Whipplesnaith himself.

 Whipplesnaith - King's Chapel - c.100ft

New Tower, St John's.

"Pillars rear up at the outside corners and are joined to the Tower by an arch of sloping stone, festooned on the upper side with ornamentations that should not be trusted too far."

The Photographers' Farewell

The narrow line which separates the sublime from the ludicrous runs through time as well as space, and we have reached that line. No longer may we test ourselves up pipe and chimney; the days of early manhood become as out of date as those of the nursery, and we must say farewell.

The Lion Chimney

 "This chimney, above one of the lions at the north-east corner, is of an ideal width with vertical grooves to keep the feet (and body) from slipping sideways."

The Bridge, Trinity College

"The porter stopped on the bridge for some time, scanning the landscape with his torch, but not looking over the side of the bridge."

The Fitzilliam Chimney at the Back.

"The chimney at the back is about half-way along the west wall."

"Drain-pipe Chimney, St John's"

King's Chapel Spire

"Chapel Spire: First overhang, with clover leaf above and below.         B: Second overhang, with parapet just above.         C: Chess-board, at which point the stone becomes crumbly.         With three simultaneous grips for the rest of the way up the climb is safe."

King's Chapel, North-East Pinnacle

King's Chapel, North-East Pinnacle. Negotiating the first overhang. Note bare feet. The climber's back is dirty through having just come up the main chimney from the ground.

Dawn Ascent

 

Daylight ascent of New Tower, St John's

Triple Trinity!

I'm delighted to bring you good news, with added good news. 1st - the good news is that the 3rd Edition of The Roof-Climber's Guide to Trinity from 1960 (actually titled The Night-Climber's Guide) is now available to order. It will be published on the 11th of July. It's similar yet very different to the others and includes a whole new court - Angel - as well as Trinity's Top Ten; it's an entertaining read and includes new images, quotes etc.

The other good news is that with it come the full texts of the previous editions, including Young's appendices to the 1st! On top of that you get an introduction by Richard Williams, the author of the 3rd Edition, now living in Australia. In it he reveals the true identity of our early builderers and provides an entertaining guide to the history of this infamous and historic extreme sport.

The Omnibus is a large-scale softback and is a handsome tome indeed - head over and reserve yours now. As usual, readers of this blog get a 10% discount by using the code 'TRIO' at checkout until the day of publication.

Free Download

We've put together a fun 'taster' of just a few of the good bits from Whipplesnaith. We're in the process of making a proper walking guide of central Cambridge from the Night Climbers' perspective. All visitors to Cambridge get their map and a stolid, worthy guide to the lates and greats of the Uni. But the visitor armed with the upcoming Night Ckimbers' Guide will see behind - or rather above - the facades; they'll see the city through the eyes of our infamous nocturnal interlopers of 70 years ago. And here's an early, thrown-together, sneak peak - free for visitors to this blog. Enjoy :)