Porters' Lodge

E-Guest Sign-in

To sign in guests electronically, log in here. Students at Corpus before the 2016/17 academic year will have to first sign up here.

Opening hours

  • Porters' Lodge: 24 hours a day, but emergencies only between 1--6am,
  • Head Porter's Office (F2): 8am--4.30pm, Monday--Friday,
  • Main gate: Locks at 11pm,
  • Bene't Passage Gate: Open 6am--7.30pm, Monday--Friday; closed on Saturdays and Sundays.
  • Bursar's Garden Gate: Open 6am--5.00pm, Monday--Friday.

Keys

Before you collect your keys at the beginning of Michaelmas term, you'll have to sign your room lease. To save time, you are advised to read the generic tenancy agreement before arriving in Cambridge. Once everything is signed, you'll be given your room key and an A20. Keep these safe, as losing them will cost you ?20 for each key. When you sign down at the end of term, you will have to return your keys to the Porters. It is important that you remember to do this, as otherwise you will receive a fine.

After the main College gate has been locked, normally at around 11pm, the A20 is used to get into College. The A20 is also used to enter the external hostels.

If you lock yourself out, you can obtain a duplicate room key from the Porters, but this must be returned within two days. Failure to return keys when required will incur you a ?20 fine for each key. The Porters will not give out the duplicate key to your room to anyone but you, so take extra care when you're going to the shower or if you live in Newnham or T-Street!

You are strongly advised to ensure that your room is firmly locked at all times. If you live in Bene't, Botolph, Beldam, Newnham or T--Street you should also make a point of seeing that the front door closes behind you when they leave the building. Under no circumstances should doors be propped open as it only takes a thief a few seconds to make an illegal entry.

You are not permitted, under any circumstances, to create a copy of your room key or the A20 key.

Mail

Any mail you receive will be put into your pigeonhole by the Porters, unless you have to sign for it or it's too large, in which case you'll be given a slip instructing you to collect your post from the Porters' Lodge. If you wish to have your mail forwarded during the vacation periods or after you have graduated, please make sure Tutorial have the correct address to post it to and then speak to the Porters so that this can be arranged.

CUSU mail service

CUSU offer a free mailing service (CUSU--MS) to students between all 31 colleges. Deliveries are daily, Monday--Friday during Full Term. Essentially, it's the same as the University Messenger Service (UMS), just that students are allowed to use it.

CUSU--MS Rules:

  • The service is for students only,
  • Mail can be sent to all 31 Colleges, CUSU, the Graduate Union and Girton Wolfson Court,
  • Mail cannot be sent to University Departments,
  • Mail is normally delivered within one working day,
  • Please use envelopes or secure pieces of paper with tape or a staple,
  • Letters larger than A4 size, posters and parcels cannot be sent via CUSU-MS,
  • Do not send cash or any items of value.

How to use CUSU--MS:

  1. Mark your envelope "CUSU--MS",
  2. Clearly write the name and college of the recipient on the envelope,
  3. Put the envelope in the CUSU--MS box in the Post Room.

College Rules

The College Rules can be found on the main College website here. The Head Porter may impose fines or periods of community service for breaches of any of the College Rules, or for other breaches of good discipline.

Smoking

Smoking is not permitted in any College accommodation or communal areas, nor is it permitted in New Court, Old Court, the Bursar's Garden or Library Court.

A smoking area is provided in Stable Yard by the Golden Gates. Please use the cigarette bins provided. As this area is essentially a road, please use your heads and move out of the way of maintenance vehicles that may need to enter, or exit from, Stable Yard.

Guests

You may have guests to stay in your room, providing that you have signed them in at the Porters' Lodge in case there is a fire. Under the College Rules, you may only have a guest for up to three nights in any given week and for a total of up to seven nights in any term. To help your guests sleep comfortably, you can book a campbed from the JCR Committee. Unfortunately the JCR cannot supply bed linen, so you may want to advise your guest to bring a sleeping bag.

Alternatively, you can book a guest room for your guests (see below).

Room bookings

Students can book the McCrum Lecture Theatre, McCrum Seminar Room or I4 for use by societies. If you wish to book any of these, you need to fill in a room booking form, which can be obtained from the Porters' Lodge and then have it signed by the Head Porter. Once this is done, please email Conferencing, who will confirm the booking for you.

When using these rooms please keep them tidy and leave them in the state you would wish to find them. This is important as they are also frequently used by Conferencing for College matters.

Guest rooms

The 2016--2017 rate for student guest rooms is ?45 per night. Bedding and towels are provided along with complimentary tea and coffee making facilities. Guests staying in a guest room must vacate their accommodation by 9.30am.

To book a guest room, please email the Head Porter or the Deputy Head Porter with as much notice as possible. Weekend requests must arrive by Thursday at the latest.

Beldam music room

To use the practice room, you must be on an approved users list which is held by the Porters. To ask to be put on the list, students should email the Director of Music with a short explanation as to generally what you would be using the room for. You don't have to be an experienced musician to be put on the list, the list just ensures that, because there is only one room (and therefore a limited facility), priority for its use can be given to bone fide musical activity (at whatever level). Anyone is welcome to request to be put on the list.

Users should book their use of the room online via the JCR website.

Use of the room is restricted to the hours of 9am--11pm (seven days a week). Any instruments of an appropriate size for the room (e.g. not a drum kit or another piano or large electronic keyboard) can be taken into the room to be used, but they should not be left there. The Beldam Music Room contains an upright piano and harpsichord.

For experienced players/instrumentalists, there is some potential to use the Chapel piano, the piano in the McCrum Lecture Theatre or (for organists) the Chapel organ. Such use is subject to availability and should be requested through the Director of Music.

Users of all these spaces are responsible for the care and state of these rooms and any instruments used in them during their particular time of occupation. Any problems should be reported to the Porters immediately, either on discovery at the start of the users session or the moment something untoward occurs.

Cycling

The University requires all bicycles belonging to students to be marked with a letter and number on the rear mudguard. When you buy a bike, you should apply at the Porters' Lodge for the allocation of a number (this is simple, just go to the Porters' Lodge and sign in the folder, then you'll be given a sticker). Unmarked bicycles will be removed from College bicycle racks. Bicycles must not be ridden anywhere in College, or left anywhere in College, except in the bicycle racks provided. Permission must be sought from the Head Porter to leave bicycles in College over the summer vacation. Failure to do so may result in the removal and disposal of such bicycles.

To protect your bike, the Cambridgeshire police suggest you register your bike with Immobilise. It only takes a couple of minutes do to and it's free. All you need is your bike model, make and frame number. Once you've registered it, you will have a better chance of getting it back if it gets lost or stolen. You can also register other property at the same time, such as your mobile phone or laptop.

If you can't find your bike frame number, have a look:

  • Underneath the pedals on the bottom of the frame,
  • On the frame near the handlebars,
  • On the frame where the seat post fits,
  • On the frame towards the back wheel.

If your bike is stolen, report it to the police on 01223 358966 and mark it as stolen on your Immobilise account as soon as possible. Reporting your bike as lost or stolen helps the police match its description and return it to you. 700--800 stolen bikes are recovered every year because they were registered, so this is the best chance you have of getting your bike back.

If you own a bike, you can store it in the Beldam bike area, inside the Botolph courtyard, in the Newnham House bike rack (to the right of the entrance) and underneath the T-Street main entrance. You are not allowed to store your bike in your room.

Cars and motorbikes

You are not allowed to bring a car or a motorbike to Cambridge with you, unless you have University Proctorial permission. To begin obtaining this, you should email the Tutorial Office and find some available off--street parking, as the College has a very limited number of available spaces.

The City Council are actively discouraging the presence of cars in the city centre, so it is strongly recommended that no thought be given to bringing a car to Cambridge.

Porters' Lodge queries

If you have any questions, please email the Head Porter. Alternatively, the Porter's Lodge is open 24 hours a day (emergencies only 1--6am) or can be reached on 01223 338000.