23 Cambridge September 8

After leaving the cemetery there was little talking on the short ride to Cambridge. We were dropped off at one end of town and lunches were distributed. Cambridge University is unlike most American universities in that there is no central campus. Like most universities there are a number of colleges that comprise the university. At Cambridge each college is like a separate campus. They are self contained and have a large gate to enter the campus. This is also where they stop you and charge you a fee to go inside. We walked down King’s Parade, the main street, where the front gates of the oldest colleges are located. The back side of all these colleges is the bank of the river Cam. They cleverly do not have a foot path along side of the river. This prevents people from sneaking in without paying the entrance fee. It also makes riding down the river on a “punt” so that you can see the backyards of all the colleges more attractive. More on Punting will be forthcoming.

We decided to pay the fee and go in and see King’s College. Founded by King Henry VI in 1441, and thus we know why it is named so. Although all the building are old the most prominent building in the college and perhaps in the town, is the King’s College Chapel. It has been called perhaps the best example of Perpendicular Gothic architecture in England. What this means is that everything about the building seems to point straight up to heaven. This is true on the inside and outside.





Building a building in the 1400s was a slow process. Henry VI began the sponsorship and supervision of the Chapel building but he did not live to see the project completed. Henry VI was deposed by the son of his great great uncle who became king but that started the war of the roses. It was a mess! Here is the family tree, you figure it out?








Inside the chapel is a very large empty space with all the lines going straight up and down. It is so expansive that it has been called the “noblest barn in Europe”.

That description seems a bit harsh to me. It does not have the cross shaped floor plan that most churches and cathedrals have. It felt very different. Much of the decoration and carvings commemorate people and kings (like these Tudor roses of King Henry VI) and do not particularly point people to God.

The chapel was still being built when Henry VIII was king. In fact Henry VIII and Ann Boleyn are said to have carved their initials in the chapel. One of my colleagues said they saw them but I did not. This is particularly amazing since Henry and Ann were only married a couple of years before he had her head cut off for adultery. Ironic since Ann was carrying Henry’s baby before he was divorced from his first wife Catherine. Talk about your double standard.

The most fun activity of the day was watching the punters. Punts are basically Jon Boats with a flat deck on the end where a person stands with a long pole and propels the craft down or up the slow moving waters of the Cam. It appears to be great fun and they market this adventure feverishly all the way up and down the street. We were asked at least 15 times if we were interested in a “punt on the Cam”. You can rent the whole boat and take your friends. This is funny as it evidently is not as easy as it looks to get that little water craft going in a somewhat straight line. If not for the snail like pace of these boats the bumper car punts would have been dangerous. But as it was there was a lot of good natured taunting of the nautical skills of all of the amateurs.

The smart ones (or perhaps it is the wealthy ones) bought a ride in a punt that was professionally propelled by young “Cambridgeiens.” This comes with a history lesson of Cambridge and the colleges along the Cam. Standing on one of the bridges you could catch snippets of the history as the boats passed under the bridge and if you were not careful you might get poked in the eye with a long pole as they pulled it out of the water and raised it in the air just as the punt passed under the bridge. The pole would suddenly come popping up over the bridge rail on which we were leaning. This surprised me at first.

The punters were quite the variety. There were families.

There were professional punters who evidently were a bit ashamed of their profession and wore a mask.

There were lazy male chauvinist pig punt riders or perhaps it was liberated female punter.

There was a confluence of amateur punters which resulted in a near log jam.

Then there was the walk down memory lane punters. The ties are an indication that they attended one of the colleges at Cambridge in the distant past and they were here to relive their glory days. Well done.

A bride and groom were having their pictures taken on the Mathematical Bridge. This bridge was supposedly designed by some famous mathematician in such a way that no bolts or nails were needed to hold it up. One punt guide was heard saying that one of the rumors as to why it now has bolts was that the Queen was coming to walk on it and they did not want to take any chances.

On the way home on the Coach we saw a very unusually dressed motorcyclist following what appeared to be a Mary Kay consultant.

It was a good day.

Ray