CAMPhotography by Megan Taylor
My room, your room
Elizabeth Day (Queens’ 1998) and first year Education student Elijah Denning
CC31, Cripps Court, Queens’
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Published on:
31 March 2026
When the party gets too much, CC31 is the answer. Elizabeth Day (Queens’ 1998) and first year Elijah Denning explain their love for a room that offers a haven from the craziness.
The height of sophistication at Cambridge in the late 90s? Having a washbasin in your room, according to Elizabeth Day.
“There was a sliding door wardrobe with a sink in the corner, and I was so excited,” she remembers.
“I remember thinking: ‘Wow, I can brush my teeth in my room without having to go out into the corridor!’”
Sadly, the washbasin in CC31 is no more – but it has been replaced by the ‘luxury’ of an en suite, much to the joy of the room’s current inhabitant, Elijah Denning. (Yes, they share the same initials.
Yes, it’s a complete coincidence – and yes, they’re both very happy about it.)
“I love the en suite, and I also love the view from the window,” he says. “You can see exactly who’s going in and out of the Buttery.”
Sanitaryware aside, the room itself has changed very little, Day says, unashamedly shedding a tear or two when she arrives.
“The first time I was in this room was in September 1998, when my grandparents were alive,” she remembers. “My mother and my grandparents came up to move me in.
To be in a place where I have that memory is so profoundly special. It is an extraordinary privilege to walk through the corridors of time back to somewhere that meant so much.”
But while both can attest to the life-changing magic of being at Cambridge, both Day and Denning agree that it’s also, well, fun. “Yes, it’s a serious and academic place,” says Denning.
“But I think it’s also one of the most fun universities you can attend.” His room is testament to that, with one wall almost entirely covered with photographs of people having fun.
“Most of them are taken in club booths! That’s my boyfriend… That’s us in Leicester for our foundation year topic on Richard III…”
An array of booze, a plastic sword and a Nerf gun take pride of place on his shelves.
“That’s for [the live action elimination game] Assassins, though I’m not very good at it. I mean, where do you fit in the time? But some people take it really seriously. Once I was trapped in my room for about 24 hours because somebody was waiting outside to ‘kill’ me.”
Day threw herself into writing for Varsity and College magazine The Drain, along with regular attendance at bops, Formal Hall and an array of nightclubs – Cindy’s, Fifth Avenue and, “a bit more upmarket”, The Fez. Nonetheless, the compact nature of CC31 limits its possibilities as a party room, as does the lack of soundproofing.
“You can hear everything that’s said in the hallway!” admits Denning, who says the most people he’s hosted so far was “a pretty memorable” 12.
“I have a playlist specifically for playing out loud, which is cool music only. I don’t want people hearing my musical theatre numbers. It would ruin my street cred.”
“I remember some wild parties on EE Staircase”
In fact, both say their room is a haven from the craziness. After all, there’s only one place for parties at Queens’: a quarter of a century later, Denning confirms that EE Staircase still has it.
“I remember some wild parties on EE Staircase,” says Day. “I’d just come back here to sleep. The most I’d ever do is have someone back here for a cup of tea.”
But those cups of tea turned out to be pretty important, too. “I met a girl called Alice in freshers’ week who was incredibly glamorous,” remembers Day.
“I wanted to be her friend, but I thought she probably wouldn’t want to be mine. But we did connect and it was in this room that she asked if I wanted to go travelling to Mexico with her.
We planned our backpacking trip right here, on this bed. She’s still one of my closest friends and I’m godmother to her son.”
Her time in CC31, she says, was a time of hope and optimism, of intellectual stimulation and curiosity – and of sitting at her desk, happily eating pasta and pesto, feeling like a proper adult. “I was thirsty for self-knowledge and for knowledge of the world. I didn’t know myself as well as I thought I did at the time.
But that’s life, isn’t it? It’s a gradual process for me, of understanding who I really am, away from the pretence society imposes on you.”
Elizabeth Day (Queens’ 1998) is a bestselling author of fiction and non-fiction, and the creator of charttopping podcast How to Fail with Elizabeth Day. First year Education student Elijah Denning is a would-be finance or management consultant who loves Shakespeare and The Rocky Horror Picture Show with equal passion.
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