Off to Cambridge today! We left just after 10am in John's car, driven by Denise. Our first stop was Grantchester, where we stopped at the Red Lion pub for a cup of coffee. There was a riotous group on the tables next to us - some very cockney accents! They had been punting on the River Cam and were having a hilarious time.
After we left the Red Lion we walked to St Andrew and St Mary church - which was mentioned in Rupert Brooke's poem "The Old Vicarage, Grantchester" but no, the church clock didn't show ten to three! Rupert Brooke is mentioned on their Roll of Honour (he died whilst in the army during the first World War). We did try, unsuccessfully, to find the Old Vicarage, where the writer Jeffrey Archer and his wife Mary now live.
We walked through the village, which is small and quaint, and came across a Hire Engine - a fire engine that can be hired for stag or hen nights!
We left Grantchester to drive to Cambridge University (raining, of course!). Denise had completed her Ph.D at the Department of Physics, Darwin College and she and John were very familiar with the area. The University is a lovely place, with the River Cam winding through. We had a walk around Clare College and then walked into the town, where we had a delicous lunch at the Copper Kettle. There was a very Society-type wedding taking place, everybody dressed to the nines with all the men in tails and the women in very classy dresses and hats.
Our next stop was King's College Chapel - bigger than most churches and really beautiful. The foundation stone was laid by King Henry VI on Passion Sunday in 1441, his other "royal and religious" foundation was Eton College. Both of these colleges were to admit a maximum of 70 boys drawn from poor backgrounds (how things change!) with the boys from Eton being guaranteed automatic and exclusive entry into King's College.
After Henry was murdered in 1471, the Chapel was completed with money from Richard III and Henry VII.
There is a dark oak Screen, housing the organ, in the middle of the long nave and this was a gift of Henry VIII sometime between 1533 and 1536. Henry also commissioned the stained glass windows on the north, south and east sides of the chapel.
We found the obligatory Green Man in one of the side chapels and, on the Sanctuary Altar, beneath the Great East Window there is a spectacular painting, "the Adoration of the Magi" by Rubens, donated by A E Allnatt in 1961. Again, Rupert Brooke is mentioned on the Roll of Honour (he was a Fellow of King's). All in all, it was a very moving experience and something we will treasure.
We left the Chapel and had a walk around the rest of Cambridge, passing various other colleges such as Christ's, Corpus Christi, Trinity, and also had great fun, watching the people punting on the river - it was easy to see who were the professionals (punting the bigger punts) and the amateurs, who had hired smaller punts and wobbled all over the place!
By this time, the sun had come out and there was a lovely blue sky. However, it was time to head for home. On the way, we stopped for a drink at the Sun Inn - a lovely pub complete with many colourful window boxes and hanging baskets. Then home for tea. Simon joined us, which gave us a chance to have a chat with him, which we thoroughly enjoyed.
