Whoever thought that I was qualified to examine a PhD in Latin on the French Enlightenment needed their head examining.

Four of us gathered for the viva around a table in an over-heated room at the end of a long corridor. To the left of me was the second examiner KH, the candidate was to the right, and the convenor sat opposite. Today was actually our second opportunity to decide the outcome of the student’s study: back in October we ran out of time at the official viva when the candidate had to rush off to the station to catch a train south.

I found the whole experience very awkward. In the six months since I had read the thesis I had forgotten everything I’d ever known about the work presented, and it felt like I was under as much pressure as the candidate to perform. Although KH seemed more familiar with the work, he kept on getting out of his chair to fiddle with the heating controls in the cupboard at the far end of the room. The convenor seemed to do most of the talking – mainly showing off his grasp of Latin – and I began to wonder whether the whole meeting had been convened simply to show me up.

However, we eventually came to the happy conclusion that the student’s work was worthy of the award of PhD. To celebrate the convenor pulled a special present out from under the table. It was a beautiful card box packed with matching stationery in autumn colours. The convenor explained that now the student had a PhD it was his duty to write to each of the newly-established British embassies of the eighteenth century to relate the happy news. To help alleviate the homesickness of staff in foreign climes, in each of his letters the student was also to enclose a tin of condensed milk.