The Night Climbers of Cambridge is a book written under the pseudonym "Whipplesnaith" about nocturnal climbing on the colleges and town buildings of Cambridge, England, in the 1930s.
"Whipplesnaith" is a pseudonym for Noël Howard Symington. The book was originally published in October 1937 by Chatto and Windus, revised in November 1937 and reprinted in 1952 and 1953. The second edition contains a reordered selection of photographs and a missing diagram explaining the escape from the roof of the Marks and Spencer.
The book was highly sought after, especially in Cambridge itself where it was regarded as one of few "guidebooks" to the routes onto the roofs of the town's ancient buildings. Famous climbs documented in the book are the King's College and St John's College chapels and the "Senate House leap".
A new authorised edition of The Night Climbers of Cambridge was published on 26 October 2007 by Oleander Press, Cambridge, to mark the 70th anniversary of the original edition.
An omnibus edition of The Roof Climber's Guide to Trinity was published on 11 July 2011 by Oleander. Its introduction contains further details about Symington and his book.
Symington stood for Harborough in 1950 as an independent Mosleyite candidate, receiving 273 votes. In 1958 he published the book Return to Responsibility: A New Concept of the Case for Fascism in the Post-War World.
Famous quotes containing the words night, climbers and/or cambridge:
“Now night perfumes lie upon the air,
As rests the blossom on the loaded bough;
And each deep-drawn breath is redolent
Of all the folded flowers’ mingled scent
That rises in confused rapture now.”
—Philip Larkin (1922–1986)
“The view is fine from fifty,
Experienced climbers say....”
—Philip Larkin (1922–1986)
“The dons of Oxford and Cambridge are too busy educating the young men to be able to teach them anything.”
—Samuel Butler (1835–1902)