Ben le Vay’s new Eccentric Cambridge commences with a caveat from the author, ‘ “Eccentric” carries no judgement or moral value, it just means not in the real centre… Bonkers, doolally, off-the-wall, barking, amusing, odd or crackers… those are judgements. Eccentricity is just a fact.’
That Cambridge is already a popular city for tourists keen to take a look at an old English university town is without doubt. Similarly, the recent Windsor, Middleton nuptials giving us the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge have done no harm either. However, Bradt’s new guide unearths many of the town’s less obvious, bizarre and scandalous aspects, whilst also providing important insights on how to pole a punt without looking like a complete prat! From dotty Dons and what the colleges don’t want you to know, to hardy naked cyclists, bin-bound buskers, quirky pubs, wacky museums and weird walking tours, le Vay leads readers on merry and macabre jaunts around Cambridge’s curiosities. As well as eating, shopping and staying eccentric, along with getting there in the first place, the guidebook offers a calendar of oddities to be explored throughout the year. Though confessing only to A-levels at Cambridge Tech College, ‘I was far too thick/rebellious etc…’, Ben le Vay’s writing almost buzzes his new guide off the table with eccentric vibrations.
Benedict le Vay is a features editor on a leading British newspaper. He spends his spare time researching zany facts about the British and their way of life. He is also the author of Bradt’s Eccentric London and Eccentric Britain
Title: Eccentric Cambridge
Author: Benedict le Vay
Publisher: Bradt Travel Guides
Publication: 10th November 2011
Price: £9.99
ISBN: 978 1 84162 427 3
