On the 10th of January, Richard, Elinor and I travelled by train to Sheffield to stay the night with Alice, Phil and Mona the cat. Our reason for the visit, apart from wanting to see them because we love them, was to witness Alice receive her PhD at a Graduation Ceremony at the University of Sheffield the following day. Unfortunately, Alice was only allotted two tickets, so while Phil and I sat in the warmth and comfort of a large hall full of people and listened to a saxophone quartet before the formalities began, Richard and Elinor trudged off towards the city centre in search of an art gallery or two and somewhere warm to while away a couple of hours. Phil impressed me with his ability to recognise and name most of the tunes played by the quartet; no mean feat!
We didn’t have long to wait for Alice’s moment of glory as she was just the second person out of many to receive a handshake from the Chancellor. (Just look at all those mortar boards at the bottom of the next photo!)
After nearly an hour there was a lull in the proceedings while an eminent librarian received an honorary degree and gave her speech. Then many more people filed past to collect their PhDs and MAs and …… it was all over!
Alice returned her robes and we walked into the city to meet up with the other two. After a late lunch we returned to Alice’s house for a rest and to collect our luggage then got the train home, arriving at our door at about 10.45 pm.
I wish to thank Phil for the 1st, 3rd and 4th photos; I took the other two.
markspitzerdesigns said:
Love the RED shoes !
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Clare Pooley said:
Thanks, Mark!
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Lavinia Ross said:
Good to see you back, Clare. Congratulations to Alice, and I do love those red sparkly shoes, too! You must all be so proud of her!
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Clare Pooley said:
Thank you, Lavinia. We are tremendously proud of her!
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Jill Weatherholt said:
Congratulations to Alice! Now I want to watch The Wizard of Oz!
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Clare Pooley said:
Hehe! There’s no place like home! Thank you, Jill!
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H.J. for avian101 said:
Happy day for Alice and all of you! I wish her the best! 🙂
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Clare Pooley said:
Thank you very much, HJ!
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Retirement Reflections said:
What a wonderful event to experience. Congratulations to Dr. Alice!
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Clare Pooley said:
Thank you, Donna!
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Meg Owen said:
A huge congratulations to Alice ( and yourselves) for a fantastic achievement and spectacular dress sense
Great photos too – feel like I’ve been there – without leaving my armchair.
Meg
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Clare Pooley said:
Thank you, Meg – how kind!
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margaret21 said:
Oh congratulations all round! What a great day, though sad that only two tickets were allowed. Though it’s the same everywhere sadly. I love Sheffield and lived there for several years. Will she stay there now she’s finished her studies? Presumably not. You have to follow the work. Nice to have you back!
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Clare Pooley said:
Thank you, Margaret. Alice applied for more tickets if they became available but was unlucky, though we saw plenty of empty seats during the ceremony. She will be staying there for some time, I think. She moved to Sheffield in 2009 while she studied for her 2nd MA and then was asked to research for her PhD. She was given a grant for three years but she needed an extra year to finish it for which she wasn’t given expenses and finished the research in 2014. It took her four years to pay off her debt and become free to accept her PhD! Until last November she had been working at the University but has now got a much better job at Manchester Metropolitan and commutes. Her husband works in Sheffield for the NHS.
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Helen said:
Congratulations to Alice! What a wonderful achievement. What was the focus of her thesis?
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Clare Pooley said:
Thank you, Helen. I couldn’t remember the title of her thesis so had to text Alice. ‘An evaluation of the intellectual assets in the scholarship and collections directorate at the British Library’. Quite a mouthful! Basically she attempted to find a way of working out the value of ‘knowledge’. How much a person’s expertise in a subject is worth and, apart from an artifact’s physical value, how much is it worth in terms of the knowledge it imparts.
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Helen said:
That sounds quite a challenge!
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Jane Sturgeon said:
Congratulations Dr. Alice, what a wonderful achievement. A special family day for you all and I love her shoes. Go Alice… 💗 Xxxxx
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Clare Pooley said:
Thank you, Jane! We had a lovely day though I think Alice’s feet were a little sore by the end of it! ❤ ❤ xxxx
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susanpoozan said:
What a very special day, congratulations to Alice.
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Clare Pooley said:
Thank you, Susan.
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DoF@theinfill said:
Congrats all round 🙂
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Clare Pooley said:
Thank you! 🙂
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Gerrie Mackey said:
Congratulations to Alice, completing a PHD is an enormous accomplishment. My husband has almost completed his, and I can vouch for the long hours spent studying, and the dedication needed.
Everyone looks very smart, and Alice’s shoes are wonderful!
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Clare Pooley said:
Thank you, Gerrie. Best wishes to your husband and well done to you too! 😀
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Liz said:
What a fabulous day of celebration, and huge congratulations to Dr Alice. Thank you for sharing this special day with us! xxx
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Clare Pooley said:
Thank you, Liz. It was a wonderful day xxx
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derrickjknight said:
Suitably proud – a great day
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Clare Pooley said:
Thank you, Derrick. I hope you are continuing to recover well from your operation.
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derrickjknight said:
Slowly 🙂
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Clare Pooley said:
🙂
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Mabel Kwong said:
Congrats to Alice! Not everyone can say they’ve completed a PhD or been to a graduation where they cheer on someone receiving a PhD. As Margaret said, I’ve also heard there is a limit to the number of tickets to graduation ceremonies – and sometimes if you want another ticket, you have to pay a few hundred for that extra seat (at least that is the case with some graduation ceremonies here in Australia). All round, sounded like a happy day for you and everyone 🙂
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Clare Pooley said:
Thank you, Mabel. Alice did ask to be considered for any returned tickets or spare seats but was unlucky. We had a very good day! 🙂
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Gallivanta said:
Lovely to share this wonderful occasion with you.
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Clare Pooley said:
Thank you very much, Mandy.
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Laurie Graves said:
Yes, congrats, congrats! How splendid Alice looks in red. And I LOVE those shoes!
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Clare Pooley said:
Thank you, Laurie. Those shoes are special!
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Laurie Graves said:
They surely are!
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Clare Pooley said:
🙂
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quercuscommunity said:
I’ve often wondered what it is like to have clever children. Congratulations all round.
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Clare Pooley said:
Thank you, Simon. I am sure she didn’t get her intellect from me!
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quercuscommunity said:
Children are a mystery…
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Clare Pooley said:
😀
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New Hampshire Garden Solutions said:
Congratulations to Alice, now it’s Elinor’s turn!
I find that a certain sense of peace comes with knowing your children will not only make it on their own but will succeed as well. I wish her all the best!
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Clare Pooley said:
Thank you, Allen. I am definitely feeling less worried about Alice since she managed to get her first full-time job back in November. After four or five years of applying for jobs and failing she was becoming very despondent and was regretting having bothered gaining all her qualifications. Elinor has interviews coming up in the next couple of weeks with all three universities she applied to. She is becoming quite nervous!
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New Hampshire Garden Solutions said:
I’m sure Alice must be gaining confidence. It took me a while at my first job.
I don’t like interviews either but I usually find that all my nervousness was wasted. I hope Elinor will find the same.
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Clare Pooley said:
I am absolutely sure you are right, Allen; thank you.
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tootlepedal said:
A triumph all round. Well done.
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Clare Pooley said:
Thank you very much, Tom.
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Cynthia Reyes said:
Congrats, Dr Alice! Hooray for this big achievement. How did Alice react to the remark about her shoes?
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Clare Pooley said:
She was extremely amused! Thank you, Cynthia!
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KerryCan said:
Having been through this process, I know how relieved Alice must feel, to have finished successfully! What a great day for you all!!
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Clare Pooley said:
Thank you, Kerry. I think I remember you writing something about your doctorate in one of your posts. I could never manage to work that hard and for so long! She is extremely pleased to have it all over and done with.
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quietsolopursuits said:
Please add my congratulations and pass them on to Dr. Alice, it must have been a very proud day for every one involved!
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Clare Pooley said:
Thank you very much, Jerry. We had a wonderful day together.
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Lisa G. said:
Many congratulations to Alice! My second thought was, “she decided not to go Goth for this ceremony”. 😉 But, cute shoe choice!
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Clare Pooley said:
Haha! Thank you, Lisa. For her BA she wore a Motorhead t-shirt underneath her robes!
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Andrea Stephenson said:
Congratulations to Alice and I’m glad it was an enjoyable occasion for you all!
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Clare Pooley said:
Thank you very much, Andrea. We all enjoyed the day enormously!
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bitaboutbritain said:
Wonderful, Clare! The red shoes were just right, too!
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Clare Pooley said:
Thank you, Mike!
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Rachel Ball said:
Lovely photos – what a fantastic achievement!
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Clare Pooley said:
Thank you so much, Rachel!
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Ste J said:
I have a huge urge to watch Return to Oz now, can’t put my finger on why….
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Clare Pooley said:
Hehe! Thanks Ste J!
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Thom Hickey said:
Many congratulations.lovely to read an entirely happy story. Regards Thom.
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Clare Pooley said:
Thank you very much, Thom.
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adruidslife said:
We’ll done! My husband used to work here, we’re originally from Sheffield 😊
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Clare Pooley said:
Thank you! We love Sheffield 🙂
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adruidslife said:
😍
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Charlotte Hoather said:
Congratulations to Dr Alice, you must all be as pleased as punch 🤩 lovely happy photos. Love the ruby shoes 👠
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Clare Pooley said:
Thank you very much, Charlotte. We are so pleased and proud of her! 🙂
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kevin cooper said:
Lovely photos… Reminds me of when I graduated from Uni… Long time ago… lol
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Clare Pooley said:
Thank you, Kevin. This was the third graduation ceremony of hers I attended! I am very proud of her. 🙂
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kevin cooper said:
Very good! 🙂
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navasolanature said:
Missed this too. Congratulations and what a striking gown. Good for Sheffield, York Uni had dreary grey!
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Clare Pooley said:
Thank you, Georgina.
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