Robson Green’s Guide to Grantchester & Cambridge
Tourists to the small Cambridgeshire village of Grantchester have swelled since the period crime series on MASTERPIECE Mystery! began filming there in 2014. Should you get a chance to visit, avoid any fabricated pitfalls in this fictionally murder-prone hamlet—maybe steer clear of steep hotel stairs, offbeat events like a circus, or any ancestral manor home, and turn instead to actor Robson Green’s insider recommendations for spots worth seeing, rewarding activities, and where to get a fabulous pork chop.
- 1.
If You Want a Quiet Afternoon—
“If you want to go for a nice walk, there’s no better place than the [Grantchester] meadows walking alongside the Cam,” says Green. And “If you like fishing, there’s a few trout in there. Take your fly rod. It’s wonderful.”
The River Cam runs for about 43 miles, flowing through both Grantchester and Cambridge. The simple beauty of the meadows and the River Cam have inspired many artistic souls; they feature in Geoffrey Chaucer’s The Canterbury Tales, in Sylvia Plath’s poem Watercolor of Grantchester Meadows, and in the track ‘Grantchester Meadows’ recorded by Pink Floyd.
- 2.
If You’re Hungry—
Cambridge is just two miles north of Grantchester and Robson Green has a favorite dining spot there. “If you want a nice meal, go to The [Cambridge] Chop House. I went there on my very first day filming in Cambridge and Grantchester,” Green says. “They do a great steak. They do a fabulous pork chop, and their chili-fried squid is superb.”
The restaurant focuses on traditional British fare and is known for offering “a unique selection of steaks ranging from the classic rib eye and fillet steaks to the less mainstream butler, tomahawk, and Japanese Wagyu cuts—any meat-headed carnivore is going to be completely spoiled for choice,” says the Cambridge Foodies blog. Better still, the establishment sits on iconic King’s Parade (a street where Grantchester films quite regularly) with the gloriously gothic King’s College Chapel just across the street for one’s viewing pleasure.
- 3.
If You Want a Bit of History—
Robson Green suggests getting an informed guide or docent “if you want to really immerse yourself in the history and the heritage of Cambridge and everything it represents in terms of people [from the University] who’ve changed the world.
“Go on a punt and take a journey along the Cam with one of those great guides they have there. Take a punnet [box] of strawberries along, and they’ll talk you through the people who’ve swum in the Cam, be it John Cleese or Isaac Newton. They’ll tell you about Newton’s Principia and his laws of gravitation. There are so many people who’ve come out of there who’ve literally changed the world, and learning with a guide is a great thing to do.”
- 4.
If You Want Something Offbeat—
Cambridge has some of the best buskers in the world, according to Green. “My favorite is the ‘Bin Man’. There’s a man who sits inside a dustbin with a little slit, and he plays songs, he plays Beatles’ songs. He’s fantastic. The greatest busker in the world. He’s the funniest guy, and his voice is incredible, but he does it inside a bin and people toss their money inside. It’s great. Just being there, it’s so quintessentially English.”
The municipality’s rules for street performers “are surprisingly lax, with buskers not requiring a license to play in the city center,” reports the University newspaper, Varsity. However the city does have a Busker’s Code with standards intended to let the practice flourish while also supporting businesses and residents who find it sometimes disruptive.
