I tend to eke out reading the works of dead authors: reading the last one and realising there won’t be any more is a dreadful feeling.

Has lockdown affected your choice of reading material?

Not especially. My reading has always been fairly broad. As a part-time PhD student much of my reading relates to my research. I’ve never read fiction in a big way, though I do have some favourite authors (including Iris Murdoch). I tend to eke out reading the works of dead authors: reading the last one and realising there won’t be any more is a dreadful feeling.

Cellarer’s Chequer

Photograph of Cellarer's Chequer courtesy of Caroline Mead

I went on a few tours by the brilliant and sadly deceased former road sweeper and tour guide Allan Brigham, and remembered a few “hidden places of Cambridge”, such as the sign near the Grafton Centre showing the location of an old women’s refuge, and how he said: “This shows the history of the real…