Cambridge is the quintessential English town. It’s one of maybe half a dozen places in this country that match the medieval splendour so prevalent in Europe. England is blessed with great places like Bath, Chester, and York, but Cambridge has more and it has it better. Trust me, if you’re visiting the UK from another country, knock a couple of days off your pressured week in London and spend them here. There’s no competition.
Cambridges’ ‘sibling’ Oxford has some equally fabulous traditional architecture. But Oxford is a big place, and the ancient university buildings are rather spread out. Cambridge University’s buildings are more concentrated and dominate the centre. Oxford is a town with an attached university, Cambridge is a university with an attached town. It has a completely different, sleepy, historical vibe.
I must confess to a certain amount of bias; I was a post-graduate student here in the late 1980s. And, working for various exam boards, I have visited many times since. It would be fair to say that I am a big fan of the place so, be aware of my favouritism while reading this blog! My intent here is to convey a flavour of this unique university town.
A visitor to Cambridge is effectively walking round the campus and, although most of the colleges are closed to visitors during term time, enough are open to give you a taste. A peep through the gates of the Porters’ Lodge is to get a glimpse of the cloistered world of academe. And they are cloisters. The oldest colleges were originally set up eight centuries ago to teach classics to the clergy.
Walk along the River Cam and see the backs of the colleges where their lawns flow down to the banks of the river. Queens College is so striking. Don’t miss Downing College where you can stroll about the grounds in term time. but, whatever you do, stroll around.
Nowadays, Cambridge is home to the upper echelon of the academic elite although, strangely perhaps, this development is fairly new. Even in the recent past, Oxford and Cambridge served as elite finishing schools for the public school (fee paying) sector. Admittance to the university, and especially the ancient colleges, was heavily influenced by social class. Traditionally, the intake of dim, public school undergraduates was leavened by a small number of the best brains produced by the state sector*. So, more recently, academic excellence has rightly been a more valued quality. Well, that, and the ability to pay a pile of dosh. International students (about 20% of the student body) can expect to need about £50k a year to study.
Visitors rub shoulders with the intellectual crème de la crème all over town, and it is a massive part of its charm. I was sat having a coffee when three young lads sat down at the table by mine. Within seconds, they had whipped out their notepads and pencils and eagerly began discussing a mathematical equation they had been studying. Their frenetic enthusiasm and excitement were such that I forgave their ill-advised hair styles and bad clothes. Sat in The Eagle later that evening, a young couple had a vexed conversation on the influence of Descartes’ ‘cogito ergo sum’ on the Reformation. You just don’t hear these conversations in Muggle pubs. Damn! I referenced Harry Potter. But, it’s hard not to. The sets of those movies owe a lot to this town. Unlike plastic Harry Potter World, Cambridge is real.
Not only the students, but their professors (dons) abound. While the youngsters work on their ‘geek chic’, the dons equate authenticity with eccentricity. It all looks rather forced. There must be secret gentleman outfitters specialising in green tweed suits paired with red wool ties.
Facial hair is fashionable these days. The undergrads who have passed puberty sport waxed moustaches, while the dons nurture their ear hair, such that it ripples behind them like pigtails as they cycle by. Nasal hair extensions are de rigeur. With furrowed frowns, the college fellows seem to shoulder their intellects as if they were physical burdens. The posturing and pseudo eccentricity are palpable. But fancy dress is part of the fun!
For the evenings, there are a couple of boozers that deserve singling out for praise. The Eagle is famous, very central, near King’s College. It’s an old coaching inn dating back to the 14th century. Watson and Crick chatted about DNA in here, graffiti by RAF pilots during WWII still adorns the ceiling. It’s a great pub but consequently suffers from over popularity. It gets busy. If it’s too busy (it will be) The Bath House next door is very good. Further down the road is The Pint Shop, a modern-ish, cool boozer flogging real ales to suit every palate.
The Pickerel Inn, opposite Magdalene College, is a mellow place, and has been serving beer for 400 years. There is an outdoor yard which is nice on a warm day. The Baron of Beef, further down the road into town, opened in 1752. I could have mentioned more watering holes but, you get the picture; Cambridge is a fab place for a pint or two.
The favoured mode of transport is the bicycle, they out-number cars fifty to one and are highly practical for the residents. It’s not a car friendly place, traffic jams at rush hour are simply hideous. Often, it’s quicker to walk, never mind cycle. A supposed ten-minute drive can take an hour at busy periods. Then again…
Strolling around the town is a pleasure. There are quite a few museums. My favourite is the Fitzwilliam; free entry, decent classical artifacts from Rome and Greece, some Ancient Near Eastern trinkets, half a dozen Manet paintings. There’s more. If you’re into Polar Expeditions, there’s a Polar Museum. If you’re not, don’t go in. It stole three minutes of my life that I’ll never get back. The Museum of Zoology was splendid. Like a zoo, but for dead beasts. I didn’t expect to like that quite so much. The Museum of Anthropology was not my scene.
All this browsing of the past will make you hungry in the present. Café Milano is brilliant for lunch, with great paninis and superb Italian sweets. Step through the doors and you could be in Italy. We ate twice in Franco Manca. Again. Cos we love it. Ah well. Raja Indian restaurant was top drawer. I can close my eyes… ahh… I’m back there. Classy food, and the passion of the owner and his staff, is self-evident. If the Cambridge pubs are resolutely traditional English, the range of restaurants is global to cater for the educated palates of the residents and visitors.
There’s so much to see, but there comes a point where a blog just gets too long. So, I’ll finish on this note of glory. Visit Kings College and check out the times for evensong. The 15th century chapel is staggering. Hymns are sung by the attached school for choristers. The service normally starts about 5.00 pm and it’s free. Expect it to take an hour maximum, as long as there’s no communion. It’s sublime. Like being on a film set and, this time, you’re an extra.
Should you go?
Okay, this blog has been a pretty full-on advert for my old alma mater. I’ll put it this way. Cambridge did for the sets of the Harry Potter movies what Rothenburg ob der Tauber did for Disney’s Pinocchio. If circumstances find you gagging on the fossilised, faux pageantry of the Royal Family in London, visit Cambridge. This is the beating heart, where tradition still lives.
* This situation has improved, but not really changed. State school pupils make up about 40% of the student body, but this intake is largely drawn from Grammar Schools situated in wealthy areas, not Grottsville Comprehensive. To be fair to Cambridge and Oxford these schools do produce very bright students. Alas, elite education is elitist, no surprises there. But, it’s not Oxbridge’s problem to solve.
Should I Go 2 