Today was windy and mostly cold, but the forecast rain did not occur. We started by going at 10am to the Fitzwilliam Museum, which was also the city Art Gallery. The entrance vestibule was overwhelming with large pillars and statues all around us.
The Treasured Possessions display had smallish items of fabulous craftsmanship from the 15th century on. Many of these were of great value, but the museum was presenting them for their artistic and historic value. They were no longer personal possessions. The paintings included Dutch, French, Italian and English masters. The Dutch paintings still stand up as well above the rest.
Looking for a coffee shop, we came to the Emmanuel United Reformed Church which had a Fair Shares cafe, using Fair Trade products and employing some disabled people. A good project for us to support. They had a series of posters on the Good Society, which laid out some excellent goals for people to take into account in considering which party to vote for at this week's election. Climate Change was one of the major issues listed.
They encouraged us to attend the 1pm special concert which featured Hannah Yip on the piano and Carina Drury on Cello, playing works by Debussy, Faure and Poulenc. One of the stained glass windows behind them pictured Oliver Cromwell, who started his political career as member for Cambridge.
This was the smallish organ that they had renovated:
The University Botanical Garden was closed this morning because of high winds, but we found it was open on our way back to the B and B, so we wandered around for a long time, reading botanical labels. Thick hedges were a feature.
These baby swamp hens dived in the water as we watched. Could have been only days old.
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