Cartmel College - Lancaster University - Official Website

Cartmel: the quiet college. The boring college. All names we’ve been branded with in the past. Although spirit within Cartmel has always been high, there’s nothing more demoralising than for other colleges to blank you. While Pendle may take it up the arse, and no-one is sure where Grizedale’s bar has gone, Cartmel doesn’t even have a negative image in drinking songs. On a night out, no one wants to mention us.

But in 2009, I’m glad to report, things are finally changing. Over the last few weeks, the buzz surrounding Cartmel has really started to pick up, and interest has never been higher. Key to this may well be our involvement in the issue of college bars – pick up a copy of SCAN and almost every article on the bars issue (when they aren’t busy mentioning the Labour Club) mentions Cartmel. Our allusion to the Big Bad Wolf of uni management, and the imagery associated, has been adopted by a large number of groups and has been appearing far across campus in various different forms.

More importantly, Cartmel is this year – and hopefully into the future – allying itself more firmly with other colleges, to benefit more students and to bring Cartmel back, in spirit at least, onto the main campus.

First and foremost is this year’s pioneering attempt to launch the new Patriot’s Cup, a sporting competition with Furness taking place in week 8 of this term. Although it’s in its early days, we’re hoping over the next couple of years it will grow to be as big as Lonny and Bowland’s Founder’s Series.

Secondly, Cartmel’s Monday Madness night with Revs is being adopted by both Grizedale and Furness under the new name Twist, and this will continue to grow over the year. With the event swapping between colleges just like Fusion, it will hopefully, eventually anyway, become much better!

Into the future, we’re hoping that Cartmel’s new positive campus-wide image will increase and spread. We’ve already drawn attention with our ‘Save the Spidermonkey’ and responsible drinking campaigns, and are also joining with Grizedale to take point on the ‘Broke and Broken’ campaign starting later this term.

As always, this year will culminate with Extravs across campus. Hopefully our increased prestige will be reflected in our ticket sales, and I would love nothing more than to see a packed out Barker House Farm this 25th June for a Moulin Rouge themed success (more on this later on in the mag). We will deliver the goods!

In every new year, Lancaster changes, and I hope you will agree, we are moving with the times.

Robbie Pickles – President