Period Piece: A Cambridge Girlhood by Gwen Raverat, for the #1952Club

This is a gently affectionate and often amusing memoir of a Victorian childhood from an unusual perspective – Gwen Raverat was a granddaughter of Charles Darwin and had an outspoken American mother. In 1883, Maud Du Puy came from Philadelphia to visit an aunt in Cambridge, England. She was pretty and sociable but not well educated or academically inclined so it seems a little surprising that she enjoyed the university life of Cambridge and attracted several suitors.

England 2018, Day 3

Entrance of OLEM

We spent the night in Cambridge and breakfasted before walking to Mass at the Church of Our Lady and the English Martyrs, a Roman Catholic church located in southeast Cambridge not far from the university. It is a large Gothic Revival church built between 1885 and 1890, fairly dark and dreary (although the morning rain didn't help).   However, as my mother wrote her thesis on the English Catholic Martyrs, I knew she would be excited to visit it.  Also, coincidentally, a book I reviewed recently, Look for Her by Emily Winslow, took place in this Cambridge and the main character attended a funeral at this very church.   I was tempted to tell the priest about this but separately my mother and I had asked him for more information on our favorite martyrs (Edmund Campion and Nicholas Owen; i.e., were they recognized anywhere in the church with plaques or stained glass) so did not want to overwhelm him with info.   The priest, who was very nice Benedictine, did not know much about his martyrs.  The deacon who was quite full of himself said he didn't remember. 

Approaching Ely Cathedral

The construction of the church in the 19th century has a story behind it that sounds like a historical romance: the local priest organizing land and fundraising was assisted by the Duke of Norfolk (a prominent Catholic peer since the 16th century despite Henry VIII's threats) but more money was needed or the church would not get built!   To the rescue, in 1884, came a retired ballerina who had married the richest banker in England with £70,000 of her fortune (an enormous amount in those days) to support the construction.  We also read that the local Protestants loudly opposed the construction of a Catholic church.  My mother posed for a rare picture in front of the church.

Bishop Peter Gunning, 1675-84; imprisoned for his loyalty to Charles I

Next, we headed to the train station to visit Ely, a historic city with a beautiful cathedral about 14 miles northeast of Cambridge.  Etheldreda, an Anglo-Saxon noblewoman (later sainted for her piety, etc.), founded an abbey in 693, which was destroyed by the Vikings several hundred years later, but rebuilt periodically from 970 to 1375, with contributions from the Normans (more or less helpful) and Tudors (unhelpful - Henry VIII and his henchmen took it from the Catholic church in 1539 when he imposed the Protestant Church on his country).  Henry's new bishop zealously destroyed the stained glass and much of the sculpture, and any Anglo-Saxon items remaining (a German tourist came into the cathedral just after I arrived, asking if there were any St. Etheldreda relics in existence to venerate but the answer was no). Further repressions took place when Oliver Cromwell ruled England.   However, after Charles II was restored to the throne in 1660, it was safe to have beautiful churches again.   In the 19th century the Victorians undertook a massive restoration, resulting in the beauty we saw today.   And considering it was a gray and rainy day, it is even more amazing how the stained glass electrifies the interior of the church while from the outside the cathedral and grounds are also impressive - built onto a slight hill which my mother said was unusual for such a flat part of the country.  The church is huge: 537 feet in length (a football field is 300) with a west tower that is 215 feet high and turrets that are 120 feet high.

Listening to Evensong

After several hours exploring the cathedral, which had a great app we downloaded and free Wi-Fi to facilitate use, we braved the rain to check out the nearby High Street (the exact length of the nave of the church) and ate at the Almonry (indifferent roast beef sandwiches and Victoria sponge cake but the hot tea and picturesque setting were very appealing).   We also stopped a lovely bookstore, Topping and Company, which is hosting Robert Goddard in May.  I would have bought his new hardcover except did not want to carry it.  Had it already been signed, it would have been very hard to resist as I have been a fan since my first weeks at Bantam Doubleday Dell in 1989, when I picked up a Transworld paperback of Past Caring.  We bought a couple paperbacks for the nieces and nephews instead.

Then we laboriously made our way back to Cambridge (bus) and then London (train), and after a mishap with Uber landed happily at the Arosfa Hotel.  Our room is beyond tiny but well situated and very secure.  It even overlooks Waterstones!   Why does my mother keep saying I don't need any more books?

From 83 Gower Street

Book count: three
Cathedral count: one
Church count: one
Miles walked: 3.6

England 2018, Day 2

Saturday we woke up early and had tea and toast at the Arriva Hotel before taking an Uber to Liverpool Street Station (had I been in a taxi I would have been annoyed as it did not seem like the most direct route based on my inspection of the map) and then a train to Cambridge. It was a good half mile to the guest house but our suitcases wheeled along obediently, and soon we had lightened our load and set off for the university part of town.

King's College

We signed up for a tour of Cambridge including King's College, founded by Henry VI in 1441. There was just time for tea and scone for me/soup for my mother and a quick visit to the renowned Haunted Bookshop before the tour. Book count: just one - Hester Burton's No Beat of Drum. I also resisted the offerings in David's Bookshop and two tables of paperbacks in a church that were only 30 pence each!

A treasure-trove of girls series books on the top floor

The tour, made very enjoyable by guide Andrew (so full of interesting commentary that my mother didn't even object that he told her things she already knew), lasted until 4:15 so we had to run to the Fitzwilliam Museum before it closed at 5 pm. There was only time to see some of the paintings and I spent about 10 minutes in a sampler exhibit that had interested me.

King's College Chapel

King's College

King's College Chapel

Although extremely tired of walking by this point, I felt it only right that we pay our respects to Emmanuel College, alma mater of John Harvard, the poor minister whose deathbed bequest to the "schoale or colledge" founded two years earlier gave it his name . . . It turned out to be one of the prettiest we had seen and the porter gave us permission for a quick look at the courtyard and gardens, which included a duck pond. Extra credit: Where is John Harvard buried?

We walked slowly back past the Fitzwilliam to Brown's restaurant, a charming place with high ceilings in part of a converted hospital. The host took pity on us for not having a reservation and found us a table. We dined on schnitzel and warm sourdough bread and Prosecco.

Punters behind King's College

Emmanuel College

Answer: John Harvard is buried at the Phipps Street Burial Ground in Charlestown, created in 1630.

Church count: two
Book count: one
Miles walked: 8.6

Look for Her (Book Review)

Title: Look for Her
Author: Emily Winslow
Publication: William Morrow, paperback, 2018
Genre: Suspense
Setting: Cambridge, England, and environs

Plot: Lilling might seem like an idyllic English village, but it’s home to a dark history. In 1976, a teenage girl named Annalise Wood disappeared, and though her body was later discovered, the culprit was never found. Decades later, Annalise maintains a perverse kind of celebrity, and is still the focus of grief, speculation, and for one young woman, a disturbing, escalating jealousy.

Roosevelts at Harvard

The weather forecast for Saturday is great, and I am looking forward to a walking tour in Cambridge:

Presidential Pathways: Tracing Theodore Roosevelt and Franklin Delano Roosevelt at Harvard

Follow the student footsteps of Theodore Roosevelt and Franklin Delano Roosevelt on this walking tour with Michael Weishan, author, PBS host, and president of the FDR Suite Foundation. With architecture as a guide, visit buildings important to these two men, learn what Harvard and Cambridge were like between 1870 and 1904, and explore 19th-century student life on Harvard's "Gold Coast."

Having visited Theodore Roosevelt's Long Island home, Sagamore Hill, it will be interesting to see Harvard locations not officially connected to the Roosevelts.

Of course, all roads lead to Betsy-Tacy. I was always loyal to Teddy Roosevelt because I knew the Ray family were supporters. Mr. Ray's study "held a roll-top desk, a picture of the shoe store in Deep Valley and an even bigger picture of ex-President Theodore Roosevelt." Betsy's Wedding, page 48.

Joe and Mr. Ray are ensconced for some time (you know he is asking for Betsy's hand in marriage), then the family hears, "Leave it to Teddy!" coming from Mr. Ray. The group downstairs looked at each other in complete mystification. What, their raised eyebrows seemed to ask, did Theodore Roosevelt have to do with Betsy's Wedding?

"Politics!" Mrs. Ray said scornfully.

Anna brought Betsy a cup of coffee. She brought her a muffin. Mrs. Ray and Julia wanted coffee, too, and Paige started pacing the floor. At long last the door of the study opened.
"TR is as right as rain," Betsy heard her father declare as he and Joe came down the stairs.
Betsy's Wedding, page 49.

Cambridge Landmarks

Terrible news about everyone's favorite newsstand!

Academic Elitism

In this weird election, it has somehow become acceptable to bash academic achievers - in contrast to McCain, known to have graduated at the bottom of his class at the Naval Academy, and Palin, who bounced between six universities in obtaining her college degree . I don't suppose Barack Obama ever thought he would be put on the defensive for obtaining the best education he could get at Columbia and Harvard Law School!

Apparently, such attacks on the educated are more common in England - to the point that Cambridge University is trying to influence the story line on television shows such as Eastenders and Coronation Street to include characters of modest means going to university. "We're very keen to attract the brightest and best students regardless of their background. One of the better ways of communicating directly with potential students is to talk to them through the soaps and other programs they watch."