www.cambridgMonday, August 29, 201114 CENTRESPREAD

Everybodyout! Perks ofpower cutI WAS working hard at my desk – well, those YouTubevideos of the sneezing panda don’t watch themselves,you know – when the screen flickered and died. Ilooked disbelievingly at my hands in case I had hadsome sort of chocolate-induced spasm and hit a weirdcombination of keys, but then noticed that my gently-humming printer had gone quiet. Power cut! Nowwhere did I put thosecandles – and whywould I need themat 10 in themorning?

I looked outinto the streetand it was like arow of cuckooclocks: headswere appearingfrom every door.A chorus of “Areyou off too?”quickly establishedthat we were allelectricity-free. Power cutswere quite common when I was little, hence myinstinctive search for candles – although I’m not surethat the lightly scented bergamot and tangerine“bougie de relaxation” that I finally unearthed in thecupboard quite cuts the mustard in the illuminationstakes. But these days outages are quite rare, and areusually heralded by a flurry of warnings from theelectricity company, so this unexpected withdrawal ofpower was a bit worrying.

And then I started thinking. My computer was off, sothat pretty much knocked my work/pandas on thehead. I couldn’t do the ironing or the Hoovering, oreven put on a load of washing. Without the telly, Icouldn’t catch up on all those improving documentariesI keep recording about science and maths and theenvironment (and then eschewing in favour of DVDs ofDallas and anything by Richard Curtis). And with thefreezer now off, I really ought to eat that ice-cream.

So it made sense, nay, it was my housewifely duty,to sit in the garden with a magazine and eat a bigbowl of Ben and Jerry’s. And then the dratted powercame back on again.

Of course this meant going around the house andresetting all the clocks. It seems that every singleelectrical device, probably including the toaster, has aclock that gaily reverts to a flashing 00:00 wheneverthere is a sniff of a power cut.

All the phones were blinking at me, which made mewonder: if you do lose power and all yourcommunication devices are electrical (phone, email,fax), how do you let anyone know? I wonder whetherbergamot and tangerine candles can send smoke signals– fragrant ones, of course.

Susan’sQuestion

of the WeekAS we spend so much time in thegarden, we have a doorbell. It isin the middle of the front door ateye-level, with “Press” written onit. Why do so many peopleknock instead and thencomplain that we didn’thear them?

THERE are almost too manyevents to get your headaround at this year’s Open

Cambridge weekend.From September 9-11, running in

tandem with the nationwide HeritageOpen Days event, museums, librariesand university buildings will be sharingtheir mustiest secrets and letting thepublic in on what really goes on behindclosed doors.

“The idea behind it is that we givelocal residents, not just people from thecity centre of Cambridge but from allover East Anglia, a chance to peekbehind the doors, fences and walls ofCambridge’s colleges, museums,libraries and some city institutions,” saysSue Long, the enthusiastic organiser ofOpen Cambridge and the festivals andoutreach officer at the University ofCambridge office of external affairs andcommunications. “It’s to give people theopportunity to see places that wouldn’tnormally be open to the public.

“Everything is completely free, whichis part of the whole ethos around OpenCambridge and it gives all theinstitutions taking part the opportunityto show off what they’ve got.”

Acres of enclosed gardens (you caneven meet the reclusive Trinity Collegegardeners), the first recorded image of apretzel and books kept on first floors toavoid flooding are among some of thesights being dusted down for publicdisplay.

“We’re really trying to encourageeverybody to come along, to visit and

see places that they would feel werenormally closed to them and, in fact,normally are,” enthuses Sue.

“It’s a mutually nice thing really.Visitors benefit from being able to cometo see all these amazing things, and forfree, while the staff and volunteersholding the tours have a chance to sharetheir interests, passions and knowledge.”

Last year Open Cambridge saw morethan 3,000 people exploring hiddentreasures that are rarely the centre ofattention, and it looks set to be as wellsupported this time around with manyof the events already booked up.

The historical nooks and cranniesproving popular so far include a guidedstroll of Clare College gardens, takingin the Old Court and Cambridge’s mostancient bridge as well as a shadowy tourof the oft-forgotten Ascension BurialGround in All Souls Lane, dubbedBritain’s brainiest graveyard. Two ofDarwin’s sons lie interred alongside animpressive roll call of eminentacademics, poets, philosophers,mathematicians and scientists, includingSir John Cockroft, who shared a Nobelprize in physics for splitting the atom.

The macabre In Cromwell’s

Footsteps tour of SCollege (his severethe ante-chapel) anvisits to John LewisCambridge were a

But it’s not too laaction. St John’s Copen on a drop-infreely wander in tomedieval texts datiwonder why 14thconsidered elephamythological as un

For families, theStourbridge Fair a

OPEN TO THE PUBLIC: A green at Clare College, which is usually kept private STRANGE NOTION: See the manuscrip

Get in on the seccity’s little-knowSome of the most secretive institutions in Cambridge are preparing to open their doors to the pactivities. ELLA WALKER uncovers the highlights to hunt out.

WELCOMING COMMITTEE: Gaetan Lee, Will Betts, Shelley Bolderson, Sophie Smith, Sue Long and N

Monday, August 29, 2011 27CENTRESPREADe-news.co.uk

Helping goodcauses rocks

Quiz night willfollow fun day

A MINI-FESTIVAL showing offthe musical talent of local actsis planned in Saffron Walden.

Jubilee Rocks Again isrunning on Saturday,September 10.

The free event in JubileeGardens, in Hill Street, whichruns from 1-6pm, will featurelocal bands and singers.

It will raise money for SaffronWalden Teenage Cancer Trustand Addenbrooke’s HospitalOncology Department. Moreinformation from the TouristInformation Centre, in MarketPlace, or call (01799) 524002.

Homes cut off astree breaks linesA FALLEN tree cut off powerto homes in the Haverhill area.

Police closed Blacksmith’sLane, Shudy Camps, after thetree took down live powercables on Friday.

A UK Power Networksspokeswoman said supplyhad been interrupted to 13customers in Shudy CampsPark and Blacksmith’s Laneduring the morning whileengineers worked to repair thedamage. It took about an hourand a half to restore theelectricity.

Giving adds toyoga wellbeingA DONATION day atCamyoga, Cambridge’s yogacentre, in which all teacherstaught for free and studentswere asked to pay a donation,raised £735 for three charities.

The day, which included avariety of classes, raised themoney for Arthur RankHospice, Tiba AfricaFoundation and Peace Boat.

Camyoga founder LouisePalmer said: “As with the yogaitself the day gave people asense of wellbeing for havinghelped these good causes.”

LITTLEPORT Town CricketClub is hosting a family funday on Sunday, September 4.

The venue is Littleport LeisureCentre, in Camel Road, from11am-6pm. Attractions willinclude children’s games,raffles and food.

And a quiz night at 8pm willraise money for LittleportRangers FC.

For more information abouteither event, call the leisurecentre on (01353) 860600.

>> in Brief

today onlineFind outhow tosupportour RosieHospitalcampaign

Sidney Sussexed head is buried innd behind-the-sceness and Marshall ofalso snapped up fast.ate to get in on theCollege Library will be

basis so anyone cano get a glimpse ofing back to 1312 andcentury scholarsnts to be as

nicorns.centuries-old

at the Leper Chapel

will be hosting storytelling and marketstalls and the five-mile Bridge the Gapcharity walk, which takes in universitycolleges, will start from Jesus Green at9.30am on the Sunday. Organisers arehoping to raise £50,000 for Arthur RankHospice and the Cambridge Newscharity Press Relief.

“It’s great that there’s a mix of citythings and university and collegeevents,” says Sue. “It’s a way ofcelebrating Cambridge as a whole.People are putting a tremendousamount of effort into these tours and aregetting a lot out of it. Hopefullymembers of the public will too becauseit’s really for local residents, localfamilies, local communities; it’s aweekend for them.”

For more information and to make abooking visit www.cam.ac.uk/opencambridge or call (01223) 766766.

pt at St John’s which describes elephants as mythical beasts HEAD HUNT: Sidney Sussex College, which keeps Oliver Cromwell’s head on the premises

DEAD BRAINY: The Ascension burial ground at All Souls Lane

STEPPING OUT: The finish of the Bridge the Gap walk last year on Jesus Green

cret ofn gemspublic for a weekend of tours, talks and

It’s to give people theopportunity to see

places that wouldn’tnormally be open to

the public. Everythingis completely free,which is part of thewhole ethos around

Open Cambridge– Sue Long

Nicky Buckley

Still booking:Dine in the Grade II listeddining hall of WestminsterCollege.Discover more about penguinsand the perils of exploring atthe Scott Polar ResearchInstitute.Tour the Murray EdwardsCollege gardens.

Just drop in:Explore the gardens andlibrary at the FitzwilliamMuseum, and pick up a pot atthe plant sale.Have a medieval afternoon ofre-enactments at theStourbridge Fair at theBarnwell Leper Church.Read letters from PerseSchool old boys who foundthemselves in the trenchesduring WWI at Christ’s College.