285B The narrowboat river trip you’re not allowed to take*
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- เผยแพร่เมื่อ 16 ธ.ค. 2022
- * Well, not usually. But over winter, with permission of the Cam Conservators, you can take a narrowboat onto the Cambridge "Backs", where the river Cam flows behind many of the city's historic colleges.
Many thanks to Simon Judge for asking me along! See his website at scholargypsy.org.uk
More info about the Cam Conservators and The Backs: www.camconservancy.org/home
A guide to The Backs: media.wix.com/ugd/79067b_54a28...
See Part 1 of the journey at • 285A The most unusual ...
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It's like being allowed to drive a car through a museum 🙂
Or being especially permitted to take a short cut through the grounds and lawns of Buckingham Palace.
Another memory from my Queens’ days is of looking out of my office window on a warm day and overhearing a tourist in a punt asking the punter, ‘Alan, is this college pre-war?’, to which the quick response was, ‘Madam, it’s pre-America’. By the end of the day, this was being repeated by every punter on the river!
That's hilarious!
We had a similar one - a US tourist was asking when our College was founded - 'About two hundred years before America'
@@IDKline England is old and damp!
Pre-war? [shakes head in utter disbelief]
Pre-war?
[said or imagined best using that John Cleese/Basil Faulty upward and angry inflection]
[Now, please could you just excuse me for a brief moment because ....]
Honestly, I mean
FFS?
Come on,
WT flipping F?
How on earth have those people survived? Let alone travelled, from possibly another flipping continent. I mean honestly, that’s got to be right up there with THE MOST inane words EVER to be uttered this year, no, this DECADE.
[still shaking head in UTTER disbelief]
Pre-war?
FFS...seriously?
I’m seriously concerned for the future if that is an example of the standard of education. We’re all doomed, doomed I say.
🙂🐿🌈❤️
If I had typed this out in full, using the predictive text suggestions, you might be forgiven for, at first glance, thinking that I had made a comment/reply all about ducks and flipping ducks and other ducking related content 🦆
Apologies to any duck lovers, I love them too and their other water fowl kith & kin. ❤
Enjoyed immensely. Much less hectic then my walk through the colleges area.
Thank you for a wonderful trip through the River Cam, I do not comment, most of the time, but I enjoy all of your videos. Thank you for sharing!
Thank you
We all like a bit of forbidden water
Forbidden water tastes the best. But could also kill you. So, you know, be vigilant.
You don't know how lucky you are to have your canals. We have literally thousands of miles of canals that are abandoned. Imagine the industry we could have if they were restored. Its a real headshaker.
You're a clean rebel, approved!
As an American, I’m always amazed at how educational these videos are. I come for the narrowboating but end up learning something new along the way. Thank you, David for these great videos. This is one of my favorite channels.
Glad you like them!
Thank you so so much for sharing your adventures on this very special and incredibly beautiful stretch of water. I can see why it’s limited access. What a great treat for you to be invited along.
Thanks again for sharing this with me and a great BIG thanks to your friend, the skipper/pilot/Simon for inviting you along. 3 cheers to him and his lovely narrow boat. Much appreciated I’m sure.
Bye bye
🙂🐿🌈❤️
Our pleasure!
Thank you for this - glad you liked the boat!
@@ScholarGypsyOx I did indeed. Thanks again.
In 1967 I was attending a boarding school near Bath. One of the Masters, a rowing coach, had graduated from Cambridge and arranged for the our school's 1st and 2d boat crews to train before the summer term at Cambridge. Sunday was our day off so we had a nice lunch went and rented a few punts. The pubs open for lunch then they close. So greeting us on this stretch river were all manner semi drunk students from all over the world. Having grown up on the water in the US, I was the only one of our crowd who could pole the and steer the punk without getting the pole stuck in the river bottom. It was a glorious sunny day with punts crashing into one another and students yelling "The Empire will rise" "Prepare to repel boarders" and my contribution "Hath ye seen the white whale?" Thanks for showing that stretch of river.
I had the privilege of working at Queens’ (two queens) College [approx 11 minutes in] for 12 years. My office, in a range along the river built in the fifteenth century when the college was founded, overlooked the ‘Mathematical Bridge’. The bridge isn’t called this in college but instead is known as ‘The Wooden Bridge’.
Queens’ College has two Foundresses: Margaret of Anjou and Elizabeth Woodville. Richard III endowed the college with fabulous sums, granted his wife Anne Neville the title of Patroness of Queens’ and then lost the Battle of Bosworth and the college then struggled through a few centuries. It never had the funds to knock down and replace historic buildings thereby ensuring that Queens’ now has buildings from across all the centuries since the 15C (unlike some of its more wealthy neighbours). The next Patroness was HM Queen Elizabeth (later the Queen Mother) from 1949 and she was succeeded by Her Late Majesty Queen Elizabeth II.
@John Ashtone Erasmus was a professor at Queens College from 1510 to 1515. I worked there in the 1970s.
Happy Holidays…we all appreciate the extra attention to detail. I am honored. Dankeshön, Merci Beaucoup, Many Thanks ….. 🎄🌲🎄
"A swirling soup in the lock" one of the best video descriptions ever David. This is another little gem in your bag.
Thank you
I find your videos so incredibly calming and relaxing. Whenever I've had a rough day I can watch one of your videos to really calm down. Thank you!
I'm so glad! 😀
Watching this video again, (and your others) with TH-cam’s “zoom” option is fantastic. I’ve been pausing on some of the buildings and all of the bridges to zoom in on finer details that caught my eye - just wonderful, brilliant.
It doesn’t matter how many times I watch this, that passive aggressive punt operator always makes me laugh 😂 bless him.
You have taken me back 25 years to my 'school' years as you passed Jesus Green to your left and then of course Kings where I went to 'school'. Thank you. Just as a P.S. if I may. The mathmatical bridge was indeed build without the use of a single screw or nail, when it was first built. Due to this fact a selection of students decided to take it to pieces to see how it was held together. Unfortunately they failed to re-build it to it's former glory and had to use nails and screws.
🙄
i guess that part of the river .is when electric motor would come in handy like a trolling motor . its a nice area
They say the British think 100 miles is a long way and Americans think 100 years is a long time. I love the dates you were throwing out there. Wow!
After the last bridge when the punter recommended you turn around there, is a pub called the anchor which was the first place Pink Floyd played in public as a band. Just a little more history , more contemporary then most of the bridges and buildings.
Excellent info! My favourite band.
@@CruisingTheCut A little further upstream would have revealed Signs Of Life......
The building with the balcony was the home of George Darwin, son of Charles Darwin. George's daughter, Gwen, wrote a marvelous book about growing up in that house in the late 1800s called 'Period Piece'.
This trip almost made me cry. I have been on the Cam in punting boat's. I love the City and the University. I know someone who just want to go back to it all, and i just wish it will end in success.
Thank You again David for a view of England. This time a view of a place close to my heart.
takes me back - I was born in Cambridge and lived there for my first 10 years, 70 years ago. So my memories have flooded back. Thank you
The King's college was strikingly beautiful.
Fun fact (at least I think it's a fact), there's a towpath all along the backs under the water dating from when they used horse-drawn barges to deliver to the colleges. It's along the left side of the river when heading upstream. You can tell when you're punting because on that side the bottom of the river is paved and the punt pole will slip and skid whereas on the other it's more likely to dig in and possibly even get stuck. Mind you, good luck getting a horse up there these days as you'd have to go right through all those moored punts.
There are a number of old prints showing horses towing barges up the river, while submerged in about 4 feet of water.
Very peaceful in a world gone mad with speed. Thanks for this, David.
John, Ontario, Canada.
Enjoyed this alot..thank you for sharing this with us and Happy Christmas !!
Narrowboat clickbait... and it works! :)
My pleasure on the 'Cam,' was refreshed thanks to your video. My wife had a great laugh remembering my attempts at 'poling,' the punt. I almost ended up swimming! I LOVE, Cambridgeshire living history.
John , when I feel sad.... I watch your older CruisingThe Cut videos to cheer me up !
Thank you again !
SBF
That random building with a balcony you know nothing about it where Charles Darwin’s son George darwin used to live, donated to be student accom at darwin college
What a wonderful and historic stretch of river 👍
Lovely! Just lovely. I feel as if I'm on the narrow-boat with you. So nice and peaceful. All the stately historic buildings. Great weather as well.
Thank you for taking us along.
David, that was a most enjoyable episode!! Wow!! All that architecture, all that history, and you got to experience from the perspective of the river... very nice excursion... Thank you for sharing it!! Best wishes, and cheers from Tennessee, USA
Marvelous! Thank you, David. As an American, I'm staggered by the depth of your history and how casually you mention a bridge or a building that was built seven hundred years ago. I'm also in awe of the fact that such buildings have offices and homes with indoor plumbing, electricity, internet . . . the more ephemeral signs of the twenty-first century. I am now more determined than ever to make an extended visit, and hopefully more than one.
Another fun fact about Mathematical Bridge - it was originally built without any kind of screws or nails, merely holding itself up through sheer force of will (also called physics). Someone took it apart to figure out how, then couldn't put it back together without using nails.
The Queens College website has a section (their history page) that debunks a number of myths about this bridge - including this one, I am afraid. But it is a good story!
That's really interesting. Thanks!
Lived in Cambridge all my life and never knew you could go up there in a narrow boat in winter
A "re-watch" ! This was SO relaxing to view...... Thank you John.
SBF
It's David but thank you 😊
@@CruisingTheCut David ! I'm SO sorry .... I confused you with another great friend....
Please excuse me and I DO love your videos!
SBF
Well now I know what Terry Pratchett must have been parodying with the guild schools and Unseen University.
I had the great pleasure of attending a workshop in Cambridge in 1982. This brought back wonderful memories. As an American it was very special. Thank you.
GO ON DAVE
Fabulous journey , David. Really nice to see all the beautiful buildings from the Cam.Big thank you for the commentary.
The most English video on TH-cam.
Thank you.
Yeah, that was indeed Darwin college library. The building the with balcony 'about which you knew nothing' is also part of Darwin college, it holds some student accommodation.
A magnificent episode. Thank you so much for bringing it to us. Your channel is a gem, and this dreamlike drift past Cambridge university is absolutely perfect.
Many thanks!
Wonderful tour.
I am a "River Rat", having grown up in a city named for it's (presently being restored) rapids. I live on the banks and , in future summers , on my Shantyboat. It has given me a great appreciation for the importance of rivers in the evolution of mankind.
Many of these buildings are a century older, or more, than the country of these United States. That they are concentrated along the river is no accident.
It is heartwarming, if somewhat concerning, that society seems to be regaining interest in rivers and their importance.
I sure hope to rent a punt on my next visit.
Absolutely amazing.
That random building with a balcony is The Old Granary. It was originally a granary (obviously), refurbished as a residential home for sir George Darwin, and then donated to Darwin college to become a student accommodation. If only this trip was a bit earlier! I used to live in that building, and I would love to see a narrowboat cruising through river Cam!
03:58 THATS ME!!!!!
Good technique ...
Brings back happy memories. Seeing Clare Bridge at 9:40 reminds me of the tale from the 1970s when a puntload of Japanese tourists saw a group of students wrestling with one of the huge stone balls on the parapet ... and wrenched it off so it plummeted into the punt. The Japanese all jumped out in alarm ... and the ball bounced out again! It was made of papier-mache. Another ball has a missing segment .. there's a story behind that too.
Now I see why family members that went to uni in Cambridge absolutely loved the area. Beautiful.
That random building with the balcony you know nothing about is very pretty
Sensational, but how the river has changed since my well-remembered visit 50 years ago, all those “punts”! I shall watch this many times over, the low sunshine adds to the beauty and romance of the old stone colleges. Thank you and Happy Christmas.
Amazing!
If you ever come to Augusta Georgia there's actually a part of the old Canal system that's been preserved that they allow you to take rides in, I don't know if any original narrowboat still Sail on it but I know one is on display in the Augusta History Museum
I'll have to keep that in mind for a future vacation road-trip. Thank you! --Dan, Athens, GA.
Yes we enjoyed it too; thanks for taking us! Love that the "new court" is from 1832 at St. Johns....
Marvelous. Many thanks for sharing.
I can see why it's off limits, wouldn't want the riff raff mixing it up in a posh area like that!
That was fantastic. What views. Those big beautiful trees over hanging the waters. The history of buildings and bridges. It really has it all. And in such a close proximity. TY for sharing.
First time watching you and your channel, thanks to the TH-cam algorithm. Seriously, I’m not even joking when I say, this was highly enjoyable! 😊😊😊
Thank you so much! 😀
You must check out all his other vlogs going back several years, including those when he was a live-aboard narrow-boater.
And you have a whole backlog of David’s videos to go through. 🙂
I'm 84 years old and your Punt boats are simular to our old time John Boats that plyed the slow waters in the southern US when i was a kid. thanks, good vid .
They are a relatively modern invention in the UK, I think. Search "duck punt gun" in youtube for another type of punt used in this part of the country!
That was beautiful. So much history. Thank you.
Been there numerous times in the early 70s while stationed @ RAF Lakenheath. Spent many an hour walking those hallowed grounds, soaking it all in. What a wonderful memory jogger!
My goodness, what a wonderful vlog. I used to take my girlfriend, now wife of 32 years along the 'backs' in the summer. It really is a stunningly beautiful part of Cambridge and absolutely dripping with history. Thank you so much. Wonderful narration accompanies the stunning images.
I have been on very many excellent virtual narrowboat trips, including many on this channel, but this was the finest, what a shockingly beautiful stretch of water. My University was Oxford, and I must doff my cap to the Cantabrians, whose punting river is a few leagues higher than ours. I never knew this, so thanks to David for this superb introduction. We punt on the Cherwell (pronounced "char-"), which is "normally beautiful", and although in the middle of Oxford, a very rural stretch of river surrounded by college gardens (not the backs of the colleges themselves) and parks. The South Oxford canal makes use of the river Cherwell in parts, but leaves it north of Oxford to skirt around the west side of the city and join the Isis (as we call the Thames) at Osney. So there can be no competition between punts and motorboats.
Yes, thank you very much. I did enjoy that very much indeed.
Absolutely beautiful. Thank you for taking us along.
As an American It's hard for me to truly understand the centuries of history that's represented here, but I can appreciate it nonetheless. Thanks for posting this wonderful journey
Wonderful , Here I am on the other side of the planet and through that I would never see this , Thank you David .
Stunning images, and-I can’t believe I’m saying this to a Brit-but it was Henry VIII (not the seventh) who founded Trinity College in 1546. My English mother would be amazed that I’ve learned the years and names of English kings; she learned them as a schoolgirl, but it took me 3/4 of a century!
I'm blaming the punting website I cribbed that bit of info from
Excellent vlog David. Takes us back to regularly visiting Cambridge, (when our son was studying there). As parents who never went to University, it was always a real treat, to see all the beautiful old buildings & gardens. You captured it really well from the water!
This brings back many memories. On one trip, a friend of mine was taking his turn at driving the punt, when he faced the classic dilemma. When you find yourself overstretched, do you hang onto the pole or let it stick in the riverbed and stay with the punt yourself? He chose to stay with what he was holding and found himself gently deposited in the river. He splashed around. calling out that he couldn't swim. One of my other friends still on board called out to him "stand up". He did so, and found he was barely waist deep in water. We then grabbed the paddles and slowly brought the punt back to him.
Thank you David. Lots of youthful memories of punting the backs on a lazy Sunday afternoon.
Looks nice and peaceful down there David and some interesting buildings, Hope your feeling better also after seeing your tweets, Have a good Christmas and New Year 🎅🎄
Very interesting to see the old colleges of Cambridge! The historic architecture was of particular interest. Another fine vlog! Cheers!
As a professional mariner mostly on the Mississippi I have enjoyed all your videos for the last five years
Thank you
We were there ourselves in November, we went on a guided punt, I had no idea narrow boats could go there, Cambridge is a lovely city.
Thanks so much for taking us along very interesting
As one of the decried amateur punters once upon along time ago when I was about 19, I fully admit I was utterly hopeless. I got half soaked from the wet pole and even managed to lose it twice (some frantic paddling retrieved it) As none of my fellow punt voyagers wanted to have a go, seeing it was quite hard and messy work, I was stuck with the job and somehow managed not to fall in and get us back to the punt hire place. (Hint to prospective complete beginner punters: It's harder than it looks.)
Hi David,
Cool video of the forbidden bits of the canal.
I looked up President's Lodge and found that it was built in the 1460's. Even I was quite young then!
Totally agree with Helen's sentiments at the end, wish I could do it, but no chance for me!
This small excursion had to be the most impressive in terms of culture , history and architecture. It was, of course ….made even more special for all of us who are allowed to behold these heritage treasures through the medium of your lense.
Thanks again. Happy Holidays to you and yours David.
Cheers 🥂 🎄👍🇨🇦
WOW David.. that was Brilliant !! Very Special.. Many Thanks for bringing it to us
You think you’ve visited a city then someone takes you by boat! Great Vlog as per.
6:00 Goodness, the first Harry Potter books were being published while I was an undergrad at Cambridge, and you've jogged a memory I'd forgotten, of group-reading scenes from them with friends (one of those now my wife) in about 2001 in a sitting room dating from the 1670s a stone's throw from the river Cam. Gosh we were lucky. It never occurred to us that HP would go on to be so successful that Hogwarts would one day become a frame of reference for Cambridge itself! A lovely video thank you; my parents always used to threaten to bring their narrowboat down the Backs and come and visit me that way, but it never happened!
So much history and beauty on this Great Island of yours. Thank you for another magnificent presentation, may you never run out of new material to cover.
And, don't forget there's a whole Europeful of equally historic "olde worldyness" still to see.
UK is but the tip of the iceberg.
Some parts of Roman Empire in N Africa (as in Tunisia, once Carthage of Punic Wars fame) were far more civilized than Ancient Britain.
"We" had mud huts whilst a lot of Romans lived in centrally heated splendour across their empire.
Mind you the Subura in Rome was a bit of a dump at the time.
And then there's Egypt ... an advanced civilisation a couple of thousand years BCE.
Some of their pyramids are around five thousand years old, so not too shabby in the masonry engineering dept'.
And then there's parts of Asia around the Black and Caspian Seas being civilised even before the Egyptians.
Some might suggest Europeans are mere parvenus when it comes to being "civilised".
Superb! I couldn't quite directly experience the weight of history watching this but yes, it is a privilege to see!
If you look closely at 15:44, the far left-hand stone sphere on Clare Bridge has a cheese-like cutout. The story goes that the masons who built the bridge weren't paid what they felt they were due, so they took a section of stone away!
Thanks for this, and for the previous video of the section downstream of Jesus Lock. Brings back lots of memories of my time at Cambridge as an engineering student in the 1960s. I spent a lot of time rowing and punting, and most of it is very familiar. But there are some new buildings, so there are some changes as well. Darwin College of course did not exist then. Mind you, I tend to look down my nose at these new colleges such as Kings and Johns - my college, Peterhouse, was founded in 1284.
Lived in Cambridge for over 20 yrs and never able to do this trip, it was very expertly filmed, well done David.
Awesome trip! I can honestly say that I have been to Cambridge, now.
the history and age of England always shocks me. Amazing historical buildings!
Absolute brilliant, thank you. My beautiful Cambridge looking glorious in the Autumn sunshine. Wishing you a very happy Christmas and a great New year 🎉
What a lovely way to see some of the Colleges of Cambridge. The architecture is always a fascinating thing to behold. Maybe as our Colleges and Universities continue to age they will be held with a certain amount of reverence. One of my favorite PBS Shows was Lewis. The show was set in Oxford and if I recall correctly ever show had a shot of the Bridge of Sighs in Oxford. You had to be on your toes to not just get caught up in the story and to be mindful of the that Bridge of Sighs shot.
A rare treat to cruise along the Cambridge Backs with you and Simon Judge! One of your very best vlogs. Thank you for taking us along. All the best for the holidays and 2023.
wow what a great trip, thanks for taking us along :)
King Charles III was a student of Trinity College; he studied Anthropology, Archaeology and History before graduating in 1970.
You can see why powered boats are banned in the summer months. It was a lovely cruise.
I was one of those idiot punters in 1995, but I made it more special. I fell in the river because my pole got stuck in the bottom of the river and while trying to pull it out, I fell in.
I really enjoyed this trip. It looked like the camera was floating through space.
Excellent episode David, beautifully shot and narrated, well done indeed. Thank you for taking us along.
When you said about the swans they might of been thinking what's that,never seen one of them before. Also when you stopped to let the punt by because of the over hanging tree I noticed the punter never said thank you .
I certainly had some of that when cruising in 2020, just after the first Covid lockdown - some of the wildlife hadn't seen a boat before! I think the punter said hello -- remember I was 50 feet behind the camera.... He did have right of way, of course (on the right, going downstream, and unpowered).
Hi David, thanks for taking your viewer's along on this rare visual/historical treat! I wondered during part 1 of the video, if the distance, cold temperatures, and rain was going to be worth the effort but, seeing this episode, well answered that question.
During the video, yet another word was added to my British vocabulary: "Punts". In the US, these are called "Jon Boats". Although, I sensed that the barge pole propulsion system relates to the Punt definition. Apparently, there is some dislike between the punt and narrowboat captains with the interference of their vessels. There is nothing worse than upsetting tradition.
Otherwise, I hope life is treating you well and I look forward to your next excellent video - Cheers!