These letters were written during Hilda Gosling's years at Girton. Of her own admission, they do not dwell greatly on her studies (although they are of passing interest in relation to the study of science and medicine at the time). Nor do they dwell greatly on the events of the First World War, from which she says Cambridge life seemed very distant. The letters talk largely of social activities (including dances, theatre, music and the Girton tradition of 'jug') and friendships, and make frequent requests to her mother to send various items to her.
Hilda's main circle of Girton friends, to which she often refers as her 'family', included Alice McConnel (her study partner in medicine), Frances Grose, Hope Jennings, Joyce Whyte [consistently spelled White in H G's letters], Christobel Fowler, Joan Frankau, and Lily Moss. [Hilda notes on p.117 of her book, 'Lace Collars and Cocoa Cups', that 'It was customary for small groups of close friends to band together and become identified as families within the college'.] Others who are mentioned frequently in the letters include Dorothy Fox (Girton 1912); Drummond Currie of Peterhouse (a near neighbour in Streatham), Clifford Marsh and Maurice Miles (childhood friends), Leslie Hill (a distant cousin), Mrs Templeman ( a former neighbour from London who lived near Cambridge during H G's Girton years), Jack Booth (a Canadian airman who was killed in France in 1916), Billy Hine (essentially a courtship by correspondence) and, from 1918, Hurrion Rushmer of Ridley Hall (a close friend).
Hilda joined the Girton Fire Brigade and this is mentioned regularly, especially in her earlier letters. By 1918 she had also joined the Cambridge University Socialist Society. Amongst other activities, Hilda was keen on golf and played whenever she could during term time, particularly with Katie Allen and Joyce Whyte. Skating was also made possible by a succession of cold winters.