They broke the law. They defied the authorities. They made the midnight skyline their playground. And they recorded it. A secret group, led by the mysterious ‘Butterfly Catcher’, scale the university buildings of this sleepy academic town in the darkest hours. Risking their lives, their freedom and their degrees, they evade police to climb the highest, most dangerous historic buildings, often without rope. Wanting to preserve their story and inspire others, they photographed everything – all the routes, the close shaves, the lucky escapes. In 1937, this was difficult, dangerous and foolhardy – but we now have a record of these feats. And a photographic guide to virtually all the climbs Cambridge can offer. To this day, the club still exists. The pinnacles above may be silent, but they’re not sleeping. If you like history, extreme sports – or both, you’ll soon understand why this has become such a cult classic around the world. Civil disobedience at its finest. Order now and leave the banal below! The Sunday Times (London): “ There is a secretive and reckless club that has existed for over 100 years. And when night falls in Cambridge, its members can be seen scrambling up the spires and flying buttresses of the university. It’s an adrenaline rush that could cost them everything.” The Times (London): “A near-legendary guide, The Night Climbers of Cambridge is a lot more than a guide for climbing the colleges” The Guardian (London): “Whipplesnaith's stories of death-defying derring-do in Cambridge say a lot. This book is also a wonderful evocation of a lost generation.” The Daily Telegraph (London): “What an endearing book is The Night Climbers of Cambridge. All the more reason then to applaud the derring do, if not foolhardiness, of the proto-Edmund Hillarys whose exploits are described with precision and relish.” UK “Climbers have been climbing man-made structures since the 19th Century (if not before) and still are, even if your name isn't Alain Robert. The seminal volume about this art, was The Night Climbers of Cambridge.” “Arguably the best, and certainly one of the earliest, buildering guidebooks to come out is the 1937: The Night Climbers of Cambridge, by Whipplesnaith” Slightly “It is the climber’s ideal to leave ‘no trace where he has been’. What he does at night is to weave intangible anarchy.” THE CULT CLASSIC BIBLE OF EXTREME FREE CLIMBING SPORTS “ As you pass round each pillar, the whole of your body except your hands and feet are over black emptiness. Your feet are on slabs of stone sloping downwards and outwards at an angle of about thirty-five degrees to the horizontal, your fingers and elbows making the most of a friction-hold against a vertical pillar, and the ground is precisely one hundred feet directly below you.
If you slip, you will still have three seconds to live.”
If you want to do historical research, don't even bother with books written *about* the time period - just go straight to the source. This was first published in 1937, and it's the most brilliant window into the crazy world of Cambridge university in the 1930s - or, at least, the subset of it that liked to go illegally climbing buildings in the middle of the night for fun. Mr Whipplesnaith, on behalf of my fifth book, I salute you.
"There is a kind of fear that is closely akin to love, and this is the fear which the climber enjoys."
The Night Climbers is a tremendous guidebook to the multitude of historic rooftops in Cambridge - despite first being published in 1937, the book offers an amazing set of tutorials for nightclimbing which are still useful today, and have no doubt enhanced the uni lives of many other students.
Despite this, the book is still a deeply worthwhile read for anyone who has never set foot in Cambridge and has no interest in climbing. The feats outlined in this book are life-affirming and capture a sort of motivation and joy for life that its easy to lose. The stories of courage, teamwork, and coming-of-age discussed here are so personal and playful, and Whipplesnaith treats the rooftops of Cambridge with the same amount of sincerity an alpinist would treat the Matterhorn. As cliché as it is to say, this isn't just a book about climbing - it's a book about motivation, passion, fulfillment, and doing stuff just because you can, written in a fantastically elegant and thoughtful manner, ending with a reflection on love for the city, love for climbing, and love for life.
So, whether you're looking for a guidebook to do some climbs of your own or you're looking for a philosophical recount of some of the most impressive and exciting university feats of all time, The Night Climbers of Cambridge is a worthwhile read. And if you are planning on climbing Old Schools any time soon, take care - the sunken drainpipe is a bit wobblier now ;)
Quotes: -> 'this official disapproval is the sap which gives roof-climbing its sweetness' -> 'Like characters from Buchan crossing a Scottish moor on a stormy night, they are silent and solitary' -> 'Half a dozen outings should bring the novice up to a fair standard, and the "head for heights" will come very rapidly after the first night' -> 'The slight extra feeling of freedom which shorts give is not worth their attendant penalty of scratched knees' -> 'Where it gives "Dutch courage" without impairing muscular control, it may send a moderate climber soaring to places that defy the sober expert. Under the influence of alcohol, a man with an object in view often acquires an accentuated power of concentration upon that one object' -> 'A novice, surprised by the easiness of chimneying, is apt to get about 20ft up and then, looking down and seeing nothing but smooth wall below him, to have an attack of the "willies"' -> 'his feet flapping disconsolately in space like an elephant's uvula' -> St John's Chapel: 'Lest others should attempt the ascent of this terrible climb and perish, they swore themselves to secrecy (telling only enough people to ensure the perpetuation of their epic) and went off to try Everest instead' [brilliant.] -> 'There is something more appealing about an unverified legend than the strict facts and dates of history, and we have purposely refrained from writing to ask him whether there is truth in the legend' -> 'The wretched man on the end of the rope found that to stand on the edge of a high building and drop forward requires will-power, and the two down below listened to his mental conflict with interest' -> 'six months later our thoughts matured into action' -> 'Human capacity is limited, and in the midst of plenty it is difficult to give adequate attention to everything that is of worth' [profound.] -> 'the height and the stone pavement below is making it unpleasant - or, in technical parlance, "interesting"' -> 'the traditional Pembroke salutation of a punch on the jaw was conspicuous by its absence'; '[Pembroke] breeds those strong, silent Englishmen who suck pipes in the Malayan jungle but do not pass exams' -> 'if he be philosophically minded, he can select a quiet spot, hidden from all eyes, where he can brood over the world below and dream of things to come' -> 'On such occasions it is a case of sauve qui peut' -> 'Usually a cautious driver, on the way back, he made the bones of Jehu rattle in their desert grave' -> 'When a climber first tries this he may well retire to the ground baffled, reciting "Gunga Din" under his breath in a state of holy awe' -> 'In vile and illegible handwriting it is somewhere recorded that the photographers on several occasions had cause to admire the courage of porters in various colleges' -> 'For self-conscious drama this scene must have rivalled the famous meeting between Stanley and Livingstone' -> 'He longed for the canine incisors of his simian ancestors' -> 'He would make a good person, though he undoubtedly suffers from kleptomania' -> 'Across the choppy tide of time certain landmarks stand out, motionless and fixed in the receding waters' -> 'the undergraduate is at an emotionally susceptible age' -> 'nights when we merged with the shadows and could see the world with eyes that were not our own' -> '[climbing] is one of the simplest ways in which a man can get to grips with the deficiencies of his character' -> 'The sense of danger is much greater than the danger itself' -> 'a love for the night and the thrill of the darkness'; 'a love which becomes all-embracing, greater than words can express or reason understand'
Beautiful collection of a young and daring art. I loved it all...
Occasionally, as we pause in our reading to throw a log on the fire, we feel a vague unrest. It all seems too comfortable. The night is dark, and in its inscrutability tries to lead us on to action; or the moon laughs down, as though trying to tell us what she can see in other parts of the world. We stir in our chair, and wonder whether it is a sign of strength or weakness that makes us ignore the call. Cambridge is there, just over an hour from us, her roof-tops waiting.
While we pause, the wind rattles the casement more fiercely than ever, and seems to mock our hesitation. "You who sit there, action is life, and by your fireside you are ceasing to live. Shake the mothballs from the old polo sweater you have always worn, and come out again. The night and I have always been your friends, do not desert us now. We will tell you secrets, as we used to tell you secrets in the past, and old friends will unite again." Thus he tempts us, and when we refuse he changes his tone, and accuses us of cowardice and lack of initiative. He raises uneasy phantoms, which claim to be our former selves and point accusing fingers at us as usurpers depriving a better self of its home.
Bringing all his guile into play, he begins to produce the desired effect. Doubts begin to assail us, tremendous fears of we know not what, and looking at the fender, our eyes grow large and round. Then someone enters the room, and we are our old laughing selves again. No one ever knows our deepest thoughts.
So we step out of one era into the next, and as we close the book it must remain closed for thirty years, until that time when the past begins to look longer than the future. There are others to follow; at this very moment there may be a dozen climbers on the buildings of Cambridge. They do not know each other; they are unlikely to meet. In twos and threes they are out in search of adventure, and in search of themselves. And inadvertently they will find what we found, a love for the buildings and the climbs upon them, a love for the night and the thrill of darkness. A love for the piece of paper in the street, eddying upwards over the roof of a building, bearing with it the tale of wood-cutters in a Canadian lumber-camp, sunshine and rivers; a love which becomes all-embracing, greater than words can express or reason understand.
Erschienen in den 1930ern, ist The night climbers of Cambridge Kult unter den Pacoursläufern und Builderern. Es ist eine Zusammenfassung der schönsten Kletterrouten in Cambridge, aber nicht auf Felsen, sondern auf Gebäude.
Im Gegensatz zum Bouldern (Klettern bis zur Absprunghöhe ohne Sicherung) am Fels oder in der Halle ist Buildern das Freiklettern (Klettern ohne künstliche Hilfsmittel) an Gebäuden.
Die Night Climber legen Wert darauf, sich von den Alpinen Bergsportlern abzugrenzen. Das Sportklettern war zu der Zeit noch nicht bekannt. Aber beim Lesen ist mir aufgefallen, wie ähnlich sich diese beiden Sportarten sind. Whipplesnaith hat die gleichen Werte, die man von den heutigen Sportkletterern hört: keine künstlichen Hilfsmittel, keine Spuren zurücklassen und das Terrain nicht zu beschädigen. Das Credo, am besten ohne Seil zu klettern, kann man gut mit dem Klettern ohne künstliche Hilfsmittel vergleichen. Auch die Begriffe waren sich ähnlich. So habe ich gelernt, dass es eine Pinnacle durchaus auch an einem Gebäude gibt und sie gleichermaßen der Endpunkt einer Route ist wie am Berg.
Ich selbst bleibe beim Bouldern, auch wenn es in meiner Nähe eine Mauer gibt, an der gebuildert wird. Aber ich kann mir die Versuchung, der Whipplesnaith und seine Kollegen ausgesetzt waren, durchaus nachempfinden. Wunderschöne Gebäude mit optimalen Griffen und eine gleichermaßen schöne Aussicht von oben. Dass es den Männern (von Frauen ist in dem Buch nicht die Rede) Spaß gemacht hat und sie eine eingeschworene Gemeinschaft waren, ist an der Sprache und den Andeutungen gut zu sehen.
Es ist sicherlich ein Buch für Kletternerds, aber hey, ich bin nun Mal einer und deshalb froh, das Buch entdeckt zu haben.
What a fasinating piece of history this is! I had absolutely no idea of the existence of night climbing until two of my favourite authors (Katherine Rundell in Rooftoppers and Robin Stevens in Mistletoe and Murder) mentioned it. Katherine was even a night climber herself.
It’s hard to believe this book is close to 100 years old! There are some fasinating stories about night-time goings-on and close encounters and escapes. The detail is incredible; like a Lonely Planet of climbing Cambridge buildings: which slat to step on, which gargoyle to hold onto. Nobody thought to add a note to not try this at home. Fascinating stuff.
This book is weird and wonderful. A window into time that shows a pure rejoicement in rebellion. Long may this story continue to be told!
A quite amazing book! If you've ever read Terry Pratchetts 'Pyramids', then this is his source book for the edificeers! A climbing guide in classic form, not to the Alps, but the roof-tops of Cambridge. All solid stuff, plus the inside info on Rag Week stunts like putting a car on the roof of one of the colleges! Read it, and then give yourself a day in Cambridge and see how it all fits in! It's wonderfully accurate and I found it invaluable when I was writing Alias Sally Barnnet (Toni Cheval) Would recommend to anyone looking for authentic detail to add to a narrative that takes the protagonist onto the roof tops!
This book probably changed my life. I don’t think it’s objectively the greatest thing ever, but objectively, it’s pretty damn good, and when I read it, I really needed to hear what it had to say. I would do anything to go back in time and be a part of this. I’ll probably write more about it at some point later.
A lovely, insightful peek into Cambridge and life in its colleges in the late 1920s and early 1930s. I especially adored the old map at the back of th book! Contains some unexpected but definitely very welcome life wisdom, too, which makes many parts of it very quotable.
This book was entirely outside my realm of experience. Our son, who is an aspiring climber, brought it home while visiting this Fall and forgot to take it back with him.
The book was written originally in the 1930s, if I recall and was written under a pseudonym because what is described in the book is exactly what is mentioned in the title...young men climbing the walls of the various buildings at Cambridge University.
The book describes the various climbs (buildings and sides thereof) with regards to features of the buildings, loose bricks, visibility (they didn't want to get caught!) etc.
When one remembers that this was written in the days before electric lighting, or certainly yard-lights, and before climbers' gear was the industry that it is, it really becomes a history lesson, too.
The photos in the book have been cleaned up using newer technology, but are still black and white.
4 stars because it doesn't deserve a 3. While much of the time it really does serve as a sort of guide to climbing Cambridge (and thus too technical and localised for the casual reader, who has never been to London, to appreciate), it also has hilarious anecdotes of pranks and thoughtful musings on fear and so on.
This little book is awesome because it speaks of boyhood (youthful?) adventure, challenge, excitement, beauty, brotherhood, secrecy, and narrow escapes. It's everything one could want in the growing up years. At the same time, for more than a century and til the present it features a sport enjoyed by a select group of individuals under the cover of the night. It offers us a glimpse into their secret lives, and one sort of is able to live vicariously through their exploits. Perhaps it may even give us enough inspiration to make an amateur attempt of our own!
Entertaining account of the exploits of the night climbers of Cambridge, those undergraduate students who, in the interwar years of the 1920s and 1930s, climbed the facades and spires of the historic college buildings. It reads like a guide for climbers, with a lot of detail on the different pitches and routes followed on different buildings, but it's also funny and exciting. It's also full of brilliant photos of some of the breathtaking climbs. By the time I was finished I was looking at the campus buildings around me in a new way...