£62.50 (Non JG member)
Overview
Discover the ground-breaking Stirling short listed architecture at the Cambridge Eco-Mosque, enjoy time in central Cambridge and visit Grantchester where we enjoy cream tea at the iconic Orchard Tea Rooms. We meet the Blue Badge Tour Guide at the Mosque to begin with an included cuppa before being taken on a guided tour. Designed by the architect behind the London Eye and the treetop walkway at Kew, thirty columns or ‘trees’ reach up to support the roof in a design inspired by the Gothic fan vaulting at nearby Kings College Chapel. The yellow Cambridge brick and architecture inspired by Victorian railway stations lend a British flavour, but the Islamic garden with a whispering fountain also brings the ancient majesty of the Moorish Alhambra to Cambridge. We head into the centre of Cambridge for free time for lunch with the option to visit “the greatest little museum in the world” – the Fitzwilliam which positively sparkles following a two year refurb. At this little British Museum the architectural splendour of the central staircase is extraordinary. Bring a packed lunch if you’d like more time to explore the collections. We are going to round off a very satisfying day out with one last Cambridge Cultural Icon – the Orchard Tea Gardens in Grantchester, a village known around the world now for the erudite and eponymous vicar detective drama set in the 1950s. In 1898 a group of Cambridge students following in the footsteps of alumni from Newton to Darwin walked out to Grantchester. Seeing the idyllic orchard they asked the owner if she would serve them tea beneath the blossoming fruit trees and so a great Cambridge tradition was born. When you take tea at The Orchard Tea Rooms you’re joining an impressive list of illuminaries that includes local boy Rupert Brooke, Virginia Woolf, Alan Turing and Stephen Hawking. If you’re game you can enjoy your tea from a deck chair but you’ll be relieved to know that we book an indoor space with tables and chairs, which also makes us blessedly weather proof. You’ll be ready to head home from Grantchester at 4.45pm.