Have you "herd" about them? Today we went to find some Cows About Cambridge. What fun! This was the invite from Joyce...
"I find myself with a free day on Friday 9th July so please join me for the
Cows about Cambridge
Sculpture trail - Part 1. There are 90 full size cows/smaller calves dotted
around Cambridge and I feel it's better seen in 2 visits. For part 1, I have
devised a route of approx 7 miles to find half of the cows/calves with a
further 2 mile stint to visit Cambridge North Station for those wanting an
extra leg stretch at the end. We will park/meet at the Riverside, end of
Stanley Street, Cambridge CB 8LF. This is free parking. Lets meet at
10am. We may not walk a mega distance but it will be a day of interest and
lingering, coffee, picnic etc. Part 2 will be w/c July 12th."
Well the GoGo Hares in Norwich in 2018 and the Elmer Elephants in Ipswich in 2019 were great fun, so I eagerly anticipated this, which had been postponed from last year due to you-know-what. And I'd seen a sneak preview of one of them already (see here).
This was our route today, going anti-clockwise...
Here are a few of my photos...
William came along with me and after being joined by Sara and Sue there was 11
of us. Here we are at the start by the river.
Walking along the river, at the Museum of Technology, we came to a Dinky Door... the Dinky Flying Object. Read more about my previous tour of them here.We would see more of them on our meanderings today.
Looking up, we saw some of the mini moos.
We came to our first large cow,
No. 26. ButterCup
on Midsummer Common. As punning cow names go this was the most subtle. Some people muttered about not approving of the colour scheme - they are Norwich City colours!
Our next was on the NW corner of Jesus Green, No. 25. Messing about on the Cam. We wondered about the strange silhouette on this side. What is it? While in this corner of Jesus Green I was able to point out to William where I lived in my second year as a student in the 1970's on Chesterton Rd and the flat I stayed in when working at Anglian Water initially in the early 1990's on Thompson's Lane.
Next we tracked down No. 24. Udders & Rudders by Magdalene Bridge, which sports the blades of all the college boat clubs. I liked the cox at the front of the cow - the rowers, of course, like the cow, all face backwards when rowing.
Some one asked what this bird on top of a building in Magdalene College was. I didn't know, but attempted to look it up. I think it is a wyvern. "On 3 April 1542 Audley refounded Buckingham College as the College of Saint Mary Magdalene. Derived from Audley were the arms of Magdalene, including the motto Garde Ta Foy (from Old French for "keep your faith"), and the wyvern as the crest."
Next we climbed Castle Hill to look at the view.
Heading along the backs we passed a Voi e-scooter park. We didn't see anyone using them, though.
Along the backs we got the iconic view of King's College.
Our next cow was No. 12. STEM Cow, celebrating the science, technology, engineering and mathematics achievements of members of Cambridge University. William and I rather liked this one.
We passed the mathematical bridge....
...before catching No. 11. Punting along the Cam.
At the Old Addenbookes Hospital, now the Cambridge Judge Business School, we found another favourite... No. 10. Animal Farm. Being Suffolk folk, we are fans of George Orwell. Here we had a welcome coffee break.
We had to go into John Lewis to get to the next one, No. 15. Beef Wellington, possibly the best play on words of the day. It is, of course, covered in wellingtons.
In Lion Yard we found No. 17. Penny, covered in coins...
...and No. 18. The Moooon.
And now to the one I had seen a sneak preview of (see here) - No. 19. MooMoo-o-tron III. I love the need for 3p coins to get it to move.
Now it was our lunch break, sat in King's Parade. I took the opportunity to show William my old college, Gonville and Caius. This is the Great Gate.
The hollyhocks in the borders on the front of King's College make a colourful display.
There were two more cows outside St. Mary's church... No. 20. Strength in Numbers...
...and No. 21. Hey Diddle Diddle, celebrating the jumping cow.
At the end of St. John's Street we found No. 23. Sir Isaac Mooton.
I never knew he was the inventor of the cat-flap.
Hello? What's this? It's supposed to be cows not sheep.
On Susses Street we saw No. 22. Etheridge, inspired by the design of the mathematical bridge and named after its designer. It seemed a bit abstract to us.
On Christ's Pieces we encountered No. 29. May-belle...
...and No. 30. Dairy Curie, in honour of Marie Curie.
I pause to take a photo along Orchard Street with its pretty cottages.
On New Square Park we visited No. 27. Enviromoontal Cow, with some mind-boggling facts about the impact Cows have on the environment....
..and No.28. Honey. We love the wild flowers on her.
At the entrance to the Grafton Centre is No. 37. Doodle Cow, covered in fun facts about cows.
Inside the Grafton Centre we met No. 38. Now for Something Udderly Different, with a tribute to Monty Pytthon's Flying Circus....
...and, our last official one for today - the sparkly No. 39. Stardust, a cross-between a cow and a disco mirrorball, and poster-cow for the leaflet, being named "Best in Show".
Now it was back to the river via the Friends of Midsummer Common Community Orchard
Some took the extra leg-stretch to Cambridge North station....
...to see two more, No. 40. Connecting Tails....
and No. 41. Can you Find 100 Beetles?
But I missed out on those, so thanks Joyce for the photos above. So a great fun day out with some lovely cows. Thank-you Joyce for leading us round. I'm looking forward to Part 2 next week.
You can see more details of our route here on MapMyWalk and more of my photos here on Flickr.
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