Cambridge is a university town about 50 miles north of London. The University of Cambridge is made up of 31 colleges. It was founded in 1209! The student population today is huge, numbering about 25,000. There are about 120,000 residents as well. We think about 24,499 students get around by bicycle! There are thousands of them, just like Oxford.
The cyclists have a very special relationship with the road rules. In their minds there are none! You have to be extremely careful as a pedestrian.
It’s a beautiful city along the lines of Oxford, with so many historic buildings preserved and well maintained.
We usually try to seek out a guided walk in these places so we can get a sense of its history and an insider’s knowledge of the city. Apart from London Walks, the information centres in these cities usually have the walks available. So we joined one in Cambridge which was great.
Today, Cambridge is at the heart of the high technology centre known as Silicon Fen - a play on Siilcon Valley and the fens surrounding the city. Its economic strengths lie in industries such as software and bioscience, many start-up companies having been spun out of the university. More than 40 per cent of the workforce have a higher education qualification, more than twice the national average.
Probably the most well known building in Cambridge would have to be the Chapel of Kings College. It is stunning with a vaulted ceiling 24 metres high. Apart from the obvious sheer size of the building (it is 88 metres long made up of an ante chapel and choir), there are 26 pairs of huge stained glass windows which took 30 years to complete. Each window tells a biblical story leading from one panel to the next. The chapel was started in the early 1500s in a tudor and gothic style. It took a century to finish however the vaulted ceiling was completed in three years which is unbelievable as it is so detailed and huge.
Construction started on Kings College Chapel in 1512
The ante chapel and dark oak organ screen dividing the chapel in two.
The amazing fan vaulted ceiling completed in three years
The brain child of Henry V1, the college and chapel was part of an overall plan to provide places for 70 students from poor backgrounds. After his death the project was picked up by Henry V11. Henry V1’s plan for a Great Court never eventuated.
For further information about this incredible structure go to: http://www.kings.cam.ac.uk/chapel/
One of the advantages of travelling in winter is the lack of leaves on the trees which allows views of scenes not visible at other times of year. This is Kings Collage from the River Cam.
On our last day we took a punt on the River Cam. It was fantastic. But freezing cold. It started raining gently half way through the trip and were very grateful for the umbrella and woollen blanket supplied in the boat. We felt very sorry for the ‘chauffeur’ a 6th form student working weekends. He was extremely knowledgeable of the history of the city. His hands were blue with cold as they became wet every time he pulled the pole out of the river. But he said he was used to it having done it for a year. As our river trip finished it started snowing again!
The Bridge of Sighs built in 1831 and joins St John’s College’s Third Court and New Court
Apparently in summer punting on the Cam is like playing dodgem cars.
It was very peaceful for us in February if somewhat cold.
During our guided walk we came across this most unusual Corpus Clock. Unveiled in 2008 the clock is accurate every five minutes.
The following is its description.
“It is a unique and strange device for the measurement of time and is both hypnotically beautiful and deeply disturbing. It was invented, designed and given to Corpus Christi College, Cambridge, by Dr John C Taylor. The Clock is a remarkable mixture of very modern design and an ancient setting; of precision engineering and engaging whimsy; of utterly traditional clockwork (quite literally) and unexpected electronic invention; of vast size and extreme delicacy of movement; of unceasing life and imminent death; and it tells the time with absolute exactness and breathtaking unpredictability.
The clock shows conventional time as follows. The outer ring represents the seconds; minutes are shown on the middle ring; the innermost ring indicates the hours. There is a weird animal that appears to advance the outer ring of the clock. It is called a Chronophage - which means time eater - a cross between a grass hopper and a mud eye!
For more information on this amazing thing go to: http://www.corpus.cam.ac.uk/about-us/the-corpus-clock
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Next back in London we go on a London Walk: Ancient London - Knights, Nuns and Notoriety!
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