Last week was
Open Cambridge - two days in the year when some of the libraries, buildings and gardens in the University and around town, are open to the public. It's an opportunity to see some of the treasures of the town that are normally hidden away.
In Mill Road Cemetery, there are some interesting graves. The '
Friends of Mill Road Cemetery' gave us a tour. They try to keep a balance between keeping areas of wilderness for the wild life, and keeping the graves in good condition and the cemetery a place of beauty and order. The brambles, ivy and self seeding trees do almost as much damage as the kids who take pleasure in pushing over headstones and crosses, and the drug users who leave needles lying around in hidden corners. I was intrigued by this pair of graves built like a Ziggurat. The first headmistress of The Perse Girls School is buried nearby. Her grave is rather untidy, but it is remarkable in that it is the only gravestone for a woman that tells us her occupation (other women's graves just say 'wife of...' or 'daughter of...'). She's buried with her (female) partner.
Across town, I went to see
Charles Darwin's rooms in Christ's College. Light, airy rooms, with a lovely view of the quad from the window. By the library was a model of his ship 'The Beagle'. And in
The Parker Library at Corpus Christi (1352), was another memento of a long sea journey: A book, written, illustrated, printed and bound in the Antarctic by a small group of Shakleton's men who had 10 months to spend waiting for the thaw in a small ice shelter. This copy is called the 'Irish Stew' copy from the packing case used for the cover. Other copies are called the 'Powdered Milk' copy and the 'Julienne Soup' copy!.
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| The Institute of Manufacturing (2009) |
And finally to the I
nstitute of Manufacturing, less than a year old. A beautiful modern building designed to promote communication across disciplines and enable team work and innovation. It's a far as possible from the small rooms, narrow stairs, and elaborate traditions of the colleges. And yet the same people work (and flourish) in both environments.
In Mill Road Cemetery, there are some interesting graves. The 'Friends of Mill Road Cemetery' gave us a tour. They try to keep a balance between keeping areas of wilderness for the wild life, and keeping the graves in good condition and the cemetery a place of beauty and order. The brambles, ivy and self seeding trees do almost as much damage as the kids who take pleasure in pushing over headstones and crosses, and the drug users who leave needles lying around in hidden corners. I was intrigued by this pair of graves built like a Ziggurat. The first headmistress of The Perse Girls School is buried nearby. Her grave is rather untidy, but it is remarkable in that it is the only gravestone for a woman that tells us her occupation (other women's graves just say 'wife of...' or 'daughter of...'). She's buried with her (female) partner.
Across town, I went to see Charles Darwin's rooms in Christ's College. Light, airy rooms, with a lovely view of the quad from the window. By the library was a model of his ship 'The Beagle'. And in The Parker Library at Corpus Christi (1352), was another memento of a long sea journey: A book, written, illustrated, printed and bound in the Antarctic by a small group of Shakleton's men who had 10 months to spend waiting for the thaw in a small ice shelter. This copy is called the 'Irish Stew' copy from the packing case used for the cover. Other copies are called the 'Powdered Milk' copy and the 'Julienne Soup' copy!. 
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