28th October 2024

For my birthday, we headed to Cambridge to stay in a campsite near Trumpington. This was a change to tradition, because normally we venture into Suffolk and stay in Southwold. Last year, in the weeks before my birthday, the weather had been terrible, and the campsite eventually cancelled our booking because of flooding, requiring us to stay in a hotel.

We booked the Cambridge campsite for six nights, leaving the site on the Monday when it was closing for the winter. It seemed strange to close at the start of a school half term, we later heard this was because of the early Easter, and the number of days they are licensed to open, which forced them to close for half term. Even so, the campsite was terribly busy.

We arrived on Tuesday and put up the awning. The mild dry weather allowed us to sit outside after dark.  Talking of dark, I wish it was dark, I wish there were less lights around the campsite, and why oh why do caravanners and motorhome owners insist on leaving a light on over their doorway?  Moan over.

Wednesday – Granchester

We decided to walk into Cambridge, first towards Trumpington, then onto Grantchester, and finally Cambridge and along the River Cam. It was a lovely day. Blue sky and a light wind. We headed into Trumpington and turned left after the Waitrose onto Grantchester Road. Some lovely houses along this street along with a wedding venue. Before crossing the River Cam, we paid a visit to the Wildlife Trust Trumpington Meadows, basically a lovely walk along the Cam to Byron’s Pool, which turned out to be a weir, and then back to Grantchester Road to cross the river Cam.

The walk continued into Grantchester, past the church. Something was happening here, filming for ITV’s Grantchester was in progress The church was surrounded by lights, a nearby house was newly decorated, and covered in Wisteria flowers, in full plastic bloom. We stopped for lunch at the Red Lion, where we could watch the vans and production crew walking up and down the street. After a good lunch, we had an espresso from a popup near to the Cambridge distillery. There was the odd actor and acolyte around here. People running around with boxes of food & laundry. At the coffee stall we bumped into Robson Green. The coffee stall was not meant to be there, his day off? I suspect he’d heard the film production was in town and decided to make a profit. Excellent coffee by the way. He used a distributor before using a tamper

We continued our walk along the Cam, fairly good going with the odd little patch of mud. Despite the warm weather and sun, there were no punts on this stretch of water. There were a few below the locks, punting past the colleges.

A quick tea break at Michaelhouse Café, before setting home on the bus, hence the picture of Dame Mary Archer Way near Addenbrooke’s Hospital.

Thursday – Nish Kuma

Yet another beautiful day. Have I done something this year to deserve a beautiful day for my birthday?

No big rush to get into Cambridge, lunch was booked for 1.30 at the Millworks. We stopped off at Fatface, and looked around, not buying anything. The we headed to the Millworks where we were booked in for 1.30 Arriving early, we had cocktails at the bar before going to our table which was next to the water mill.  We had an enjoyable three course meal, complete with my 10% discount for being a Cambridge graduate, proved by my having a Cam Card. Afterwards we walked along to Caius Harvey Court where there is a coffee shop in the students rec area, open to the public. Sat outside on the brick steps and watch the squirrels run around.  So peaceful.

The rest of the afternoon was spent wandering around Cambridge, through Kings College, yea we were able to get through the Backs entrance, another useful feature of my degree and hence my Cam Card.

We were booked to see Nish Kumar at the Corn Exchange with Leila Navabi as support. Leila didn’t raise many laughs for us, she was a bit gynecological about her travel to motherhood without having sex with a man.  On the other hand, Nish was excellent and very funny. His hatred of Boris Johnson and the Tory Party knew no bounds.  His rate of talking was so fast! Then when a poor woman in the audience had to leave to go to the loo, he adlibbed at her expense for the duration of the time she was out of the auditorium, so she never missed any of the show.

When Nish had finished his show, the police requested that we did not leave because of an incident outside, so Nish came back on stage to answer questions. As he said, the lengths he went to to get an encore.

Having missed our bus due to the incident delaying our departure, we popped into The Pint Shop for some craft beer before catching the last bus back to the campsite.

Friday – Kettles Yard

We headed into Cambridge to visit Kettles Yard, and the nearby church of St Peters. St Peters church is very small with a quaint baptismal font, complete with mermen.

We also looked around Kettles Yard, where there was an exhibition of art by Portia Zvavahera. Her art draws on southern African culture and Christian iconography. All I can say, is that it does take up a lot of wall space and wouldn’t suit a small modern house.

We revisited the house where Jim and Helen Ede lived. Their residence there coincided with the first year of my life at Cambridge. R asked how they dust certain objects. An air puffing device was the solution.

R wanted to stop off at a bookshop she’d noticed. There was a British Library Crime Classics book ste in Cambridge in the window. The Bodies in the Bookshop had R in raptures. New & secondhand books. She exited with only five books, saying she could have bought more. A lucky escape for me.

Saturday – Saffron Walden

Saturday was earmarked for visiting Saffron Walden. We sat at the front of the upstairs of the bus  We arrived at and headed to the Fry Gallery. They had a special exhibition of local artists from their collection. It was called ‘Great Barfield and Beyond: A working Landscape”.

Olive Cook, in her book about North West Essex Artists, called Great Bardfield a “paradise”. But Edward Bawden and Eric Ravilious, who moved there in 1931, saw it differently. They saw the countryside as a place to work and develop their watercolors.

Later, Bawden brought other artists to Bardfield and nearby villages. These artists also liked the countryside and used their homes as studios. They would take the bus to London to teach part-time at art schools. By the 1970s, when Bawden moved away, many of the other artists had also left.

This exhibition shows the work of many different artists who lived and worked in the area, including Bawden, Ravilious, and others. They all found inspiration in the landscape, buildings, farms, and villages around them.

After our viewing, we walked around the market, and decided to have lunch at the Cross Keys Hotel.  What a disaster,  it was quite busy, but we agreed with a waitress to eat at a small table by the bar.  We ordered a drink directly from the bar, which took a while to turn up. The barman was rather overrun with orders. Then we were ignored by the waitresses for a very long time. R got her attention, by asking for a menu, and we were moved into the main part of restaurant.  We ordered, after a further wait for a waitress to take our order, and then we waited and waited and waited.  Eventually we gave up and left. If only someone had kept us informed as to what was happening. Perhaps warned us in advance about a long wait or even apologised during our frustrating wait. Google maps tells me that we were there for 1 hour and 40 minutes. Ended up getting a bite to eat from Gregs

Sunday – Little Rose

A more successful day on the food-side.  Caught the bus into Cambridge, had a coffee at the Café Nero, a large number of students sitting there working on their laptops. I can’t remember Sundays being like that, they were a day off. After coffee, the Fitzwilliam had opened, so we went inside to see the exhibition on the Paris 1924 Olympics. Fascinating seeing what outfits the women were allowed to wear and the limited array of sports they could participate in. Of course, it featured the Cambridge university participants and medal winners.

We headed ccross the road to the Little Rose restaurant for Sunday lunch. The Little Rose had been a Loch Fyne, but now its name had reverted to the original pub name from my days. This restaurant had exemplary service. Never left waiting to order, never waiting long for food, and at the same time not feeling rushed. A definite change from the previous failed day.

Monday

Packed up and left for home. Filled up with fuel on the way home. There is bound to be a fuel tax rise at the next budget. It is about time fuel duty is increased, it has been static for years, with even a 5p reduction.

Addenda

1 – Tax has not gone up.

2 – A few weeks before we left for Cambridge, I had to have a puncture repaired on the front drivers-side tyre of the VW. A few days after arriving home, I see there is a screw in the rear drivers-side tyre. Those two punctures and a third puncture in a Polestar tyre earlier make for three punctures this year. I haven’t had any other punctures in the last 10 years.