Cambridge

When going to school at a university, what stands out to people? Is it the large buildings that dot the campus? Is it the library that provides all the research material? While all these things do stand out, they are not what makes the memories. Although I only spent a day at Cambridge, I feel I learned more about the university by floating down the river Cam in a punt, then by touring the school and visiting the library.

A punt is a flat bottomed boat that is stirred by a person with a pole. This provides a slow and enjoyable ride down the river. According to the St John’s College at Cambridge, this activity is fairly young and started at the beginning of the last century when river traffic died down; originally punting was used for hunting waterfowl in the marshlands and other activities that needed to be done in the shallow water (Preston, 1).

As I floated down the river with the guide, not only did I get to see various students studying and heading to exams, but I got to see them drinking and staying off the grass. Cambridge has immaculate grass because the only people who are allowed to step onto it are the professors. Visitors can not walk on the grass, and even students can not place a toe on the perfectly flat, green. immaculate lawn. That would not go over well at BYU.

By floating down the river, I got to see the “Backs.” Literally the back lawns of various colleges, these backs provided a view into the oldest colleges at Cambridge. I loved seeing King’s College and Trinity.

I learned that Stephen Hawking and John Milton both attended Cambridge University. I guess I really have never considered what famous people attended this university.

I find it interesting to learn how many different accounts are floating about over the Mathematical bridge. This bridge crosses the Cam river and is part of the Queens college. According to Professor Talbot, the bridge was originally constructed without any bolts. The Cambridge students wished to know how it was put together; to figure it out they took it apart and were unable to put it back together. Our river guide said this was false, claiming that the bridge was never taken apart but bolts were put in to make it so the bridge could pass the legal requirements of safety. Queen’s college refutes all of these stories saying that the bridge was constructed 250 years ago with coach screws at the joint and “only a pedant could claim that the Bridge was originally built without nails” (Walker, 1). Bless those show offs for messing with the poor tourist’s heads.

Another enjoyable scene I saw as I floated down the river in the Punt, was the lovely sight of King’s college Chapel. This chapel I later went in. It was commissioned by Henry VI who had great ideas for the whole college, but his untimely murder in the tower of London (I saw the room where he died) meant that only his plans for the chapel where completed and that only happened through the patronage of following kings (King’s, 1). This amazing Chapel creates an impressive sight when the visitor first walks in. Narrow but very high, the chapel is eighty feet high with fan vaulting; this breathtaking view was completed between 1512 and 1515(King’s, 2). It was an amazing sight.

Although I did not get to talk to any of the university students, I do feel that floating down the River Cams provided a wonderful look into how the university life is. Unfortunately it was Exam week, so we saw mostly the studious life, but we still were able to catch a glimmer.

King’s College: Cambridge. Cambridge, Cambridge University Press.

Preston, Aeron. The History of Punting. April 2008. St. John’s College: May 2008.

Walker, Robin. The Mathematical Bridge. Queens Collage: May 2008.