A Pembroke Portfolio

Pembroke College may not be top of most visitors' itinerary but it is a very old college, it's in central Cambridge, it has a wide range of buildings in different styles, it has some lovely picturesque corners and it always seems a very friendly place. This is by no means an exhaustive account, just a few pictures I took on a day of bright, low-angled sunshine which made some shots impossible but enhanced others.

Statue of William Pitt The Younger,

youngest ever British Prime Minister 

when he was elected in 1783 at the age of 24.

He was educated at Pembroke.

(Yes, roses blooming in January!)

Ridley's Walk

A picturesque path leading between college buildings.

All the above photos were taken in the vicinity of Ridley's Walk, surely one of the most beautiful short strolls in Cambridge; even in mid-winter. It was named after Bishop Nicholas Ridley, former scholar at Pembroke, who was martyred in 1555, but there's also a plaque to Sir Harold Ridley, the eye-surgeon who pioneered lens implants after treating a fighter pilot who had been severely injured by Perspex splinters from the cockpit when his plane was shot down. Ridley operated on the man 19 times and restored the sight to one eye. But he also noticed that Perspex was not rejected by the body's immune system which led him to his breakthrough. 

Modern Architecture - Foundress Court

That crazy, slanting sunlight really lifted these shots.

Three Windows

...and a staircase straight out of Hogwarts.

The Chapel

A close-up of the old Bible on the lectern

And the interior of the Chapel,

a very early work of the great architect

Sir Christopher Wren

in the 1660s.

We will be back sometime to show you more, including the outside of the Chapel and the gardens in the spring or summer. Until then.....

Take care.