Exploring England's northwest - NOW COMPLETE About This Page:

[Bert & Sully]

Cheryl great pictures! Looking forward to more.

[chezp]

Saturday 23 August: an educational stop on the way back

We left my parents at around 9:30 a.m., after packing everything into the car somehow, I’m not quite sure how exactly as we had acquired a lot during our stay! This included 48 pansy plants – DF is a great gardener and I always jump at the chance to take any of his plants back with me if he’s offering them!

We drove straight down to Cambridge, which is probably about 150 miles from my parents and we were there by 12 p.m. Cambridge, like the other famous English college city of Oxford, is within easy reach of London and both are very similar. They’re also very popular tourist destinations and I must admit I did wonder if going to Cambridge was such a good idea as it was the Saturday of the long Bank Holiday weekend (most places in this country have three days off over a Bank Holiday weekend), but it didn't seem to be too busy.

We parked in a park-and-ride south of the city, so it would be easy for us to get back on the motorway and continue our journey home after our stop. I can't fault the park-and-ride service, it was excellent. Although the literature about it said that the bus route could take up to 20 minutes, we were in the city centre in less than 10 minutes.

Our first stop was to get sandwiches at a supermarket, but as we sat down to eat them we had a nasty shock. A small, but very vocal, group of animal rights protesters were right by where we were eating, protesting against Cambridge University using animals in their experiments. They had also taken over the Church of Great St Mary's, meaning no visitors could get up there, a real disappointment as I was hoping to go up there and get a view of the city. I don't mind people protesting, but targeting tourists won't necessarily affect the University, but Cambridge as a whole. It certainly made me want to get away from there as quickly as possible and I'm sure I wasn't the only one. It wasn't a good advert for the city.

I took some quick photos of Kings College and the Senate building but couldn't get a shot of the Church because of all the police vans parked all round it. It seems they were monitoring the protesters, but not actually doing anything about them. I guess that's the price you pay for free speech.


The Senate building

Kings College

I was conscious of the clouds in the sky all the time, so suggested we walked down to the River Cam so I could see them punting on the river. A bit like in Venice, we were asked to every term if we wanted to go on a punt. I'd love to, but we didn't have time and I was sure if we did, it would rain almost as soon as we stepped on to the boat! It's something I'd love to do so perhaps a return trip is in order someday soon.


Punts colliding out on the River Cam

Sure enough, as we stood on the bridge watching five punts collide with each other, we felt a few drops of rain, which gradually got heavier, so not wanting to get the cameras or video camera wet, we headed away from the river to where there was more shelter from the rain.

We walked past Trinity and St. John’s Colleges and then took another look at River Cam. I was hoping to see the Bridge of Sighs, it was round the corner so I guess the only way to see it is on a punt. Another good reason to take one then!


The entrance to Trinity College

Our final walk took us past another of Cambridge’s colleges, Sidney Sussex.


The entrance to Sidney Sussex college

A lot are open to the public, but you do have to pay to go into them. Having bought a guidebook in Cambridge, it was our plan to return for a weekend to enjoy the city and take a trip on a punt. We can then work out which colleges we want to pay to visit on our next trip. They all look beautiful from outside and the guidebook has some wonderful photos from inside them as well. Both Cambridge and Oxford our amazingly beautiful cities and well worth a visit from London. I'm sure will be back to see Cambridge again soon – I certainly hope so. Interestingly enough while we were in Cambridge, we heard an awful lot of American accents so I guess it's favourite visit for Americans over in the UK.

We were home by just after 4 p.m., after another quick stop off at our local shopping mall and then it was time to get back to normal and back to the boards!

[BostonTeaParty]

"Ferry 'Cross the Mersey" by Gerry and the Pacemakers!! I'ver heard that song for years on the radio. That and "Don't Let the Sun Catch You Crying."

Thanks so much for sharing your trip with us Cheryl. I enjoyed it tremendously. I'm sorry to see it come to an end. Sorry you didn't make it to the Walled City of Chester. Maybe next time? I believe there is a Bridge of Sighs thereabouts too.

[AKLRULZ]

Great job Cheryl and fantastic snaps of the sights. Really appreciate you following through with a trip report - it's great to read about other's adventurous around the world! [img]graemlins/wavin.gif[/img]

[Colexis Mom]

Great report Cheryl. Thanks for sharing, and your pictures were fantastic [img]images/icons/grin.gif[/img]

[Bert & Sully]

Some more great pictures!! Thanks Cheryl.

[ProChristo]

I finally got caught up on your report and I'm so glad I did. Your writing is so descriptive, I feel like I'm right there with you, especially with your wonderful pictures. Sounds like you had a wonderful time.

[loobyoxlip]

Wow, Cheryl. I just spent the last 1/2 hour reading your report and taking in all the wonderful places you went. It sounds like such a great time. Your pictures are beautiful, and your descriptions of where you went were right on! Thank you so much for sharing your adventures. Now I can't WAIT til you go to DLP and post that TR! [img]graemlins/love.gif[/img] Great job!!

[dsnytina]

Cheryl:
Just wanted to say "Thanks!" [img]images/icons/grin.gif[/img]
You've provided an insight into British life that we Americans don't usually get! Thanks for including the pics, too!
Tina [img]graemlins/usa.gif[/img]

[Disneyphile's Wife]

Thanks for the great TR; it makes me want to kidnap DH and travel to England. It sounds like you had a fun time.

[joyjoy]

Wow, I just found this. What a GREAT report! I loved it, and the pictures, too. I've visited England, but only London and surrounding areas. I'd love to see this northwestern part of the country, it looks lovely.

Thank you so much, Cheryl!