Orchard Arcadia

'I am in the Country, in Arcadia. It is a village two miles from Cambridge, up the river. You know the place; it is near all picnicking grounds. And here I work at Shakespeare and see few people.

'In the intervals I wander about bare foot and almost naked, surveying Nature with a calm eye. I do not pretend to understand Nature, but I get on very well with her, in a neighbourly way.

'I go on with my books, and she goes on with her hens and storms and things, and we're both very tolerant. I live on honey, eggs and milk, prepared for me by an old lady like an apple (especially in the face) and sit all day in a rose garden to work...'

[Rupert Brooke writes to his girlfriend about the orchard, Grantchester, July 1909]

The Orchard - Mill Way, Grantchester, Cambs, T. 01223 845 788