Surroundings, Cambridge

In addition to delightful walks along the Backs, through the beautiful college grounds on the west bank of the Cam, there is also a pleasant riverside path across the fields to Grantchester (2.5mi/4km), a favorite haunt of Byron and Rupert Brooke and a popular outing by punt.

Impington Hall at Impington, 3mi/5km north of Cambridge, once belonged to the Pepys family. Impington College, designed by Walter Gropius and Maxwell Fry, was built between 1936 and 1939.Impington has five churches including St Andrew's, first referenced in 1217, but most of the work was completed in the 13th and 14th centuries. The Mehtodist Chapel was completed in 1896 and the Baptist Chapel in 1899.

Newmarket (pop. 7,157), Mecca of English horse racing, lies 10mi/16km northeast of Cambridge.Racing in Newmarket dates back to 1174, there are more than 2,500 horses with most stables located in the centre of the town.

Moyses Hall, built by a Jewish merchant in the 12th century, is believed to be the oldest surviving dwelling house in East Anglia. Today its rooms are used for the display of Bronze Age archaeological finds, medieval artifacts and a 13th century monk's chronicle.

Ickworth House, just 4mi/6km southwest of Bury St Edmunds, was begun in 1796 by the Irish architect Francis Sandy and completed by the Marquis of Bristol in 1830. The mansion contains fine period furniture and a magnificent collection of silver. There is a superb park laid out by Capability Brown.

Huntingdon (18mi/29km northwest of Cambridge), an old and pleasant town on the River Ouse, is famous as the birthplace of Oliver Cromwell (born 1599). Hinchingbrooke House, where Cromwell once lived, in Huntingdon houses an arts complex and a country park.A 14th century bridge links Huntingdon to Godmanchester. Between the bridge and the market place is a house in which the poet William Cowper lived from 1765 to 1767.

Hinchingbrooke House stands 1mi/1.6km southwest of Huntingdon and is now a school. The site was originally occupied by a Benedictine nunnery founded in the 11th century which, at the dissolution of the monasteries, passed into the hands of the Cromwell family. In 1560 they converted the old building into a splendid mansion, incorporating parts of the church and the chapter house. In 1644 the house was sold to the Montagu family. The terraced gardens were laid out by Edward Montagu following his elevation to the Earldom of Sandwich.

Arrington is located southwest of Cambridge and is notable as the location of Wimpole Hall. The 18th Century house offers extensive walks on the manicured grounds.

The village of Trumpington has a war memorial by Eric Gill and a 14th century church with the second oldest memorial brass in England for Sir Roger de Trumpington, 1289.

Linton is located on the A604 9mi/15km southeast of Cambridge. Linton Falls are the largest waterfall on the River Wharfe.

1mi/1.6km to the west of Saffron Walden lies Audley End, a splendid Jacobean mansion built by Thomas Howard, Earl of Suffolk, between 1603 and 1616. Some of the rooms are exceptionally fine.The grounds feature an Elysian Garden, Robert Adam bridge, classical temple and a 19th-century parterre garden with flowering plants and period shrubs.

Finchingfield (pop. 1,100), within easy reach from Saffron Walden, is one of the most picturesque and attractive villages in England. The town features many old houses, a sturdy Norman church tower and an old windmill.