Just before Cambridge we had lunch at Grandchester, in The Orchard ... as you do apparently :). Here is why ...
Quite the history and many more famous names are on the list of customers (and "sponsors"). No idea why Virginai Woolfe was so depressed when she was the sole recipient of the attentions of such an illustrious circle of males in the Grantchester Group ... but I will leave it at that to avoid any overt cynicism! Mrs Stevenson and her 3 daughters hit on quite the successful business and way to the local university gentlemen :). Still a thriving business.
Here we are indulging in tea, and then lunch under an apple tree, and I even managed to keep Maggie content for a while ... Later, (really!) I even read the first and last verses of Rupert Brooke's The Old Vicarage, Grantchester ... it ends thus
"... Deep meadows yet, for to forget
The lies, and truths, and pain? ... oh! Yet
Stands the Church clock at ten to three?
And is there honey still for tea."
A walk around the nearby fields and along a tributary of the River Cam saw some local wildlife too ... a thrush and green dragonfly.
Then we set off on a walk around the meadows and along the River Cam in Cambridge and through some areas of the town centre. Enjoyed a full fresh punnet of strawberries to devour along the way - just 1.10 pound at the market. First below you see our herd, then a real herd in the meadow beyond the pretty flower of the horse chesnut tree and finally a shot of the hawthorn bush with shades of white and a brush of pink - it is out in full bloom everywhere at present.
No walk around would be complete without some more water birds ... we came across a moorhen feeding her young, an albino mallard (not hiding) in the overhang and then another treat with the swans and cygnets :) ... hastening to catch up and then struggling to climb aboard for a ride ...
What would a post about Cambridge be without the punts on the River Cam ... busy even though summer is not yet here. First one I included because it is a modern version of a punt and they are spoiling their dog - it should be swimming behind or beside them in my view! Then, the traditional punts - first one about to pass under Newton's mathematical bridge (apparently designed and built -originally - so that no nails/bolts were necessary; alas, modern health and safety could not be convinced and the nails and bolts are present now!); second shows a more busy & picturesque stretch.
Even more iconic, of course, are the many grand college buildings that house the university and the students. Here is a sample - I have not identified each one ... no time and no memory at this point. Magnificent one and all. None were open as the exams are on.
I had to throw in a few quirky things before I wrap this up. First is a clever clock (which I think any clock is!). I waited in vain for about 15 minutes after this shot for a close up - bloody tourists just kept stopping an gawking at it right in front and taking their own photos! Wise grasshopper controlling the movements of the hands which are blue lights rotating around the perimeter (each second) and on inner circles for the minutes and hours. That is followed by two plaques recognising two (of many) famous discoveries credited to Cambridge - the DNA one interesting because the location was a pub! The electron, more as you might expect, on the wall of a laboratory building.
Lovely place. No doubt many days would still not do it justice, but a treat to spend an afternoon meandering and taking a good deal in. I imagine it would be very chaotic in full summer. Glad to have enjoyed it on a cloudy Saturday afternoon in May :).
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