Taking my first dive into the Varsity digital archives, a number of things stick out: notably, the early noughties graphic design, the recruitment adverts from big City Banks, and the wide array of different columns that Varsity has printed over the years. Picking out a handful, the below will give a flavour of the types of things that our columnists have written over the years.

One long-running column was ‘V good, V bad’. Throughout 2011, our columnists would curate a random list of current events, trends, and items, and rank them. This column was fairly opinionated and wildly unpredictable with all manner of things being included from online video advertising being introduced to Youtube and Vimeo (if someone knows what Vimeo is, please let me know) to the contemporary Editors-in-Chief laughing at a clip of a crying baby. In the spirit of ‘V good, V bad’, the other columns drawn up from the depths of the archives will be placed into this ranking system.

Very Good

Winning the acclaimed title of ‘V good’ is the 2009 column ‘Take V’. Taking the premier spot, this column provided library-weary students with 5 recommendations per issue to escape the student life and experience more of our home away from home. Choosing a different theme each time – from coffee shops, spots for the best view of the city, and takeaways – recommendations included Castle Mound as a beau-vista and Fitzbillies for a coffee. The only thing that I do not like about this column is the painful reminder that there is a lack of decent Fish & Chips in Cambridge; the recommendation of Luke’s on Regent’s Street banished to history with its sad closing.

Good

Our runner-up is 2006’s ′Varsity Wine Virgins’. Short but sweet, this column gave recommendations for wines available around Cambridge to impress at Formal. With my wine knowledge severely lacking, this is a series that I could have used during Freshers; I have spent too long staring at those shelves in Mainsbury’s.

Neutral

Sitting awkwardly is 2014’s ‘Cambridge Spy’. Seemingly fancying themselves as the next Gossip Girl, this column supplied students with tidbits of juicy gossip picked up by our anonymous columnist from around town throughout 2014. Looking back a decade on, neither the gossip or the inside jokes made are now relevant. However, it deserves some recognition; the Cambridge Spy walked so Lady Whistledown could run, surely?

Bad

Perhaps controversially, ‘Pub of the Week’ is being placed as ‘bad’. It is not because the column itself is done poorly or a bad idea. The recommendations are great and they include a wealth of information such as pint prices and a brief history. ‘Pub of the Week’ receives my ‘bad’ ranking of this revival because it acts as a tragic reminder of pint prices of a bygone era.

Very Bad

Fortunately, no archived Varsity column deserves to receive the notorious ‘V bad’. All entertaining in their own way, the columns throughout the years have illustrated the ways in which Cambridge and its students have changed and stayed the same. As such, none of them are truly ‘V bad’. That being said, watch out lifestyle writers; the spot can be filled…