Today was a day trip to Cambridge, a short 45 minute train ride from London. Cambridge the city was founded in the 1st century. In 1209 Cambridge University was founded by students escaping from hostile townspeople in Oxford. In 1284 the first College (Peterhouse) was founded. Many more colleges would follow in the 14th and 15th century, today there are 31 independent Colleges.
We picked up two walking tours, one was titled "Buildings, Lives and Legacies" and the other "800 Years of Death and Disease in Cambridge ". Both tours would walk about the same path thru town and we would read to each other as we got to each spot.
One of the first things was saw was this fountain. It used to be at the Market Place in town but was moved to the head of Hobson's Conduit. Before 1614 there was no fresh drinking water and the popular alternative was to drink beer. I'm assuming the teachers were tired of little Johnny being drunk during class and decided to change things. It was decide that they would bring fresh water to town by a conduit. Hobson was a rich man in town and as with most things named after someone, if you donated a lot of money you get your name on it.
Like most Collage towns there are a lot of big buildings. This is the Fitzwilliam Museum, named after its founder, Richard, 7th Viscount Fitzwilliam. (that donating money thing) It was opened to the public in 1848 and not fully completed for another 30 years.
Across the street from the museum was where a leper hospital once stood. It was one of many leper hospital that sprang up all over medieval Europe.
The next picture is the Silver street bridge and the river Cam. The river Cam like most waterways used to carry supply's in and out of town. When the railroad came it put a stop to the rive traffic. Now if you want to take ride down the Cam you do it in a "Punt" style boat. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Punt_(boat)
Its moved by means of a pole and you can either do it your self of hire someone to take you up and down the river. As we sat having lunch at an outdoor cafe you could see that it was money well spent to hire someone to move you around. It was a like a comedy show watching people run into the bridge.
This is Newnham College, it was founded to meet the growing need for high quality women’s education in Cambridge
The first female students were allowed to attend University lectures but not to sit with the male undergraduates. They were allowed to take the same examinations – but not to graduate, or receive a degree. In fact, they were not admitted to full membership of the University until as recently as 1948
There is a world famous choir, made up of 16 boy choristers at Kings College. We saw these boys in top hats and long coats heading over to it.
This part of town took us thru the "Backs". The Backs are literally the back side of the college. This is where the river is and how the college would get there supply's. It was more like a park, with a few spots for cattle to graze.
This is Kings College Chapel, Henry VI was the founder of Kings College.
The first stone for the Chapel was laid in 1446 and wasn't finished until 1515 by Henry the VIII.
Another view of the river, students in the building on the left in front of there computers.
One of the many streets in town,
and you have to look all around or you'll miss the gargoyles,
or a statue on the corner of a building.
This is Trinity College, founded by Henry VIII in 1546. Its alumni include 30
Nobel winning scientists, 2 Kings and 6 Prime ministers. Isaac Newton spent his whole academic life within these walls.
The apple tree said to be descended from the one that inspired his understanding of gravity.
The Trinity court yard
The Round Church built in 1130
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Holy_Sepulchre,_Cambridge
Built round to keep the devil from hiding in the corner.
Time for a break, this was a wine bar on the edge of town. Leanne had a white wine and i had a Rhubarb infused gin and tonic. It had a slight smell of Rhubarb and tasted great.
Another beautiful building
This is a view of the Kings Parade, the historical street in Cambridge.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/King%27s_Parade
The clock at Corpus Christi College “the strangest clock in the world”. It has no hands or numerals, its mechanism driven by a fearsome grasshopper perched on top, which “devours time” in front of your eyes. There is a video on the web side showing how it works.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Corpus_Clock
We started our walk back to the train station and Coach thought he saw something. It was just his imagination this time.
And another church with lots of gargoyles, the detail on the churches here are amazing. This was just a local Catholic church.
After a long day of walking Coach finally gets to take a break. Our cat 25 is always taking a break.
For Sunday Leanne did her morning walk after we had breakfast. I rented a bike and met her in Kensington Gardens. On the way home we saw a statue that i thin my granddaughter Seager would like. There was another statue of a lion, and there both by the local library.
Another weekend of fun.
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