The hills are alive with

. . . the sound of students.

I've written before about the ringstone which we discovered in a gateway between two of our fields in 2007. Shortly after I started working at The Institute, a blanket e-mail appeared in my inbox announcing the January event for the Institute's Hill Walking Club.  I wrote back to the point person saying I was far too busy prepping my gallimaufry of classes to spend Saturday in the Comeraghs but that the club might like to visit the Ringstone next time they went walking in the Blackstairs.  Well that happened today, and I was delighted to see 20 people turn up in our yard for The Ringstone Tour.  The turnstile was so busy it needed to be cooled down with a bucket of water!  It couldn't have been a better day.  Sunny and breezy - although that might be a deafening brisk wind further up the hill - and not too hot: perfick. The club hires a mini-bus and everyone meets at the Institute for transport.  What a great idea; students meet people from different programmes and courses, the staff meet the students outside of class, everyone gets some fresh air and exercise. Almost all the students are from foreign.  I was alone and a long way from family when I started graduate school in America but it wasn't my first time away from home and I was a good bit older.  But what I felt then assures me that the club is really important for those who take part.