John and Celi kindly arranged for us to stay at Darwin College, in what was once Newnham Grange, the home of Charles Darwin's son George, who was a professor of Astronomy in Trinity College. In 1884 George married a nice girl from West Philadelphia, Maud Du Puy. They were married in Erie, PA and Maud was described as "a Philadelphia belle of the first water."
George and Maud subsequently had four children. One of these was Gwen Ravenant who wrote a lovely illustrated memoir of her childhood in Cambridge, titled Period Pieces. I mention all this because when we got home and I looked at my many photos, a surprising number were views and scenes described in the book.
Gwen's sketch of the view up the river from the rear of the house is almost identical to this photo:
She showed this bridge which she crossed and hid under with her siblings, although I think it's safe to say that the row of punts wasn't there in Gwen's time. On the far left, you can just see the window of the room Vic and I stayed in.
The building in the background above (once a granary) has some spectacular chimney pots, which I couldn't resist.
Cambridge is an old city -- the Romans had a fort there in the 1st century AD, and in 875, the Danes built a fortified city there when they conquered eastern England. The University, for which Cambridge is probably best known, is also old, founded in 1209. (According to the tourist map I used, "1209 saw the arrival of a group of rebel scholars, who had been forced to leave after violent quarrels with the residents of Oxford" -- which may shed some light go the on-going rivalry between the two Universities!)
The University is made up of many colleges, some of which are very old -- for example, Clare College, where John and Celi had their anniversary luncheon and reception, was founded in 1326 and Kings College, famous for it's chapel, was founded in 1441. Some are much more modern -- Darwin College, where we stayed, was founded in 1964.
This is the exterior of Kings' College.
There were cows in The Backs behind King's College, very placid and willing to be photographed. (I read a short article in the local paper which described a problem which I think must be unique to Cambridge: There had been a rash of thefts of the heavy metal lids on the litter bins surrounding the greens which enabled the cows to eat from the bins, causing all manner of digestive difficulties.)
Cambridge is very flat, which makes it ideal for bicyclists, who were numerous. In this photo, you can also see a wrought iron fence, which seems to be the agreed upon location for posters and notices throughout the town.
Cambridge offers all the things I love about Europe:
Beautiful markets with mouthwatering fruits, veggies, and bread…
Ancient Churches…
St. Bene't (and I have no idea why there's an apostrophe in the name) is, I think, the oldest church in Cambridge, built in 1025. It has a lovely, cozy interior with some pretty stained glass.
Entertaining shop signs…
Amazing doorways…
And of course, gargoyles! The first two are from King's College Chapel. The dog is from a random building I passed while wandering aimlessly.
One of the highlights of our visit was King's College Chapel, justly famous for its vast stained glass windows and fan vaulting. The vaulting was built between 1512 and 1515. When this was complete, the 26 stained glass widows were installed, which took about 30 years.
The Chapel is large -- 88 metres (289 feet) long, 12 metres (40 feet) wide, and the vault is 24 metres (80 feet) high. This photo taken in the choir area, looking west and might give you some idea of the scale of the place. It shows less than half of the interior, but you can see the fan vaulting and the high glass to wall ratio.
This is another view of the vaulting and windows along the side of the Chapel,
and this is the West Window, by far the biggest and the only window not completed in the 16th century -- it was installed in the 19th century.
Here's a close up of one of the more accessible windows, to give you an idea of the incredible detail in the stained glass.
And finally, I don't think it's even legal to visit Cambridge and not go punting on the Cam River. I had always visualized this -- based on extensive reading of Victorian and Edwardian novels in my youth -- as as a languid, placid activity. Rather like this:
Which it probably is mostly, but on a sunny Saturday afternoon the river was surprisingly like rush hour, with much bumping of boats and drifting into walls. Quite a bit more exciting than I had ever dreamed!
And finally, many thanks to John and Celi for their hospitality, their gift of Period Pieces, and for the opportunity to visit their lovely city.
Oh and side-by-side Tardises!
