I have the impression that it was shortly after I ceased to be sub-dean that the University administration spotted the anomaly of the Arts Faculty’s tea-fund, which was made possible by the cleaners doing some work other than what the University was really paying them for, by turning into tea-ladies, and which gave an unsupervised power over a bank account to a mere sub-dean. (I am not sure of this, since I never knew the terms of employment of these ladies.) Possibly the customary practice was then brought to an end. This would not have been unreasonable, though without it I might not have learnt anything about geology, nor met the artists who brought their paintings for our inspection and often enough our pleasure. And we might just have had a few prints on the walls of our common room, instead of the original paintings which we were sometimes able to buy.
