Sunday was bright, and sunny and in the height of the day, just a touch too humid. With the recent calming of tensions in the Wingate household, a reward was in order. What better than a trip? It was decided that Cambridge would be appropriate and on Sunday, we went to King’s Cross station and we were off.

A point of interest, for fans of the Harry Potter movies. Harry boards the train to Hogwarts from platform 9 ¾, I believe, which we had to pass to get to our train.

Cambridge, named for the River Cam which arcs around the town, is an area that is steeped in history, both great and small. It, like so much of England, can trace its history back a long way. The road that passes through the centre of town was built by the Romans in 2 or 3 A.D. The churches, colleges and houses are tangible guides through history.

It is a popular pursuit for people to proceed to punt in Cambridge. Punting is done on the river in long, rectangular wooden boats. The punter, using a pole to propel the punt, places himself on a plane deck at the posterior of the boat. With a push on the pole, your punt proceeds.

There are two choices, within the purview of punts; you can be taken down the river by a guide who is proficient in the sights and history as well proper punting procedure. Or you can plump for a DIY punting adventure. For those on the river, professional punters provide the proper perspective of the proceedings. For those of us standing on the shore or one of the plentiful bridges over the river, tourists not properly proficient with protracted poles and even longer punts are positively the more entertaining of the pair.

One of the things for which Cambridge is famous is the bridges over the river. There is the bridge that crosses from the back of St John’s college. It is made as a replica of the Bridge of Sighs in Venice, Italy. There is the mathematical bridge that crosses from the President’s Lodge of Queen’s college. Rumour also has it that the wooden bridge was designed and assembled by such that it was held together without using any bolts. They were only required after less talented builders dismantled the bridge for repairs. Sadly, also false.

Cambridge is, of course home to Cambridge University. The University is not located on one campus, but is made up of many colleges. There are 31 colleges and each is a separate institution and are governed by the University. Some of the colleges have been recently established, but some, such as King’s college and Pembroke college date from the 14^th of 15^th century.

Although the colleges are still in operation as institutes of higher learning, they permit visitors in to the grounds. It is felt like stepping back in time to walk around the immaculately manicured grounds of the colleges. It’s amazing what a few dozen generations of lawn maintenance can accomplish.

We also walked north, up the road through the centre of town.
It changes names about five times and brought us to a side street that led into a neighbourhood. There we found the house in which my Mother and my Uncle grew up. It was an interesting connection with my past, and I could picture my Mother riding her bicycle up the hill, home after work.

The train ride home took about an hour. The way home always seems shorter as was the case on Sunday. Despite the short length of time it actually took, it seemed like we were coming back from the past.