Tuesday 23 March 2010

A Thing of (delayed) Beauty


"Then care- and rope-free, we may wander hither and thither; with the collective wisdom of the ages safely locked up and trodden under our feet, with the rival auspices of Cambridge creeds and cults opening out in vistas of unreal transparency about us and illuminated only from below,and know our own heads and dreams to be set high above them among the stars."



Considering it's not a mighty tome, there seems to have been an inordinate number of bugs and problems resulting in the tardy appearance of the 2nd Edition of The Roof-Climber's Guide to Trinity. But then, it's been gone 79 years so an extra month is probably no great shakes. And then, it arrived the day before Oleander moved to a land sans internet for two weeks so I'm only able to tell you of it now.


Including and supplementing the information from two chapters in the previous guide, the 1930 second edition is otherwise completely rewritten and incorporates new routes, quotes, illustrations and a new format.

Although barely granted publication permission by Geoffrey Winthrop-Young, the authors of the 2nd edtion rightly noted that 'The conquest of the Great Gate in November 1927 marked a new epoch;' and that 'so many fresh climbs have been discovered in the subsequent three years, that a fuller edition of the old guide was felt to be desirable'.

Available from the Oleander website now.

Thursday 4 March 2010

Student prank ends in police dog attack and hospital

"THE Night Climbers of Cambridge are famous for their clandestine forays up university colleges – but one intrepid undergraduate’s adventure ended in a bite from a police dog..."

From today's Cambridge Evening News. I'm not sure calling the police was the most expedient of moves...

By the way - the 2nd edition (1930) of The Roof-Climber's Guide to Trinity arrived (eventually) from the printers yesterday and is available from Oleander's site. I apologise in advance for any delay in delivery as I'm moving house/office today and tomorrow but I I'll definitely get them out to you on Monday.