The Secrets of Historic Cambridge | And Who Built King's College?

Cambridge is one of the most beautiful historic cities in the world. It's famous for its university, architecture and waterways. But much of Cambridge's fascinating history is hidden in plain sight. In this video, Alice Loxton takes us on a tour of the streets and canals of this incredible city, revealing the secret history you might otherwise wander past!
From Cambridge's ancient foundations and Norman castle, to its more recent student pranks and Corpus Clock, Alice covers it all. We meet some of Cambridge's most famous alumni like Sir Isaac Newton and Francis Crick, and give you a picturesque view of Kings College and the Bridge of Sighs as Alice gets to grip with punting.
Here are the secrets of Cambridge's streets!
Sign up to History Hit TV now and get 14 days free: access.historyhit.com/checkout
And remember, as KZbin subscribers, you can sign up to History Hit TV today with code KZbin and enjoy 50% off your first 3 months!
For more history content, subscribe to our History Hit newsletters: www.historyhit.com/sign-up-to...
#historyhit #cambridge #secrethistory

[@HistoryHit]

Hope you enjoy guys! Don't forget to watch Alice's 'Secrets of Oxford's Streets' next! 👉 kzbin.info/www/bejne/gJTOZomFo7N_ZtU

[@meltz911]

Whoever is dressing her needs to be fired

[@CAP198462]

@@meltz911 pink panther.

[@stephenbelcher1935]

@@meltz911 whoever educated you need to be fired

[@meltz911]

@@stephenbelcher1935 Are you the one picking out her clothes and making her look like a mentally challenged 10 year old?

[@-DC-]

Alice is an absolutely fab presenter it's a pleasure to watch someone so effortlessly enthusiastic, Thank you !

[@howardking3601]

My sentiments exactly!

[@user-kc4rl6gt9t]

No one can rock a boiler suit like our Alice. She is wonderful. xx

[@keironastbury9399]

The most beautiful natural presenter ever, I could sit and listen to her for eternity, she should be on every history channel. Alice, I thank you for your time.

[@35manning]

Port, Port, left is Port. Starboard is right.

[@SopwithTheCamel]

Port, the drink, is red. Port has 4 letters as does left. So port is red is left. Easy.

[@skepticalbadger]

You can't decapitate a head either.

[@sih1095]

​​@@SopwithTheCamel 'not much Red Port Left'

[@35manning]

@@sih1095 But why is the rum gone?

[@sih1095]

@@SopwithTheCamel and port (as in navigation is red)

[@andyblue99]

Love Alice's work. Her voice and her enthusiasm are beautiful. Bought "Uproar" and it is on my reading list.

[@Allyphant2909]

Alice's presentation is always a delight (so much so that even I, an Oxford man, could see how someone else could see the merits of this facsimile on the fens after watching this video😆) I especially loved the care she took to make sure Rosalind Franklin was given appropriate mention in the part about Crick and Watson 👌

[@jarrodsio]

Facsimile on the fens! well played haha. and I'm saying this as a cantab.

[@ds1868]

​@@jarrodsionot quite s copy though. Oxford doesn't have the Chapel of King's College, the greatest piece of architectural engineering in the world.

[@jarrodsio]

@@ds1868 Hear Hear!

[@purplebutterfly7257]

Alice is my favourite presenter and just when I was impressed with her lack of fear of heights she shows me that she is not afraid of standing on the end of a boat and possibly falling into the river. She is fearless. 👍

[@emilio6996]

The image at 3:44 is of the inside of St John's College's Chapel, rather than King's!

[@RupertBear412]

every time I watch Alice, I can't help but imagine just how happy and excited she's look on Christmas morning opening her parcels :)

[@BMW7series251]

Great video Guys. In 1954 l moved to a village very near Cambridge. In the 60's l spent 4 years at college in Cambridge. Best time of my life! Lovely to see places l remember so well, thanks.

[@tamaracarter1836]

Cambridge is such a beautiful city!

[@alxie]

You managed to tape the corpus clock right at the moment it "hanged" for a few seconds. The clock does this every day but at random times, it's supposed to represent the relativity of time: the clock is never accurate, it can be a few seconds early or a few seconds late. It's right every 15 minutes though :)

[@Daniel_McDonald]

I absolutely love learning about the history of Cambridge and its many incredible landmarks, from King's College Chapel to the Mathematical Bridge. It's amazing to think about the incredible minds that have walked these streets over the centuries and the world-changing discoveries that have been made here. And I couldn't agree more that punting is a challenging but incredibly rewarding way to see the city from the water. Thanks for sharing this fascinating and informative video, I can't wait to learn more!

[@-Eternal-Damnation-]

I was one of the guides for the punting river tours for about 8yrs. Ill be honest most of what we would say on tour was rather hyperbolic but that's all part of the I guess 😅

[@saxon-mt5by]

Minor detail: the Austin Seven in the 1963 stunt was a 1933 car, not 1929. There was an earlier stunt in 1958 involving a 1931 Austin Seven van which was hoisted onto the roof of the Senate House.

[@colinprice712]

One of my college lecturers told us that the Austin 7 was actually carried up as parts, then re assembled… Took a crane to remove it because of non-lateral thinking!

[@-Eternal-Damnation-]

I used to mention this to my passengers back when I used to give the punting tours, never new if it was true or not but I guess it is!

[@txgunguy2766]

There is the M.I.T./Harvard football prank. Every day of one summer a M.I.T. student walked the Harvard University football field in a black and white striped shirt while blowing a whistle and spreading birdseed and bread crumbs around the field. At the start of Harvard's opening game of the following football season, the referee blew the whistle to start the game and, instantly, hundreds of pigeons decided on the field and caused a half hour delay.

[@Stonewall1861]

I have enjoyed all the information you provided for us. You are one of my favorite historians and also a very beautiful one.

[@markmcintosh3202]

Port, not Starboard!

[@PaulMcCaffreyfmac]

Spent Christmases at 11 Kings Parade with aunty and uncle. He owned the famly gent's outfitters, J Bays and Son which became New and Lingwood later. Nothing has ever quite matched being woken on Christmas morning by Kings' Chapel bells. The shop and house was smack opposite Kings College gates.

[@user-kc4rl6gt9t]

Alice, that was wonderful - I learned so much, thank you! xx

[@angelatester2471]

Thank you. Very enjoyable.

[@thoughtful_criticiser]

This takes me back, it's thirty years ago that I last punted along the backs. It cost one pound an hour for the punt from Trinity, the benefits of a Cambridge education.

[@gijgij4541]

Turning to the left STARBOARD? What? May I never encounter you on the open seas... BTW, the etymology of port and starboard is quite interesting in itself.

[@jeffkeeley4594]

What a wonderful presenter is Alice!

[@youtubmicpan]

Beautiful historic country, beautiful delightful host.

[@charlesprince524]

Thank you, Alice, glorious England is your wonderland!

[@spideywhiplash]

Those sticky buns look delicious...I think I see raisins in them which makes them even more delish looking.

[@cindchan]

OH, I just love Cambridge!! Got to ride in a punt, which was a lot of fun! Whenever I get back to England I would love to go there again!

[@iwx4021]

King's is a lovely college. My girlfriend is at King's and I love seeing it every time I visit. She doesn't know how lucky she is!

[@robertneven7563]

Alice make my day

[@johnjiv5790]

When I was living in Cambridge , one night I saw Batman and Ali G climb over a locked high gate into Downing College grounds. I thought I was tripping but turned out it was just two students returning from a fancy dress party without their keys. 😂

[@katherinecollins4685]

Really good

[@reynardthefox]

very impressive,Alice

[@MrHrannsi]

20 seconds in, and as visitor to Cambridge a few times I'll guess that the best prank has a Mini as the star of the show.

[@anthonystevens8683]

A great fun and educational video Alice. Many thanks for sharing with us. I have to agree back in the day some of my most creative ideas turned up in the pub or having that odd drink. Hopefully future student pranks will be amusing but not damage anything.

[@majackson14]

Lives in Cambridge for 20 years, loved it. ❤

[@nickmadden3145]

Nice tour…

[@jaroslav22100]

how excited she got after buying those two chelsea buns... lovely :D

[@chrisball3778]

There's actually 2 Cavendish labs- there's the original site as featured in this video, but the institution has been based at a larger, modern site outside the city centre since the 1970's. My dad used to work there and I got to visit it when I was a kid- a very strange place.

[@osvaldoschilling9129]

The old Cavendish is arguably the most important experimental physics facility of all times. The neutron particle was discovered there around 1930. The discoverer of the atomic nucleus, Nobelist Prof. Lord Rutherford was the head of the lab for about 25 years and it is essentially the birthplace of nuclear physics and most of condensed matter physics as well.

[@atiyaxa3761]

The only prank I saw while studying at Cambridge during the Covid years was masks on statues and grotesques. Still can't believe someone actually climbed one of the entrances of St John's College to give the statues masks lol. A lot of the statues were quite high up. Usually they just get Santa hats around Christmas, but during Covid they got masks and hats.

[@vloveless6367]

She is the best host!

[@stephengilbert5612]

I love Alice , she is amazing.

ı love huge gothic art in particular

[@AndyLeMaitre]

If Alice started a four hour lecture about accountancy, I'd watch 'till the end.

[@TempleGuitars]

"Everyone behave". How do you make history so effortlessly fun?

[@Peter-55]

I just love these videos, thank you, Alice! 🥰GB

On the roof, well true actually.

[@kuttikuttan]

Excellent video congrats. I was at Cambridge day before yesterday but missed Fitzgillies etc. However, I saw Charles Darwin's home and the Museum of Architecture and Archaeology which are missing in this video

[@kenthatfield4287]

To Emily 35. I did not say it was being used today I said there was another way to say port. So they used it in the past did they not? So therefore there is another way of saying it therefore I am not wrong.Larboard is the left side of a sailing vessel as well is port.

[@davidstrother496]

Got to love Alice's enthusiasm, energy and humor. Cheers from Texas.

[@freesheep0]

Woot! HEB

[@shaunwest3612]

Great video Alice, very interesting, very beautiful place 👍

[@DrPengprof]

When is she going to have an hour-long BBC documentary? I'd look forward to that

[@glynluff2595]

I recall the Jerry pot slung between the towers of Kings College Chapel in the sixties!

[@rksnj6797]

Very informative and entertaining! Love the pranks the students pulled. Those Chelsea buns looked delicious!

[@richardthompson9836]

You are loved in Florida, Alice. You are truly "Alice in Wonderland".

[@jetsons101]

Great watch, lots of information, but the narration is so enjoyable...

[@raymondporter2094]

Sounds like she said "Cavendish Lavatory" rather than Laboratory...! She obviously had fun for this video though.

[@cameronmcphee6827]

Wooohooo home city

[@pistonburner6448]

Apparently not everyone living there is a brainiac...

[@cameronmcphee6827]

@Pistonburner absolutely not 🤣🤣🤣

[@orwellboy1958]

It was mine too, for over 50 years, glad I'm out of it now though.

[@ELMS]

Imagine you’re out having a nice dinner. And you ask the waiter for some red port. And the waiter says “I’m sorry, there’s no Red Port Left.” This little memory aide will help you remember Port/starboard and left/right and red/green navigation lights.

[@Heru2088]

👏🏾👏🏾👏🏾👏🏾👏🏾👏🏾

[@misterjdodd]

2:51 *port

[@danq.5140]

"The Scarlet Jumpsuit" sounds like a Sherlock Holmes case.

[@wesh5267]

Am sure you have been kidded enough about port and starboard 😄 "A" for effort and your energy and upbeat approach more than makes up for any shortfalls! Look forward to seeing all your videos.🌞

Ahoy matey, hoist the sails, you're so cool.

[@cleverusername9369]

My cousin did a similar senior prank, he and his friends somehow got a sailboat into their school's gymnasium and suspended it from the rafters.

[@allanlees299]

It's actually far better to drop the pole at the side of the punt level with one's hip. This negates any need for a clumsy demi-turn when using the pole as a rudder subsequent to the push action. Thus a smoother and more gentle propulsion is achieved, along with far greater control of the punt. Incidentally, the word "punt" has its origin in the same root that gives us the word "pontoon."

[@nickyfield137]

11.30 Labbatry !

[@wesleycardinal8869]

Very interesting, lovely presenter!

[@stevemull2002]

This young lady, is a joy to watch,

[@jeangenie68]

Even given the port/starboard mistake, I'm in love. I also like Cambridge.

[@sps996desmo]

At the 6:38 mark, what was the clock pendulum/regulator? doing?

[@alxie]

One of its "tricks"! Time slows down and I think this trick represents the relativity of time.

[@andyrudd771]

Cavendish lavatory?

[@CAP198462]

That’s a good prank, but nothing compares to the pranks of Horace de Vere Cole. Look up the Sultan of Zanzibar hoax or the Dreadnought hoax. 😂 History hit ought to do a special about him and the Alpine mountaineering society at Cambridge.

[@MrRoastedSnow]

Good old Scudamores. Thanks Alice

[@stevejohnson1685]

I loved wandering around Cambridge on foot and by punt while my wife was teaching a short course. Lovely city, intellectually stimulating environment! I found my way to the Cavendish Laboratory, found a calculator museum, got a haircut, bought some clothing, climbed some spires inside the cathedral, etc. Some peculiar-sounding names persist from the university's history: "Jesus Pieces" is just one. Did you notice at 3:18 that "right-hand rule" applies to punt traffic, whereas all other traffic (foot, carriage, car) is left-hand rule :-) ?

[@chrisball3778]

There are no cathedrals in Cambridge- Cambridge is part of the Diocese of Ely. Plenty of nice churches and chapels, though, and I guess you climbed one of those.

[@dennispike9869]

I thought left was port

[@bobbybigboyyes]

Funny how on this video about universities, if you look at the Chapter descriptions at the bottom of the screen, they have spelt 'Bridge of Sighs' as 'Bridge of 'SIZE' I guess that says it all!! Did an American do it?

[@davidgriffin6724]

Dear...left is port, right is starboard.

[@gi8771]

Surely "time eater" would be something like "chronofage". Whereas "chronopede" sounds more like "time walker". Can someone correct me please if I am wrong?

[@jackglossop4859]

This presenter is an absolute goof, I love her. 🤣

[@54mgtf22]

Alice! Legend. Love your work 👍

[@merlinjones2660]

12:27 Cambridge is not only about the past ,but also build are grandchildrens future for there time on this vessel, where there time is a space environment as S W HAWKING advised look to your future with an eye on yout past so that it is not repeated wise council is that advice

[@NikkiBikkiNZ]

Was King’s College used in the filming of Harry Potter, it looks familiar?

[@PhilR.]

No Port left in the bottle!

It' might be a good time to deal with Sir Chronos and to put Mösyö Zeus in control instead.🥶

[@Rog5446]

Chelsea Buns are free in Cambridge then!

[@greywebs1944]

Pink Panther Strikes Again 🤣

[@shirleydowning9383]

Left is PORT!

[@donyaschuk6538]

It would be fun to share a bun with Alice.

[@lifeschool]

If you type Cambo Ricum into google translate, it will detect it as Latin for "I am rich". York is BEBO RACUM. Seeing her in that bright pink romp suit instead of her usual dresses reminds me of Anneka Rice and Treasure Hunt.

[@peacheymodels3503]

You went to the Eagle, but not the RAF Bar... shame.

[@epicrisalo1237]

Alice is like Philomena Cunk's younger sister, except she got the brains of both of them

[@MrJonnyd55]

Cambridge 💪

[@stijnvth]

Why is Alice so damn cute in her gleefulness presenting history.

[@richardprescott6322]

Another fun episode. I must admit to laughing a bit as I have recently found a book in a charity shop. An 18th edition - 1929 copy of When we we very young by A.A Milne 2nd poem is Buckingham Palace when he went down to see the changing of the guard with Alice. I believe she may have been his nanny.? How lucky if nanny Alice was as fun as this Alice

[@theemporersnewclothes]

639min the pendulum stops

[@williamrobinson7435]

I see that the pedants have been at work, with thier carping censure.. If Alice wants to call port (larboard) right and not left, and starboard left and not right, even though that's not strictly right, oh I'M confused now, and I work in a bloody boatyard, I mean I've seen more punts than you can shake a stick at, but as I say, everyone is at liberty to call what they want what they want (except on Instagram).. Fitzbillies looks good. One suspects that someone has been to Cambridge before. Nice one Alice! 🎓🌟👍

[@busterboy7505]

Nice one Alice, love to share a bun with you, 👍👍.

[@adam_p99]

Yes! You made the video!! 3:10 the bridge behind is known as the orgasm bridge. Because it has cobble-like bumps and if females ride over them on a bike then…. well… If you want to make another video, the church opposite senate house was the site of ANOTHER beheading of a corpse. The then decomposed body was dragged through the streets. This was a Catholic backlash after the 1605 plot, iirc. I’m a Cantabrigian (resident of Cambridge) and have plenty more boring stories that no one wants to hear.

[@user-wf2lm3vi7o]

I thought DNA’s helical origins were from a dream of Watson’s spiral staircase or from 2 snakes intertwined?

[@gadaboutwalks]

As it says at the railway station: "Welcome to Cambridge. Home of Anglia Ruskin University".