The Backs

Clare College is a constituent college of the University of Cambridge in Cambridge, England. The college was founded in 1326 as University Hall, making it the second-oldest surviving college of the University after Peterhouse. It was refounded in 1338 as Clare Hall by an endowment from Elizabeth de Clare, and took on its current name in 1856. Clare is famous for its chapel choir and for its gardens on "The Backs" (the back of the colleges that overlook the River Cam). Clare is consistently one of the most popular Cambridge colleges amongst prospective applicants.

Queen's Road (designated the A1134) is a major road to the west of central Cambridge, England. It links with Madingley Road and Northampton Street to the north with Sidgwick Avenue, Newnham Road and Silver Street to the south. At the northern end to the west is St John's College Sports Ground. At the opposite side of the junction to the east at the southern end is Darwin College. Queens' College backs onto the road on the east side at the southern end too. To the east are The Backs along the River Cam, providing one of the best views in Cambridge of the backs of some of the most historic and prestigious Cambridge University colleges. These include St John's, Trinity College, Trinity Hall, Clare College, King's College, and Queens' College. Opposite King's College, West Road leads off to the west. In 1871, Henry Sidgwick, a Fellow of Trinity, alongside Anne Clough (the first Principal of Newnham College) and Eleanor Balfour (Sidgwick's future wife) oversaw the purchase of 74 Regent Street to house five female students who wished to attend lectures but did not live near enough to the University to do so. The following year (1872), this moved to Merton House (built c1800) on Queen's Road, and in 1875 the first building for Newnham College was built at the current site on Sidgwick Avenue adjoining Queen's Road.

Trinity Hall (formally The College or Hall of the Holy Trinity in the University of Cambridge) is a constituent college of the University of Cambridge.It is the fifth-oldest surviving college of the university, having been founded in 1350 by William Bateman, Bishop of Norwich, to train clergymen in canon law following decimation of their numbers during the Black Death. Historically, Trinity Hall taught law; today, it teaches the sciences, arts, and humanities. Trinity Hall has two sister colleges at the University of Oxford, All Souls and University College. Notable alumni include theoretical physicists Stephen Hawking and Nobel Prize winner David Thouless, Australian Prime Minister Stanley Bruce, Canadian Governor General David Johnston, philosophers Marshall McLuhan and Galen Strawson, Conservative cabinet minister Geoffrey Howe, Charles Howard, 1st Earl of Nottingham, writer J. B. Priestley, and Academy Award-winning actress Rachel Weisz.

King's College is a constituent college of the University of Cambridge. Formally The King's College of Our Lady and Saint Nicholas in Cambridge, the college lies beside the River Cam and faces out onto King's Parade in the centre of the city. King's was founded in 1441 by King Henry VI soon after he had founded its sister institution at Eton College. Initially, King's accepted only students from Eton College. However, the king's plans for King's College were disrupted by the Wars of the Roses and the resultant scarcity of funds, and then his eventual deposition. Little progress was made on the project until 1508, when King Henry VII began to take an interest in the college, probably as a political move to legitimise his new position. The building of the college's chapel, begun in 1446, was finished in 1544 during the reign of Henry VIII. King's College Chapel is regarded as one of the finest examples of late English Gothic architecture. It has the world's largest fan vault, while its stained-glass windows and wooden chancel screen are considered some of the finest from their era. The building is seen as emblematic of Cambridge. The Choir of King's College, Cambridge, composed of male students at King's and choristers from the nearby King's College School, Cambridge, is one of the most accomplished and renowned in the world. Every year on Christmas Eve, the Festival of Nine Lessons and Carols (a service originally devised for Truro Cathedral by Edward White Benson in 1880, adapted by the college dean Eric Milner-White in 1918) is broadcast from the chapel to millions of listeners worldwide.

The Queens' College Old Library is a historic library at Queens' College, Cambridge. The library was established as part of the college's foundation in 1448 and contains approximately 30,000 volumes spanning the 12th to 19th centuries.Dr Tim Eggington is the current Keeper of the Old Library at Queens'.

Mathematical Bridge is the popular name of a wooden footbridge in the southwest of central Cambridge, England. It bridges the River Cam about one hundred feet northwest of Silver Street Bridge and connects two parts of Queens' College. Its official name is simply the Wooden Bridge or Queens' Bridge. It is a Grade II listed building.The bridge was designed by William Etheridge, and built by James Essex in 1749. It has been rebuilt on two occasions, in 1866 and in 1905, but has kept the same overall design. Although it appears to be an arch, it is composed entirely of straight timbers built to an unusually sophisticated engineering design, hence the name. A replica of the bridge was built in 1923 near the Iffley Lock in Oxford.The original Mathematical Bridge was another bridge of the same design, also commissioned by James Essex, crossing the Cam between Trinity and Trinity Hall colleges, where Garret Hostel Bridge now stands.

King's College Chapel is the chapel of King's College in the University of Cambridge. It is considered one of the finest examples of late Perpendicular Gothic English architecture and features the world's largest fan vault. The Chapel was built in phases by a succession of kings of England from 1446 to 1515, a period which spanned the Wars of the Roses and three subsequent decades. The Chapel's large stained glass windows were completed by 1531, and its early Renaissance rood screen was erected in 1532–36. The Chapel is an active house of worship, and home of the King's College Choir. It is a landmark and a commonly used symbol of the city of Cambridge.

Queens' College is a constituent college of the University of Cambridge. Queens' is one of the oldest colleges of the university, founded in 1448 by Margaret of Anjou. The college spans the River Cam with the Mathematical Bridge connecting the two sides. College alumni include Desiderius Erasmus, who studied at the college during his trips to England between 1506 and 1515. Other notable alumni include author T. H. White, Israeli politician Abba Eban, founding father of Ghana William Ofori Atta, newsreader and journalist Emily Maitlis, actor Stephen Fry, Governor of the Bank of England Andrew Bailey, and the British members of Parliament Stephen Kinnock and Liz Kendall. As of June 2016, the college held non-current assets valued at £111.18 million.The president of the college is the economist Mohamed A. El-Erian. Past presidents include John Fisher.

Trinity College is a constituent college of the University of Cambridge. Founded in 1546 by King Henry VIII, Trinity is the largest Oxbridge college measured by the number of undergraduates and has the largest financial endowment of any college at either Cambridge or Oxford. Members of Trinity have been awarded 34 Nobel Prizes out of the 121 received by members of Cambridge University (the highest of any college at either Oxford or Cambridge). Members of the college have received four Fields Medals, one Turing Award and one Abel Prize. Trinity alumni include the father of the scientific method (or empiricism) Francis Bacon, six British prime ministers (the highest of any Cambridge college), physicists Isaac Newton, James Clerk Maxwell, Ernest Rutherford and Niels Bohr, mathematicians Srinivasa Ramanujan and Charles Babbage, poets Lord Byron and Lord Tennyson, writers Vladimir Nabokov and A.A. Milne, historians Lord Macaulay and G. M. Trevelyan and philosophers Ludwig Wittgenstein, Bertrand Russell, and G.E. Moore. Two members of the British royal family have studied at Trinity and been awarded degrees: Prince William Frederick, Duke of Gloucester and Edinburgh who gained an MA in 1790, and King Charles III, who was awarded a lower second class BA in 1970. Royal family members who have studied at Trinity without obtaining degrees include King Edward VII, King George VI, and Prince Henry, Duke of Gloucester. Trinity's many college societies include the Trinity Mathematical Society, the oldest mathematical university society in the United Kingdom, and the First and Third Trinity Boat Club, its rowing club which gives its name to the May Ball. Along with Christ's, Jesus, King's and St John's colleges, it has provided several well-known members of the Cambridge Apostles, an intellectual "secret society". In 1848, Trinity hosted the meeting at which Cambridge undergraduates representing fee-paying private schools codified the early rules of Association Football, known as the Cambridge Rules. Trinity's sister college is Christ Church, Oxford. Trinity has been linked with Westminster School since the school's re-foundation in 1560, and its Master is an ex officio governor of the school. Trinity maintains a connection with Whitgift School, Croydon: John Whitgift, the founder of Whitgift School, was master of Trinity 1561–1564.

The Old Schools are part of the University of Cambridge, in the centre of Cambridge, England. The Old Schools house the Cambridge University Offices, which form the main administration for the University.The building is Grade I listed. It is two storeys high with ashlar facing and a parapet above. Within the Old Schools are West Court and Cobble Court. The Old Schools building is located at the end of Trinity Lane and is surrounded by other historic University and College buildings. To the north is Gonville and Caius College. To the east is the University of Cambridge Senate House where degree ceremonies are held, on King's Parade. To the south, the scene is dominated by the large King's College Chapel. To the west are Trinity Hall and Clare College. The Old Schools Site covers the Old Schools, the Senate House, and Great St Mary's, the University Church.

The Wren Library is the library of Trinity College in Cambridge. It was designed by Christopher Wren in 1676 and completed in 1695.

Silver Street is located in the southwest of central Cambridge, England. It links Queen's Road to the west with Trumpington Street to the east. The road continues west out of central Cambridge as Sidgwick Avenue. The road crosses the River Cam on Silver Street Bridge. The current bridge was built in 1958–1959 to a 1932 design by Sir Edwin Lutyens, and replaced an 1841 cast iron bridge.At the southwestern end to the south is Darwin College. Queens' College is halfway along on the north side, on both sides of the River Cam. At the eastern end to the north fronting onto Trumpington Street is St Catharine's College. To the north are The Backs along the river, providing one of the best views in Cambridge of the backs of some of the most historic and prestigious Cambridge University colleges. To the south, on the east side of the Cam, is the Silver Street/Mill Lane Site, one of the University of Cambridge sites. This is bounded by Silver Street to the north, Trumpington Street to the east, Little St Mary' Lane to the south, and Granta Place / Laundress Lane on the Cam to the west. Mill Lane runs east–west through the middle of the site. Various University departments, other University facilities, and the University Centre, are located here.