The Backs

Encyclopedia : T : TH : THE : The Backs

The Backs, or the Backs of the Colleges refers to an area of Cambridge at the rear of several colleges by the River Cam. Specifically, the region in question consists of the rear grounds of the following colleges:

right

Though Trinity Hall looks onto the river Cam, between Clare College and Trinity College, it has no rear grounds on the other side of the river.

The area is notably pleasant, not least because of the river running through it and the way in which the college grounds are maintained, including expansive lawns and gardens. Historically, much of the land was used by the colleges for more down-to-earth purposes such as grazing livestock, or growing fruit. The river was also an important commercial thoroughfare, and a towpath was maintained beside it into the nineteenth century.

References

Frank Stubbings, Bedders, Bulldogs and Bedells: A Cambridge Glossary, ISBN 0521479789

From Wikipedia, the Free Encyclopedia. Original article here. Support Wikipedia by contributing or donating.
All text is available under the terms of the GNU Free Documentation License See Wikipedia Copyrights for details.