Trinity Great Court. King Edward's Tower is where the Great Court clock is located which rings the hour twice, supposedly once for Trinity and once for St John's. It is this clock which is used to time the race by students around Great Court at midnight on the night of the annual Matriculation Feast, as featured in the film 'Chariots of Fire', although Trinity did not allow this to be filmed in college (it was filmed at Eton College instead.) The idea is to get around the court before the clock finishes ringing, and the only way most people can do this is by cutting corners. The only way I can do it is by... well, by cutting doing it at all.

A fairly famous spot in Cambridge, officially unnamed but unofficially called - what do you think? Reality Checkpoint? Four Lamps? Four Went Ways? - All places in Cambridge... and by the way, can you believe there was snow in Cambridge last night??? Snow!? Jeez. And btw2, One of the top bods at Waterstone's has just emailed me saying he's going to be talking to his Head Buyer about the Pig because he 'thought it looked intriguing, so i gave it a go and ended up reading the whole thing. I thought it was fantastic! It's hugely inventive, rather moving and I thoroughly enjoyed it.' How fantastic is that?? Let's hope the Pig is going places.

Oh yeah, sorry - it's Reality Checkpoint. Read all about this unassuming but historic little lamppost here.

Cambridge's Catholic Church, this time the back end, replete with gargoyles and tower - I like it, despite the faux-jaunty angle ;p By the way, I think that was the last of the blue skies for a while...

The rather excellent south-east corner of Gonville and Caius College's Tree Court snapped from Senate House Passage, built in 1868. That gap between the two buildings is what those crazy Night Climbers leaped - one of the more scary and ethereal images in Whipplesnaith's book.

A lovely example of restrained Art Deco architecture tucked away in Hobson Street. The Cambridge Motor Service Co. became the Central Cinema in 1921 and the present building dates from 1930. It became the Odeon and has been a bingo hall since 1972. House!

Is it really...


...that time again? I'm feeling a dull headache building to a crescendo of humbuggery and Scroogeness... Yep, Christmas must be on the way ;p

Second's In...


Folks - meet Freepressionist (known in the yard as Mallet), my horse! Ok, ok - I own one tiny bit of her, one twelfth to be exact. Probably the head don't you think...? Anyway, two weeks ago she had her first run and came sixth in a field of eleven. Yesterday, in the 2.00 at Lingfield she came second! 'Nuff said...

Turning over about a billion new leaves...


I guess, despite the dappled rays, herein lies the proof of approaching colds and chills, flus and fevers...


Did I mention that the Pig's first review was in the other day btw? It was called 'transcendent' - how cool is that? You can read the review on the blog.

Gorgeous day the other day; I'm cycling along, the breeze in my hair, the sun on my face and I catch sight of the Catholic Church (of Our Lady and the English Martyrs), all resplendent in the sunlight, gargoyles clearly grinning with malice around its roof, tower and spire, and I smile to myself and carry jauntily on my way until I see the carriage above. The vehicle of the Devil, facilitating a service that can only lead to misery and despair and I think 'There, but for the grace of God, go I...'

;p

I think I put a picture of this up at this time every year - certainly did last year. I forget what type of plant it is but it just gets so... 'worked up' about autumn. It's ablaze. I love it. Of course, it's a harbinger of the misery and desperation, the soul-twisting, anguish-laden hours to come. Yep, Christmas is coming.

Huntingdon's about 18 miles from Cambridge and is not famous for its pubs; well, it is - but for the wrong reasons! However, in Hartford, a village on its outskirts now subsumed by the town has a great little place called the King of the Belgians. Welcoming and atmospheric with beer that's well kept and regularly changed. It's worth a trip out here I reckon - which is why I head there at least once a month. The stickers on the ceiling are of varying ages and are the insignias and mascots of various local and visiting squadrons. Evocative of the Eagle here in Cambridge. The pictures out of focus because, well, the photographer was a bit out of focus by this time...

Wanna get all cloistered away? Cambridge is the place to do it - and you don't have to be nun; flying or otherwise...

I know sunset shots are cheap and easy but as I was out in the Fens today about 20 miles from the city, delivering books etc., I thought I'd show you where I grew up. Lots of nothing for miles and miles. And lots of water - everywhere. That's why us natives have webbed hands and feet...

This shot is of Clare College Bridge with the college behind and the Cam below. Today I wanted to draw attention to the slice left out of the first decorative ball - that is of course, the bit the photograph doesn't show well but I think if you look closely you can see the (unmottled) wedge-shaped hole on the right. There are two common tales that explain this (but in reality no-one knows the truth):

1. The bridge's builder was not paid in full due to the college's dissatisfaction of its construction. The builder thus took his revenge by committing a small act of petty vandalism.
2. A college fellow removed the quarter-sphere to ensure another fellow could not win a bet with him as to how many spheres there are on the bridge.

No old building today - new flowers instead. I've no idea what these are and so I snapped 'em. This is what some of our Council Tax goes on and seeing as the rest of it was probably in an Icelandic bank - we may as well enjoy them while we can...

A view from the University Combination Room over to Gonville and Caius College, the Gate of Honour in the foreground and, in the background, the tower of St John's College. The coffee's still dreadful but the views are great...

The very beautiful Cloister Court of Sidney Sussex College. Way busy so can't stop...

Tidy.


The Faculty of Divinity building is attractive in an over-egged kind of way. The faculty moved to new buildings in 2000 so this is back under St John's College control - and I'm not sure what it's used for now. They're still working on a cleaning programme for the last bits of it but as you can see, they've finished the front door and the ol' girl's scrubbed up good.

STS


Today's Standard Tourist Shot isof the front gate of Trinity College, the richest and, arguably, the grandest in Cambridge and was founded in 1546 by Henry VIII. Nicked from Wikipedia:

Trinity has a very strong academic tradition, with members having won thirty-one Nobel Prizes, five Fields Medals (mathematics), one Abel Prize (mathematics) and two Templeton Prizes (religion). Trinity has many distinguished alumni – the most notable being Sir Isaac Newton. It has also educated six British Prime Ministers. The first formalised version of the rules of football, known as the Cambridge Rules, was drawn up by Cambridge student representatives of leading public schools at Trinity College in 1848

This is the decoration above the doors of St John's College gatehouse - rather fabulous don't you think? It was built sometime in the 1500s. The college is one of the richer ones in town and was one of the last to admit women. Shameful...

And Back...


in sunny Cambridge and to a building built at exactly the same time as the Guildhall below. Work started on St John's College Chapel in 1863.

Finally.

The last of Northampton. Phonecam pic so quality not ideal, and of course, the trademark tilt - but that's mainly because it's the only way I could get the whole building in... It's stunning up close and was designed by Edward William Godwin and they started work on it in 1864. There are carvings and exterior friezes showing all aspects of life in the town from shoemaking to horseracing - amazing. Godwin's other clients included Oscar Wilde and Princess Louise (for whom he designed a studio at Kensington Palace). He also built a house for the painter James Whistler ca1877 in Tite Street, Chelsea.

And now for something completely different. See the book below - a neat copy of Auchincloss' 1966 novel The Embezzler. Except it isn't. There's this guy in the states who finds tired old vintage books, worth nothing, and remakes them as fantastic journal/notebooks! There's a lot of people out there who are well into their stationery and Tyler's are almost the Rolls Royce of such. I ordered one for a friend and they were overjoyed with it. He uses hand cut papers of different types ad colours and sews them in with fishing line and then resizes and rebinds the book. Each is literally one of a kind. You can keep your Moleskines and Mujis...



I just thought I'd give him a shout - give it up for Tyler Bender's Vintage Cover Journals!! I've just ordered another; talk about earning brownie points...