A Cambridge Compendium

Cambridge To The Core

Sitting on the corner, opposite St Giles' Church in Cambridge, is this strange obelisk.... 

...Whatever can it be? It seems to have some strange carvings on it...

How very odd! Luckily there's an explanatory sign on the wall nearby. It states that it's a work of art by sculptor, Michael Fairfax, which represents the layers of Cambridge's past. On this site an archaeological dig revealed remnants of a Roman street, a first millennium burial site, Saxon and Medieval buildings, a Medieval coin hoard and a nineteenth-century pub. These are all represented at different levels on the column. The sculpture is like a core taken through the various layers.


Walking On Sunshine

Little brass plaques set into the path in a rather random fashion. That man Michael Fairfax again. He calls them Marguerites, though I don't know if there is any deeper significance than something to brighten up the path.


Topping

An old and rather battered looking top hat. The crumpled appearance is partly because it's a collapsible hat that can be squashed flat and can then later be encouraged to return to its original shape with a smart punch to the inside of the crown. Who would wear such a thing? Choirboys. Choirboys at Kings College Choir School who would walk across to the Chapel so dressed and then sit on their hats during a service. One of my school friends had one though we never knew if he'd really stolen it from the head of a choirboy or not.

Look Up!

  
Goodness me! And that's up above Bown's, a very high-class ladies' dress shop. An ancient carving tucked under the jettied upper storey of this old building. It seems to suggest that some very different ladies once occupied the building.


Sight-seeing

On a summer's day one of the nicest ways to view the famous College Backs (where the colleges of the University back down on to the river) is by a ride on a chauffeured punt. But on a rainy day in late autumn?


Take care.