‘The green tape grass rooted in the soft mud
Sways leisurely in the water;
I am willing to be such a waterweed
In the gentle flow of the River Cam.’
Said Xu Zhi Mo in his great poem ‘On leaving Cambridge’. I’m sure if you’ve ever strolled down the River Cam, walked across the delicate Bridge of Sighs, or looked upon Clare and Kings College as captured in the great William Westall painting, you would share his sentiments. Cambridge is a city of enormous beauty – the elegance of its architecture on show across its stunning colleges and museums.
Yet one of the most remarkable things about the city is its age. The Westall painting just mentioned was completed in 1781, yet Cambridge’s oldest college, Peterhouse, goes back much further than that to 1284. Its iconic Round Church, as featured on this design, dates back even further with the original structure thought to date back to 1130!
A walk around Cambridge is a walk through the city’s history, and a trip round this stunning tea towel is a testimony to that fact.
