College Tour 2 - St. Catharine's College

St. Catz Main Court

Let me do a simple formal introduction of St. Catharine’s College. Founded in 1473, and named after Saint Catharine of Alexandria (the one who lent her name to Catharine wheel fireworks and associated with the breaking wheel as she was sentenced to death on it). It’s located right smack in the heart of Cambridge (well, in the middle of my college and my faculty at least), and is right beside King’s College. Famous alumni includes James Bond, Sir Ian McKellen (Gandalf), Tunku Abdul Rahman (first Prime Minister of Malaysia), Sam Pickering (inspiration for the Keating character played by Robin Williams in Dead Poet’s Society.

See the wheel in the middle? That's the crest of St. Catz

Alright, I’m not a sadistic person who is fascinated with people being killed on the wheel; the main reason why I put St. Catharine’s next is because Keng Rui stays there so I keep going over to find him and keep him company, since he’s the only Singaporean there. Oh well, but then, I realized I walk into King’s College more since I need to talk through King’s grounds to get to my faculty.

That's the staircase that Keng Rui stays in and the nice garden which of course says no walking on the grass.

Well, Catz a really nice place, small and cosy. The courtyard is relatively small too, so you don’t dread walking through the grounds. The most intimidating part of it is the gates, which are sharp and pointed – a good warning to any potential troublemakers I guess?

See, the spike gates. Looks like a lovely mansion right?