New Heights: I.A. Richards' night climbing notebook

Magdalene’s archives have revealed a daring new chapter in Cambridge’s night climbing history, thanks to the recently catalogued notebooks of literary scholar I.A. Richards.

Written in 1915 during his final year as an undergraduate, the notebook records in vivid detail a series of climbs across the College’s rooftops with his friend Sir Thomas James Roxburgh. Their exploits, complete with weather notes, wartime blackout conditions, and near misses with discovery, predate the famous 1937 book The Night Climbers of Cambridge and offer rare insight into the sport’s early days.

Among the most dramatic episodes is the “disastrous expedition” of February 1915, when the pair were caught mid-climb, bringing an end to certain rooftop routes. Yet just weeks later they were back, scaling the College clock tower to hang a mischievous “imp” from its pinnacle, immortalising their feat in photographs and verse. The notebook not only cements Magdalene’s place in night climbing lore, it captures the thrill, risk, and humour that defined this secretive tradition. Read the full story to uncover I.A. Richards’ remarkable rooftop adventures on the Magdalene Library News.
 

Read Now: ‘A Disastrous Expedition’: I.A. Richards Caught Climbing the Roofs of Magdalene College