Classic postcards of Cambridge and Cambridge University

As I mentioned in an earlier post, my father was stationed in England during WWII. I recently sorted through correspondence and photos belonging to my late parents and found a set of 'twelve hand coloured postcards of the latest local views' of Cambridge, a city my father visited in January 1944. I scanned them in and am posting them here. He wrote on the back of one of the postcards that he had 'seen all these places'. There are two different messages from the Prime Minister of England that alternate on the back sides of these postcards. The first is "This is a time for everyone to stand together, and hold firm!"; the second is "Let us all strive without failing in faith or in duty". Words of inspiration from Winston Churchill, who was the prime minister (the second of three) during the war.

A poem by William Wordsworth

I wandered lonely as a cloud

I wandered lonely as a cloud
That floats on high o'er vales and hills,
When all at once I saw a crowd,
A host, of golden daffodils;
Beside the lake, beneath the trees,
Fluttering and dancing in the breeze.

Continuous as the stars that shine
And twinkle on the milky way,
They stretched in never-ending line
Along the margin of a bay:
Ten thousand saw I at a glance,
Tossing their heads in sprightly dance.

The waves beside them danced; but they
Out-did the sparkling waves in glee:
A poet could not but be gay,
In such a jocund company:
I gazed---and gazed---but little thought
What wealth the show to me had brought:

For oft, when on my couch I lie
In vacant or in pensive mood,
They flash upon that inward eye
Which is the bliss of solitude;
And then my heart with pleasure fills,
And dances with the daffodils. 

(written in 1804 by William Wordsworth, when he had seen the daffodils blooming around Ullswater Lake in the Lake District)

A walk around Derwentwater Lake

The eight-mile walk around Derwentwater Lake in the Lake District took us about four hours to complete, with a few stops along the way to rest, appreciate the beautiful landscape, watch the ducks, take photos, and consult the guide book. I didn't want to hurry my way through this lovely walk. We started out at the Derwentwater Marina and continued counterclockwise around the lake, ending at the Theatre by the Lake (for a good idea of the walk route, scroll down to see the map: http://www.lakedistrict.gov.uk/__data/assets/pdf_file/0006/171987/Derwentwater-LUG-2012.pdf).

Derwentwater marina

mossy tree roots--look like green feet

Derwentwater cruise on a Keswick launch 

For more information about Derwentwater Lake, you can visit: http://www.lakedistrict.gov.uk/visiting/placestogo/explorederwentwater. And for information about the Keswick launch cruise, go to: http://www.keswick-launch.co.uk/

The magic of Keswick and the Lake District

After leaving Cambridge, we drove north and then west to the Lake District of England--into Beatrix Potter, William Wordsworth, and Samuel Coleridge country. A sense of magic pervades this part of England; it’s the feel of the place--unstable weather, hilly landscapes and mountains, pristine lakes, shifting clouds, the greenery, the sunlight and the way it infuses the colors of the hills and the sky with a certain vibrancy and crispness. The drive into the Lake District is a pastoral scene unto itself; gray stone farmhouses dot the landscape here and there, and sheep abound.

About sixteen million tourists visit the Lake District each year; July and August are presumably the busiest months since most people have summer vacation then. We visited the Lake District the week before summer vacation officially started for most of Britain, which enhanced the experience for me because we did not have to deal with masses of people at all junctures. On our eight-mile walk around Derwentwater Lake, we met perhaps a total of twenty other walkers during the four hours it took us to complete the walk, which suited me just fine. I liked the feeling of having the lake almost to ourselves. There is a wildness here that feels untamable; it emanates from the geographic nature of the land. I liked the feeling of undisturbed nature about me, of wandering down to the water’s edge and looking out over the vast expanse of lake, of stopping to listen to the wind blowing through the trees, of just being a small part of it.

It’s hard not to love a place that has small towns with names like Bowness-on-Windermere, Ambleside, Grasmere, or lakes with names like Buttermere, Ullswater, Derwentwater, Windermere, or mountains called Helvellyn, Scafell and Skiddaw. We stayed three nights at the Lairbeck Hotel (run by Malcolm and Jennifer Hutchinson) located on Vicarage Hill road in the town of Keswick (the ‘w’ is not pronounced), a short walk from the town center. The Lairbeck is a lovely Victorian country house hotel that enchanted me from the moment I walked through its front doors and into the vestibule (http://www.lairbeckhotel-keswick.co.uk/homepage.html). Jennifer greeted us and showed us to our room, the School Room, which had a window seat with a view that overlooked the beautifully-kept garden. A window seat! Anyone who knows me knows that I always wanted my own room with a window seat when I was a child. Our stay here was pleasant and relaxing, with friendly hosts and a great breakfast in the dining room with a garden view to look forward to each morning.

scenic view from the front of the Lairbeck Hotel

The Cumbrian market town of Keswick is a find in all ways, with lovely scenic views and a variety of interesting boutiques, pubs, cafes and architecturally-interesting houses. And of course the meals at several different pubs; the food was consistently excellent (in our opinion). The first night we ate at The Inn at Keswick (http://theinnkeswick.co.uk/) in the town center; I had the Cumberland sausage and mash, and my husband had the lamb hot pot.The following nights we ate at the Pheasant Inn at Keswick (http://www.pheasantinnkeswick.co.uk/), right down the road from our hotel. I tried the Lakeland beef and Cumberland ale pie, and my husband ate the Fish Pie—both were excellent, in addition to the variety of beers available. The homemade tomato soup was also excellent.

We were not in Keswick long enough to do all the walking tours I would have liked to do (only two days), but we did manage the Derwentwater Lake walk as I mentioned above, which took us about four hours (I'll post photos from this walk in my next post). Besides this walk, we drove down to Bowness-on-Windermere on one rainy afternoon and through the towns of Ambleside and Grasmere (home to William Wordsworth). We did not manage a visit to Dove Cottage where Wordsworth, his wife, and his sister lived, although we did visit The World of Beatrix Potter attraction in Bowness-on-Windermere. This was not her actual home though; she lived at Hill Top farm in Near Sawrey, Hawkshead, Ambleside; on a future trip to the Lake District, Hill Top farm and Dove Cottage will be two of the first stops. Beatrix Potter was an impressive woman; world-famous author of children’s books and a wonderful artist, but also an astute businesswoman, who owned fourteen farms and four thousand acres of land in the Lake District, which she willed to the National Trust when she died. It’s not hard to understand why this area enchanted so many writers, poets and artists. I definitely want to return here and explore it some more. 

On our way to Newcastle-on-Tyne, where we took the ferry to Amsterdam for our return trip home, we drove through the outer edges of the Westernhope and Middlehope Moors, in the area near Stanhope, a small town located on the north east side of Weardale. This was a rather unexpected detour, as our GPS somehow pushed us in this direction in its quest to get us to Newcastle via the fastest route. Driving over the moors was breathtaking but also a bit spooky. You could see for miles--desolate and rough land that stretches out forever in all directions. Not another car to be seen for miles. If you broke down out there, you could probably wait for hours for help. Again, there were many sheep out grazing on the moors, and some of them had come right up to the edge of the road, which made driving rather hazardous at times; my husband found it stressful. Driving this stretch of road in the dark would not be something I would like to do. We made it in one piece (and without a car breakdown) to Newcastle and reached our ferry on time. Now at home a few days later, the magic of the entire trip remains with me, happily so.

Snapshots of Cambridge life

Our Holiday Inn hotel in Cambridge was located on the outskirts of the city, so that we enjoyed a nice walk along the Tins bicycle- and foot-path in the Cherry Hinton suburban area whenever we walked to the city center. The Tins runs on the North side of the flooded chalk pits (three big lakes) that are the subject of much discussion in Cambridge at present. There is a movement spearheaded by Steve Turvill, owner of the Italian deli Limoncello, to make these lakes (currently fenced off to the general public) available for swimming, boating and fishing. It seems like a good idea, since there really is little point in keeping them fenced off when they could be enjoyed by all. One of the lakes is located on land used by the Territorial Army; this land in particular seems quite popular with brown rabbits. We saw many of them through the wire fence, especially during the early evening, eating grass and vegetation, and seemingly unfazed by the presence of pedestrians and cyclists traveling along the Tins. Brown rabbits were also visible outside the dining room windows of the hotel when we ate breakfast. I've never seen so many rabbits in one place except on the island of Gressholmen in Norway (the subject of a recent post). 

Every time I've traveled to England (about six times if I recall correctly), I've been met with good weather--blue skies and sun. Most of the country's inhabitants will tell you that it rains a lot in England, so that my experiences of good weather have been the exception and not the rule. So I accept that I've been lucky. One of the advantages of good weather was that I was able to take a lot of photos in Cambridge during our walks around the city. Snapshots of Cambridge life--enjoy!

University building

punting on the river Cam

Cambridge idyll

houseboats on the river Cam

The Fort St. George pub on Midsummer Common 

Cambridge Botanical Garden