Cambridge
Colleges Carols and Bridges
The town of Cambridge along with Oxford is known worldwide as a centre of learning filled with beautiful colleges and centres of education.
The Romans founded a fort here on the river and named it Granta successive cultures followed the Saxons the Danes and finally the Normans who had a stronghold here.
Cambridge as a centre of learning came into being when scholars at oxford left due to religious and academic disputes to found their own centre. The first college was Peterhouse as other new colleges were founded the total grew to thirty some of them were founded by kings and queens and the names reflect this.
The magnificent buildings many of them founded in mediaeval times some as far back as 1209 have been the birthplace of invention, beautiful literature art and all manner of innovation through the centuries.
The impact of this town can be seen all over the world as graduates left to make their way in the world one such was the clergyman John Harvard who left Emmanuel College for America and left his money to the now famous Harvard College named after him.
Isaac Newton, Alfred Tennyson and Bacon studied at Trinity incidentally this college has the largest courtyard of any university in the world. Marlowe and Fletcher studied at Corpus Christi. Wordsworth Wilbeforce and Palmerston attended St Johns. Milton was said to have penned his Lycidas in the grounds of Christ College where he studied the list goes on.
Christopher Wren designed some of the college buildings that still stand today namely the Chapel of Emmanuel College.
The list of discoveries, the research and the famous scientists and scholars who attended the colleges would fill a book. As well as the academic reputation, Cambridge is also known for its sporting prowess in particular rugby and rowing. The annual contest between Oxford and Cambridge draws thousands of visitors every year as the rowing crews battle it out on the water.
Visitors flock to Cambridge every year to visit the beautiful colleges and chapels in particular King’s College, which is also famous for its yearly Carol concert. Another famous building is the round church, which equally draws many visitors.
Cambridge is also home to one of the finest Museums in the country the Fitzwilliam it houses many works of art including pieces by Monet, Constable, Titian, Picasso and Renoir. There are also rare collections of ceramics and stoneware.
The colleges have beautiful quadrangles and the backs of the colleges as they are named is the strip of lawn and gardens that leads down to the River Cam, which is famous for the punts.
These small boats are propelled by poles and undergraduates can be seen in the summer punting up and down the river.
Spanning the river are several interesting bridges such as the bridge of sighs named after the one in Venice this bridge connects both parts of St Johns the mathematical bridge was reputedly built without nails or bolts it was dismantled to be studied and had to be rebuilt using the same as they could not reassemble it without.
Further, down the river, lies Grantchester made famous by the poet Rupert Brooke there is much to see in Cambridge and you probably need more than one day to explore and take in everything.
Activities in Cambridge
Museums
Fitzwilliam Museum - The Fitzwilliam Museum
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