Apart from its reputation through its great University, Cambridge is one of the most beautiful cities of Europe, and its architecture is unsurpassed anywhere. In six square miles one can see fine buildings from all ages; the 10th C. Anglo-Saxon church of St Bene't's; the 12th C. Round Church, one of only four such Norman churches still in use in Britain today; the 16th C. chapel of King's College, perhaps the most perfect example of English Perpendicular style; the 15th/16th C. courts of Queen�s, the college of the great Erasmus, and for many outshining all the other colleges; the 17th C. Wren Library in Trinity College; the 16th/18th C. timber framed houses, inns and shops on Magdelene St.; and the 20th C. shopping complex, the Grafton Centre. Cambridge in a recent survey came 2nd highest on the list of recommended places for shopping, nationally - only London�s Oxford Street beat it! Many of the buildings hold priceless treasures; manuscripts by Milton, Keats, Pepys Macaulay; paintings by Reubens, Rembrandt, Turner, Degas, Matisse Picasso; antiquities from Egypt, Greece and Rome - most of these are in the FitzWilliam Museum, probably second only to the British Museum. In direct contrast is Kettles Yard, a small and intimate art gallery of 20th century work by Ben Nicholson, Henry Moore, Georges Braque, L S Lowry, Bernard Leach, Max Ernst and many others. The Colleges' gardens and the University Botanic Garden are truly natural treasure houses. If Music be your love then listen to the singing of King's St John's chapel choirs. Here is the best in the English choral tradition; your chance to hear it is at Choral Evensong performed most days during term time, and in summer you will hear madrigals on the river. The Cambridge Folk Festival also in summer has a great following.
Official guided tours are made throughout the year, arranged by Cambridge Tourist Information, and begin at the Office in Wheeler Street. Unofficial tours can be arranged for small groups of guests who stay at Purlins. (David Hindley, a retired senior member of the University, has privileged access to the Colleges.)
Summertime is the time for punting - the most leisurely form of boating, at least for those who are being punted. Those who punt must take care lest they tangle their pole in the trees or lose it in the mud! But it is the best way to experience something of the atmosphere of CAMBRIDGE, see the famous Backs of Colleges, or travel to Rupert Brooke's GRANTCHESTER for cream teas. You can hire a punter for the day, just as you might hire a gondolier; just lie back and listen to the lapping of the water!
Cambridge draws crowds of many thousands of visitors from around the world, particularly in spring and summer. Apart from the University (today Cambridge can boast of a second University in its midst, the Anglia Polytechnic University) there are many other teaching establishments, especially language schools, such as The Bell School, and the Cambridge Centre for Languages in Sawston, nearby. Cambridge is also a centre for computer technology - the English Silicon Valley - Cambridge�s Science Park is world famous. The Royal Observatory is now centred in Cambridge, and the British Antarctic Survey has its headquarters here too. Here also are important agro-chemical industries such as Aventis and Ciba-Geigy. Plant Breeding International is probably Britain's most important research centre of its kind. Yet, despite its fame, Cambridge remains and retains its character as a typical East Anglian market-town.
If you want to go further afield then 15 miles north from PURLINS, is the magnificent Romanesque cathedral at ELY. Its great nave, a marvellous avenue of stone arcades, was the longest of its age, and at the crossing is its greatest glory, the exquisite stone octagon, surmounted by the lantern of wood - an engineering miracle. Near the lovely town of SAFFRON WALDEN, 9 miles south, there's Audley End House (a major English Heritage property), once a royal palace rivalling Hampton Court. 8 miles west, in the estate of Wimpole Hall (National Trust), a magnificent country house and park, is Wimpole Home Farm that specialises in the preservation of rare animal breeds. Anglesey Abbey (National Trust) a former Benedictine Monastery, with its fine Arboretum, is 6 miles east, on the way to the Roman port of REACH, the Devil's Ditch Wicken Fen (National Trust), Britain�s oldest nature reserve, a remnant of the wilderness that once covered East Anglia and a haven for birds, plants, insects and mammals. Only 4 miles from Purlins is the RSPB nature reserve at Fowlmere, and 4 miles south-eastwards is Wandlebury, one of the oldest sites in Cambridgeshire - a 3rd. B.C. Iron Age fort, near the 10-mile walkway along the original Roman road, Via Devana. Further afield is Dedham Vale Constable country approached through the Stour valley via lovely Suffolk villages and towns, making a day's excursion; NORWICH with its near-perfect Norman cathedral the Norfolk Broads make another. There are Cathedrals also at Peterborough and Bury St Edmunds.
If you want something completely different there's the Imperial War Museum at the Battle of Britain airfield near DUXFORD, 3 miles south. It draws thousands of people on the special flying days; Flying Legends day is world famous, and the spitfire forms the centre piece. There�s the beautifully kept U.S. War Cemetery at MADINGLEY, 3 miles west, that provides in a church-like building, through maps and detailed murals, a vivid insight into the allied campaign of World War II. Last but not least, NEWMARKET, home of English horse racing, the Jockey Club, the National Stud, is only 30 minutes drive away. Drive down the Royal Mile and see the spacious stud-farms, and the jockeys training the horses on the Heath.
.............. Cambridge is such a lovely, romantic place for honeymooners, or couples celebrating anniversaries, or important birthdays; or simply a place to escape to. You�ll never forget it.