bank account a few years ago. Details are on event booking and standing order forms. If you use direct bank payments, please check that you have the correct current details for the NCA before making or setting upa payment
Use the buttons above to find out more or to contact NCA committee members.
This website was last updated on October 6th 2023. Webmaster:Gilbert Cockton.