Last Thursday, Riversdown House was filled with the sounds of conversation, clinking glasses and laughter, with music from a much earlier time.  In honour of the 250th anniversary of the writer, Jane Austen’s birth. a Regency Ball was held to celebrate her humour and romance.  Everyone enjoyed a white soup with aromatic spices and herbs, followed by lamb haricot and vegetable pie and completed by a traditional sherry trifle.  Many students, dressed in period costume, took to the floor and danced in the style of Elizabeth Bennett and Mr Darcy.  It was wonderful to consider that such balls may well have taken place at Riversdown 250 years ago.