Day Students Climb by Night

#37. Day Students Climb by Night

Building

For centuries, the gothic landscape of Cambridge University’s colleges has proven a temptation for many of its young students to climb. Whether for the danger, the sport or merely to avoid being locked out, students have climbed under cover of darkness and written a guide: Night Climbers of Cambridge, first published in 1937.  Written by Noel Howard Symington, under the nom de plume of Whipplesnaith, it describes the techniques and routes necessary to perform feats such as scaling King’s Chapel, climbing the O’Hara Pinnacle, and escaping from Marks and Spencer.
Many of the cast iron drainpipes which facilitated early climbs have been replaced with weaker, plastic substitutes. 

Actors:

Whipplesnaith (Noel Howard Symington); Cambridge University Students

Location: Cambridge, United Kingdom, since ca. 1937

Tools: Rope, university buildings

Playing

Friction