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Post by htmb on Jun 23, 2013 8:47:19 GMT
After a long weekend spent in Cambridge, I've come to realize how little I know about the town and the university. I took many photographs of gorgeous buildings, activities on the Cam River, beautiful flowers and trees, and interesting people. As I work through my posts, I hope those of you who are much more familiar with Cambridge than I will add comments as desired and make corrections when needed. Even though I spent two and a half days walking the streets of the city and colleges, I feel like I've just begun to learn about a beautiful steeped in history, tradition and intellectual discovery.
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Post by htmb on Jun 23, 2013 9:52:40 GMT
I have absolutely no idea where to begin this thread so, since I'm such a linear person, I suppose I will begin at the beginning. I caught a direct train from London Kings Cross Station. Since there were no stops in between I was in Cambridge, sixty miles away, within about 45 minutes. I took a few photos from the train, but there wasn't much to see besides lots of green pasture. Sitting on the train at Kings Cross. We went through several tunnels leaving London, and then there was green, open space. We arrived in Cambridge and most walked from the train station into town. The walk to my hotel was less than a mile. While the traffic in Cambridge always seems to be a gridlock, walking is very easy and many locals ride bicycles.
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Post by htmb on Jun 23, 2013 10:10:58 GMT
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Post by Deleted on Jun 23, 2013 10:34:43 GMT
Whenever I see so many chimneys and cornices, my first thought is always "good thing it isn't a seismic zone!" That's what I get for living in California for six years.
The streets look nice but are eerily empty for a university town.
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Post by bjd on Jun 23, 2013 11:09:33 GMT
The streets look nice but are eerily empty for a university town.
I guess the school year is over.
Thanks for this, htmb. My imagined Cambridge was based on old Dorothy Sayers' detective stories, so I had idea what to expect. Lugg posted some photos from the river a while ago, but they didn't show the city.
It does look rather dark and damp, but maybe that's due to the weather you were having? Although the bottom of the building in the last picture makes me think it's not just that.
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Post by htmb on Jun 23, 2013 17:58:30 GMT
It had been raining a lot and, though it was the end of term, many students still seemed to be finishing up exams. It was also late in the afternoon and many folks were out in their cars, gridlocked in traffic on the main streets. Just remember these empty streets. Soon the view will change.
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Post by htmb on Jun 23, 2013 18:19:37 GMT
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Post by htmb on Jun 23, 2013 18:28:39 GMT
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Post by htmb on Jun 23, 2013 18:59:35 GMT
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Post by Deleted on Jun 23, 2013 19:14:41 GMT
The river is great -- and I have seen it so many times in movies and series showing the rowing teams at practice!
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Post by htmb on Jun 23, 2013 19:49:34 GMT
I overheard someone say they could stand around and watch the river activity all day and I tend to agree. It's fun to watch neophytes learn how to pole the punt. It's also great to see so many people having a wonderful time doing something so simple.
I also found myself going back and taking photos of many of the same doors and buildings because the light had changed, or I saw something just a little different.
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Post by htmb on Jun 23, 2013 20:04:27 GMT
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Post by mossie on Jun 23, 2013 20:14:59 GMT
A real insight into the University and some lovely shots of the river activity.
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Post by fumobici on Jun 24, 2013 4:24:48 GMT
Oh, I think I'd quite enjoy touristing* here. I've always wanted to.
*Yes, I checked, this isn't one of those annoying ad hoc verbed** nouns.
**This, however, unfortunately is.
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Post by htmb on Jun 24, 2013 6:22:40 GMT
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Post by htmb on Jun 24, 2013 6:37:11 GMT
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Post by mossie on Jun 24, 2013 6:55:22 GMT
Very easy to get lost in old medieval cities, they don't have the regular layout of an American city. They weren't planned, they just happened. Hence the word haphazard.
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Post by Deleted on Jun 24, 2013 7:05:03 GMT
It does not look like the kind of university that breeds revolutionaries -- and yet I'm sure that it has done so.
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Post by patricklondon on Jun 24, 2013 7:52:20 GMT
Like a lot of simple things, it can be quite complicated getting the knack (no keel, no rudder, you have to do everything with the one pole). In three years, I never quite mastered the knack of sliding the pole through my hand on the way up (so that the water gets swept off it back into the river) rather than the way down (so the water tended to splash all over me).
Well, there were the "Cambridge" spies of the 30s (but a surprising number of Tory cabinet members over more recent decades turn out to have been at Cambridge rather than Oxford). And 1968-70, though somewhat febrile in atmosphere (I joined a protest march by accident), was less than tumultuous, as I recall. One of the issues of the time was to do with the LSE's attempt to prevent occupations by erecting gates and security doors, sparking off occupations in a number of universities, Cambridge included. One such group decided that what was needed was a symbolic removal of some of the iron railings around the place, so they had a whip-round to raise money to buy hacksaws. Eventually, the delegation sent to buy them returned empty-handed. They'd forgotten it was early closing day.
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Post by bjd on Jun 24, 2013 9:22:06 GMT
In one of the Dorothy Sayers books I reread recently, Lord Peter Wimsey is an expert punter (is that the word?), dressed in his white suit. Quite a change from the people in the photos above.
I tend to associate Cambridge with science rather than with revolution. Of course, the spies of the 1930s too.
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Post by htmb on Jun 24, 2013 11:05:48 GMT
There certainly has been a bit of rebellion in past years. A little Cambridge history:
The first notable settlement of the area was by the Romans in AD 43. The Anglo Saxons built the first bridge, and later the Vikings established a trading post along the river.
After the Norman Conquest of 1066, William the Conqueror built a castle in Cambridge in order to bring law and order to the area.
The year 1209 saw the arrival of another group of rebels, although this time they were scholars who had been forced to leave the violent quarrels with the residents of Oxford. These scholars were the early founders of what now is the University.
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Post by htmb on Jun 24, 2013 11:25:11 GMT
My hotel was located across the street from Parker's Piece, a 25 acre park-like area where I spent a lot of time people-watching. I saw everything from Italian kids playing ball to dog walkers; punk rockers singing anti-government songs to what appeared to be a small group of skin heads who were carrying a baseball bat. Mostly I saw people riding their bikes back and forth across the park, or groups of people out enjoying themselves. Parker's Piece is a 25-acre (100,000 m2) flat and roughly square green common located near the centre of Cambridge, England and is now regarded as the birthplace of the rules of Association Football. The two main walking and cycling paths across it run diagonally, and the single lamp-post at the junction is colloquially known as Reality Checkpoint. The area is bounded by Park Terrace, Parkside, Gonville Place, and Regent Terrace. The Cambridge University Football Club Laws were first used on Parker's Piece and adopted by the Football Association in 1863. "They embrace the true principles of the game, with the greatest simplicity" (E. C. Morley, F.A. Hon. Sec. 1863). 'The Cambridge Rules appear to be the most desirable for the Association to adopt' (C. W. Alcock 1863, FA committee member and founder of the FA Cup). A statue is due to be erected in October 2013 to celebrate the 150th anniversary on the Football Association and their adoption of the Cambridge Rules.
The grass is well manicured and it is known today chiefly as a spot for picnics and games of football and cricket, and serves as the games field for nearby Parkside Community College. Fairs tend to be held on the rougher ground of Midsummer Common. In 1838, a feast for 15,000 guests was held on Parker's Piece to celebrate the coronation of Queen Victoria.SourceParker's Piece on a wet, rainy day. I will post photos of a more active Parker's Piece later.
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Post by mossie on Jun 24, 2013 13:10:34 GMT
Be careful how you use the term "punter" ;D ;D Bookmakers refer to their clients as such and so do ladies of a certain, how can I put it delicately, reputation.
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Post by nycgirl on Jun 24, 2013 14:06:47 GMT
Cambridge looks lovely with all those flowers and green foliage. Lugg gave us a glimpse of what it looks like in autumn (in Mick's thread) so it's nice to see two different seasons.
The punts looks like a lot of fun. I'm sure I'd be a disaster with the pole, though.
It's amazing that the area was settled in 43 AD. I wonder how old the oldest structure is? The oldest building in NYC was built in 1652, I believe. ;D
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Post by bjd on Jun 24, 2013 14:40:57 GMT
Mossie, I knew the term punter in the bookmaker's sense, but couldn't think what else to call someone propelling a punt.
Your second meaning were called "Johns" in N America. I don't know if that's still the case.
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Post by htmb on Jun 24, 2013 15:12:10 GMT
A "punter" is also a position played in American Football." It's the player who kicks the ball at the fourth down.
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Post by htmb on Jun 24, 2013 18:24:03 GMT
[/img] I didn't photograph the tower, but there's a picture on the Cambridge link Here along with other historical information.
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Post by htmb on Jun 24, 2013 19:12:37 GMT
I'd like to know what this shrub is called. It was growing in the church courtyard. Back around the corner to King's Parade and King's College, established in 1441. King's College Chapel, which cost around ten pounds to visit, is the grandest and most iconic building in Cambridge and ranks among the finest examples go late gothic architecture.
It took over 100 years to complete and was presided over by five kings of England including Henry VI, VII, and VIII.
Former members include poet Rupert Brooke, economist John Maynard Keyes, Salman Rushdie, and Alan Turing.Source: Cambridge Official Map & Mini-Guide St. Mary the Great Church, across the street, has a tower that may be climbed for a fee. It is supposed to offer a wonderful view of the city.
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Post by htmb on Jun 24, 2013 19:15:15 GMT
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Post by mich64 on Jun 24, 2013 19:38:28 GMT
Htmb I enjoyed how you presented this thread. I felt that I spent the day in Cambridge.
My favorite photos are early on in the thread of the chimney stacks.
And of course, I love the market photos. I enjoy comparing the price of produce so thank you for the close ups!
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