Cambridge in Chunks: The Backs

One phrase you might hear people say when you come to Cambridge is the Backs. For example someone might say “I went for a lovely walk in the Backs”. But what, and where, are the Backs?

Actually it is quite simple. The Backs refers to the area behind the university colleges that are along the river Cam. This is an area where many students, tourists and locals like to stroll, relax and enjoy the atmosphere. It is called the Backs, because from this area you can see the back of many of the colleges.

Now, before you get too far ahead of yourself, there is no area called “the fronts”.

So how can you talk about the Backs and sound like a local?

Well, it’s very easy to use the Backs as the subject of a sentence. For example, the Backs are a popular tourist spot in the summer. You can also use it as the object, for example, you will see the Backs while you’re punting, or you should be able to see the Backs from there.

The other way to use the Backs is with a preposition. This will be when you are talking about something in the Backs, or going there. For example, there’s a nice restaurant near the Backs, or I took a nice walk along the Backs earlier.

One important thing to remember though is that you need the article “the”. Without this, is will just not sound right, and we’ll think you are talking about backs that belong to people!