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Things to do

Hire a punt at the Magadalen Bridge (pron. “Mordlin”) and take your own cruisey view of The
Backs. Go with Scudamores – they’ve been looking after the punters – punters, get it? – since
1910. Or Scholar’s Punting Co.

Granta Canoe and Punt Hire can take you on a guided
tour if you don’t fancy DIY punting.

Cambridge University Botanic Gardens at the corner of
Bateman St and Trumptington St. Generally regarded as
second only to the famous Kew Gardens in importance.
Plants from all over the world set in 40 acres of planting
and greenhouses, lakes and streams dating back to its
opening in 1846.

One of the streams is fed from Hobson’s Conduit, a man-made watercourse designed to provide
the city with clean drinking water. It was paid for by a man named Thomas Hobson who ran a mail
carrying business between London and Cambridge and when his horses weren’t on the mail run
he would hire them out to students and townsfolk. Inevitably that meant the best and fastest
horses went out first, thus placing a heavy workload on the poor animals. Mr Hobson solved that
by saying to the hirers “This one or none”. Hence the phrase “Hobson’s Choice” – i.e no choice at
all.

The Cambridge American Cemetery is the only American WW2 cemetery in the United Kingdom.

The cemetery was first opened on 7th December 1943 as one of three temporary American
cemeteries in the United Kingdom. After the war, on land donated by the University of
Cambridge, it was chosen as the only permanent World War II American cemetery in Britain.

It is the final resting place of 3,812 men and women who gave their lives in the Battle of the
Atlantic, the strategic bombing campaign over Europe, those who died in the invasion of Europe
and who were killed in training exercises on British soil. The lives of another 5,127 men and
women whose bodies were never recovered are commemorated on a Wall of the Missing.

In the 4,000-square-foot visitor centre, opened in May 2014, through interpretive exhibits that
incorporate personal stories, photographs, films, and interactive displays, visitors will gain a better
understanding of this critical campaign that contributed to the Allied victory in Europe during World
War II.

Constable Country

Painters John Constable and Thomas Gainsborough captured images of quintessential rural
Suffolk villages such as Dedham and Flatford. See for yourself rural scenes little changed from the
pictures in the great London art galleries and museums.

In the setting for the majority of John Constable’s most famous paintings (the landscape artist was
born and raised in East Bergholt, Flatford and Dedham) you can enjoy a quintessential British day
out boating along the river and picnicking on the bank.

“Set by the River Stour, Dedham is in the heart of Constable Country. It was here that Britain’s
greatest landscape artist went to school. The attractive main street is lined with Georgian-fronted
houses, old inns and a large art/crafts centre. The magnificent 15th C. church was built from the
wealth of the medieval cloth industry.