The Cambridge Experience

What an extraordinary visit to Cambridge principally due to the wonderful hospitality by Uta and her inclusiveness of Christine plus all the associated history of this wonderful city. Last evening was special with dinner at St Johns College with the Fellows. Uta briefed us well on protocol in the Green room before we went in procession to the High Table for dinner. My table companion immediately started a conversation about the England versus NZ cricket game - annoying we lost! Fascinating to hear the history of the College and how it operates.

St Johns College Cambridge

Today I gave a seminar at the Sainsbury Laboratory, which is next to the Cambridge Botanic garden. Catching up with Sesbastian Schornack who I first met at MPMI in Kyoto was stimulating - marvellous imaging of Phytophthora in planta. I enjoyed talking to someone who is as excited as I am about the impact of fungal symbionts on plant development. The architecture of the Sainsbury Laboratory is quite remarkable – it won an architectural award in 2012.  It also houses the University's herbarium including species collected by Darwin. 

While the Botanic Garden is quite small it is beautifully laid out with beds of plants of matching flower colours really setting it off. I liked the chronological garden showing when plants from other countries were introduced into the UK. There are twice as many species of plants in this small Botanic garden than all the plant species in UK.

We arrived in Norwich this afternoon and the first thing we did was to try and locate Allan Road and the Terrace House we stayed in with our 3 children in 1989. Remarkably the houses are exactly the same as they were then but the houses on the banks of the Wensum nearby have been replaced with flash multi-storey apartments.

A pint at The Mill - Cambridge