Self-Guided walk no 39 Colleges and the , 5.1 miles.

About 5 miles, easy flat walking on pavements and footpaths, and sections on minor roads.

Start: Trumpington Park and Ride, Cambridge. Take bus to Centre of Cambridge, where the walk starts from the bus stop outside John Lewis.

1 As you get off the bus, turn right and walk to the corner of St Andrews St. and Downing St. (Emmanuelle College is straight ahead. Founded 1584. Nick name Emma.) Use the pedestrian controlled traffic lights to cross the road and turn R into Regent Street. (Somewhere St Andrews St becomes Regent St.) Continue along Regent St. to just before Pizza Hut. Cross the road and enter a park called Parker’s Piece. (It is here that the rules of football were formed in 1848. A group of representatives and students from Cambridge had the bright idea to draw up a definitive set of rules. Copies of the rules were pinned to the trees surrounding Parker's Piece, which had become the favourite place for matches and kick-abouts.) Take the path half left to the centre. (Here is a lamp post called the Reality Checkpoint.) Take the path on the L and to the road called Parkside. Turn L. Use the pedestrian crossing to cross the road and turn L. (Look out for house no 25 which was the home for Jewish refugees from Nazi Germany) Continue ahead into Parker Street. The red bricked building is the back of Emmanuel College. Continue through the bus station. 2 At the end of the bus station R into Christ Pieces. Cross the common and at the road turn L. Pass the Wesley church continue to the roundabout but keep to the LHS onto Victoria Avenue. In about 400M is the back entrance to Jesus College. (The college's full name is The College of the Blessed Virgin Mary, Saint John the Evangelist and the glorious Virgin Saint Radegund, near Cambridge. Founded 1496.) At the pedestrian crossing cross Victoria Avenue and into Midsummer Common. Cross the common diagonally to reach the iron foot bridge over the Cam. Just before the bridge turn L along the tow path. The college boat houses are on the opposite bank. Note that the college boat houses do not have the names of the college on them, just the heraldic shield of the college. Pass the Fort St. George pub on LHS and then pass under the Victoria road bridge, pass a children’s play area on L and lido also on L. At the Lock there is a small cafe and separate toilet block. 3 At the pedestrian foot bridge on R, turn half L into Jesus Green. Cross the Green and pass tennis courts on RHS. At the road (Park Parade) turn L to the end of the road. At end of road turn R and follow this road round past Park Street Primary school. Follow the road as it bears left. Immediately after the multi storey car park turn R into road (Round Church St.) At end of Round Church St cross road and into St Johns St which is straight ahead. St John’s College is on R. (St John's College’s full, formal name is the College of St John the Evangelist in the founded by the Tudor matriarch Lady Margaret Beaufort in 1511.) Turn R into Trinity La. In a short while pass Trinity College on L. (Trinity College was founded in 1546 by King Henry VIII. With around 600 undergraduates, 300 graduates, and over 180 fellows, it is the largest college in either of the Oxbridge universities by number of undergraduates.) Pass Gonville and Caius (pronounced Keys) College. (The college was first founded, as Gonville Hall, by Edmund Gonville, Rector of Terrington St Clement in Norfolk in 1348, making it the fourth-oldest surviving college. By the sixteenth century, the college had fallen into disrepair, and in 1557 it was re-founded by Royal Charter as Gonville & Caius College by the physician John Caius.) The road dog legs L and then R into Garret Hostel La. 4 Continue over Clare bridge over the Cam. (This much photographed bridge is the oldest of Cambridge's current bridges. It was built of stone in 1640 by Thomas Grumbold. Note the missing quadrant on one of the 14 balls.) Continue across a road in a straight line passing Clare College on LHS. (The college was founded in 1326, and was originally named University Hall. Providing maintenance for only two fellows, it soon hit financial hardship. In 1338, the college was re-founded as Clare Hall by an endowment from Elizabeth de Clare, a granddaughter of Edward I.) Turn L into Cambridge University library. At the end of the Library site cross the road and enter the Sidgwick site. (The site is named after the philosopher Henry Sidgwick, who studied at Cambridge in the 19th century.) Continue until you reach a building with 4 very wide steps in front. Turn L and pass the Criminology building on R. At the back on the Criminology building turn R. In front of the Faculty of Classics turn R and in 200 m turn L. Turn L in front of a modern red brick building turn L into a tree lined road. At the end of Ridley Hall turn R into Ridley Hall Rd. Where Ridley Hall Road bears R, take the road to the left which is signed “No entry” for vehicles to reach a road at point 5. 5 Cross the road and turn half left to pass in front of the “Old Mill” building. After the building turn R and continue along this leafy path with the mill stream on your R. At the road, cross over through a hand gate in the same direction. Where there is a foot bridge on R over the mill stream, take second path to the left. Shortly cross over a green footbridge over the Cam. (This area is known as Coe Fen and was a popular spot for swimming.) Continue for 300 m to reach point 6. 6 Take the footpath to the L. to a road and cross over road. In a short while take the foot bridge to the left over a ditch and then carry on to a second foot bridge over the river Cam. Turn right along the Cam tow path. Pass the rollers on LHS (The rollers are used to take college punts up to the higher level of the Cam.) and the Cambridge Hotel on RHS. Where the punts are for hire, turn R. Continue on this road (Mill lane). Cross straight over the road junction into Pembroke St. with Pembroke College on RHS. (The college's full name is The College of the Blessed Virgin Mary, Saint John the Evangelist and the glorious Virgin Saint Radegund, near Cambridge. Founded 1347.) This road changes to Dowing Street. Downing College is on R. (It takes its name from Sir George Downing, 1st Baronet (1624/25 – c. 19 July 1684) was in turn a preacher, soldier, statesman, diplomat and spymaster and politician whose allegiances notably changed during his career, and after whom Downing College and Downing Street in London is named. Founded in 1800, it was the only college to be added to Cambridge University between 1596 and 1869, and is often described as the oldest of the new colleges and the newest of the old. ) Continue to the bus stop outside John Lewis store to reach the start point. This same bus stop is where you catch the bus back to the Park and Ride.

This walk was written up by Richard M. for Thorley U3A. If you spot any errors or omissions please email [email protected]. Thanks. RM 23/08/20 & 03/09/20

Copyright and Licensing Mapping - QGIS, GNU General Pubic Licence V2 June 1991 Map Data - Open Streetmap Foundation (OSMF Basemap) and Ordnance Survey Open Data (OS Open ZoomStack)