Behind the scenes

On one of the busiest Saturdays in summer,

with Cambridge full of tourists,

but colleges closed to visitors

for restoration and decoration,

we slipped past a barrier,

(by special dispensation)

under the archway where King Henry VIII

clasps a table leg instead of a sceptre,

(removed by student pranksters and never replaced),
into Great Court,

scene of the famous run in Chariots of Fire,

then followed a porter into the silent Neville's Court.

That's the Wren library,

including among  2500 other manuscripts

 A.A Milne's original Winnie the Pooh.

We looked into the vast hall with its

hammer-beam roof and lantern

and emerged rather hastily due to a fire alarm

(toast probably)

onto the Backs.

I feel a theme tune coming on.