Clare Remembered: Sir David Attenborough (1945)

This sculpture is in fact a model of the DNA molecule, the most important biological discovery of the 20th century. It wasn't here when I was here, it's here because James Watson, who was one of the co-discoverers of the structure of DNA, studied here in the late 1950s. I was here in 1945, just after the war. This wasn't here, that frontage was, because that is the front of Memorial Court and it was built as a memorial to the people who fell in the first war. My room, you went in through the main entrance, first turning on the left, and that staircase, End Staircase, was where I lived for two marvellous years. Well, the tree was certainly there, but Henry Moore's was not, and that building behind was not either, so we looked straight at the University Library. And my room was here in End Staircase. Now, this was the first time I'd left home. I'd been a schoolboy before then, but now I was becoming a grown-up. And so it gave me a great kick, as I walked into the staircase there and looked on the left. And there, as is the tradition in Cambridge Colleges, was my name painted up by a sign writer. I'd arrived. This is Clare Bridge, which links Memorial Court over there with the 17th century buildings there of Clare. And this is part of the iconic, if there ever was a reason to use that word, the iconic view of Cambridge, with King's College there and Clare here. And this bridge has a strange feature, this particular bore. There's a great slice cut out of it. Why that should be, there are a number of stories. One of them is that when the bridge was finished, the master mason thought that he'd been underpaid. So when he came to put the last bore on, he cut a slice out of it and went away and nobody noticed until he'd gone. They're always punts going up and down the river. It's part of the Cambridge scene. But let's get it right. If you are a student here, as I was, in the morning you did lectures, in the afternoon you went to the laboratory and dissected things or whatever. You didn't spend time going up and down the river. Back in the 1940s when I came up, Cambridge colleges offered competitive examinations to select scholars who they wanted to give money to support them while they did their studies. And I was entered for one of those by my parents and happily I got them, got one. And when you got here, you not only got some support, financial support for your studies, but there were one or two little privileges. This is one. This is the scholars garden, which I think was reserved for those who did have scholarships, except on special occasions when anybody was allowed in. But the great privilege was that you went to the fellows garden on the other side of the bridge, which is one of the most beautiful gardens in Cambridge and indeed, unless I'm prejudiced, in this country. This is Clare Old Court. The college was founded actually in 1326 with much smaller and less pretentious buildings. But these buildings were built throughout the 1600s, the 17th century, stage by stage. All sorts of things happened while it was being built, including, for example, the Civil War. So quite a lot was going on. But nonetheless, even though it was erected in stages, it has this lovely classical unity, which gives Clare a certain architectural perfection, which I for one think is unrivaled in the university. Over there is the hall where we all dine and in the far corner is the entrance to the chapel. But there are disadvantages in living in a 17th century building. In my time, people who lived here, undergraduate students, would have to get on their dressing gowns and walk across the court, summer or winter, to find some baths that were on that side. And even now, there's not enough baths for people actually to be able to bath every day where they might wish without crossing the court. But it's a marvellous, quiet reserve for scholarship. And these beautifully mown lawns, so characteristic of Cambridge, can be walked upon by the master and the fellows, but not by the undergraduates. Clare is the second oldest college in the University of Cambridge. Founded in 1326, disastrous first 10 years, and then Lady de Clare, whose picture is here in the hall, came to its rescue. She was a wealthy lady with royal connections. She was widowed three times and she had a long widowhood, during which time she cherished this institution. So for very close to 700 years, scholars, people of learning, have come to study here. It's a great privilege to have been part of this tradition, and something that I personally value greatly and has coloured my life.