Rough Tor is the second highest point on Bodmin Moor, and in Cornwall. It’s a particularly striking and atmospheric feature of Bodmin Moor, as its rocky summit is topped with boulders piled up in a unique way. Climbing Rough Tor gives a great view over the surrounding Cornish countryside. Walking to Rough Tor involves crossing […]
The garden at Peterhouse has been beautiful over the past few weeks. The college has a large back garden contained within an old stone wall, and the whole lawn has been completely covered with daffodils. The garden lies behind the Fitzwilliam Museum, and extends a long way. I visited Peterhouse garden a few times within […]
The ancient landscape of Bodmin Moor has been occupied for over 10,000 years. While walking over the moorland you can find the remains of Bronze Age settlements fairly easily, as the stones of round houses are half-submerged in grass. Archeological evidence has shown that Mesolithic hunter gatherers and Neolithic early farmers also occupied this part […]
The Old Library at Queens’ College was opened to the public for a few weeks in February and early March. This beautiful place is still equipped with its original medieval lecterns. The floor and fittings are made of dark wood, making the library very atmospheric. I love the old volumes that surround you in the […]
Walking the South West Coast Path is a chance to discover some beautiful and soul-stirring scenery. I explored the coast path in North Devon, and I loved the rocky cliffs, crashing surf, and the pink thrift flowering everywhere. The coastline here is often strewn with fallen boulders that have dropped into the sea from […]
Founded by the Chancellor of the Exchequer in the time of Elizabeth I, Emmanuel College was originally intended as a home for Puritan beliefs. Today Emmanuel is known for its striped formal lawn in Front Court, its Wren chapel (one of only two in Cambridge), its swimming pool, and beautiful large paddock with a pond […]
King’s College is one of Cambridge’s most famous colleges, and its chapel has come to represent the city as a whole, as the emblem of the city council and perhaps Cambridge’s most iconic and recognisable landmark. Viewing the city from the castle mound, King’s chapel dominates the Cambridge skyline. The view towards the city centre […]
The Pitt Building on Trumpington Street in Cambridge has been the headquarters of Cambridge University Press for over a hundred years. The back of the building is covered with Virginia creeper and is one of the best places in the city to observe the colour change into autumn as the foliage changes from green to […]
In the heart of Tintagel village, on the Cornish coast, lies this 14th century cottage. The building was a yeoman’s farmhouse for centuries. It became a post office in the Victorian period, when it acquired a licence to be a letter receiving station for the district around Tintagel. Inside the Old Post Office are Victorian […]
Lucy Cavendish is not a well-known college, perhaps to the delight of its students. It is not on the tourist trail, but set among the ‘hill colleges’ near the Castle mound. Even there, it is not a large, obvious college like Fitzwilliam or Churchill, and is tucked away off a little side road. Lucy Cavendish […]
Robinson College is the youngest college in Cambridge. It was founded in 1979. Robinson College was created after a £17 million gift was made to the University of Cambridge by Sir David Robinson, a British entrepreneur and philanthropist, for the purpose of founding a new college in Cambridge. Constructed entirely of distinctive red brick, Robinson […]
An incredibly photogenic college, Newnham lies a little way off the beaten track. Newnham College was founded in 1871 by Henry Sidgwick, as Cambridge University’s second college for women. The first women’s college in Cambridge was Girton College, which was founded two years earlier. In Cambridge, Newnham is both the name of a college, and […]
Clare Hall is perhaps the most unusual-looking of the Cambridge colleges, and makes for a surprising visit. Designed more akin to a block of 1960s flats than a traditional college, Clare Hall nonetheless has an interesting history. Clare Hall was founded in 1966 directly by Clare College, as a college of advanced study that would […]
Founded in 1326, Clare College is the second oldest college in Cambridge. Clare College has perhaps the best location of all the Cambridge colleges: a site that spans both sides of the river, and is right in the city centre, off the pedestrianised and picturesque Trinity Lane. Set in the heart of the old University […]
I was lucky enough to pass St Catharine’s College on an open day in June. It happened to be a beautiful day as well. Many Cambridge colleges were open on this day to invite prospective students and the public in to look around, including nearby Peterhouse, Pembroke and Corpus. I knew I had to take […]
Regent’s Canal in London runs through the heart of the King’s Cross area of the city. I stumbled across the canal at the weekend, on my way to the Guardian offices. Although only a stone’s throw from the busy hub of King’s Cross station, the canal forms an amazing nine mile waterway through London. The […]
A remarkably friendly and open college, Pembroke is also beautiful, and very old. The delights of wandering its grounds – noticing another Gothic archway, a cat-flap cut into a modern door in a medieval building, or simply enjoying the gardens – do not diminish no matter how often you visit. This college lies directly on the […]
One of the newer colleges of the University of Cambridge, Darwin College nonetheless possesses old buildings, including this beautiful old granary on the banks of the River Cam. An interesting fusion of modern and old buildings, Darwin’s real delight lies in its pretty and secluded riverside gardens. The gardens are separated into alcoves that run […]
The Alma mater of Charles Darwin and John Milton, Christ’s is an established older college in Cambridge. Christ’s was founded in 1505, by a woman, Lady Margaret Beaufort, which makes it something rather special. The Founder Margaret Beaufort was one of the richest women in medieval England, the mother of Henry Tudor (Henry VII), and […]
A couple of summers ago I visited south Cornwall, where we took some beautiful walks along the South West Coast Path. Maintained by the National Trust and spanning 630 miles, the path connects walking trails through Dorset, Devon, Cornwall and Somerset. The coast path follows picturesque and scenic routes along cliff tops and beside beaches […]