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.