Right in front of you is a broad sweep of rolling green running along the banks of the River Cam. Big old trees, neatly kept lawns, and-over on the left-cows taking their job as professional grazers very seriously. To get your bearings, just look across the water: historic bridges and those polished college façades line up like a postcard that Cambridge somehow manages to look like every single day.
Welcome to the Backs-Cambridge-speak for “the back” of the colleges. Which is hilarious, because this “back” is absolutely the show-off side. Picture it a few centuries ago: no cars, no city roar, just the quiet glide of the Cam… and maybe a cow offering a thoughtful moo in protest at yet another Latin lesson.
This green corridor is the university’s outdoor catwalk. Seven colleges open their gardens and courts right here, letting their historic buildings drift down to the water’s edge. You’ll spot St John’s with its graceful bridges, Trinity with its turrets, plus Clare, King’s, and Queens’-each with its own look, and those tempting bridges that practically dare you to cross and wander straight into another era.
Back in the 16th century, though, it was much more practical: plain pasture for sheep and cattle, a few orchards, and not much like today’s immaculate lawns-except for the color green… and the occasional animal cameo. In fact, the lawn behind King’s College still has placid cows on it, to the delight of tourists, students, and, yes, probably someone studying cows. In Cambridge, anything can become a subject.
Over time, the colleges decided the river crowd deserved a good view, so they planted tree-lined avenues, built prettier and prettier stone bridges, and landscaped these grounds like open-air drawing rooms. But there was drama: in the 1700s, the famous landscape designer “Capability” Brown wanted to remake the whole area into a grand English park-removing some historic bridges to spotlight King’s College. Thankfully someone said, “Absolutely not,” or you might be staring at a huge lake instead of the Cam.
By 2013, the Backs were named among the ten most beautiful views in all England, according to the president of the National Trust. And there’s a little mystery too: in the 1970s, many elm trees died from a serious disease, and the college gardeners banded together-like leafy knights-forming the Backs Committee to cut infected trees, replant, and debate what species should thrive for centuries. The committee later dissolved, but the Backs endured.
Today there’s a plan to make it even greener, with more trees, hedges, and wildlife corridors-so even a fox or an owl can feel like it belongs at the university. Take a good look around. If you hear a whisper in the branches, don’t panic. It’s probably just a retired professor trying out life as a squirrel.
If you want details on the name, past and future development, or the gallery, the in-app chat is the perfect place to ask.
