The Tab guide to sunny studying

I'm sitting in the Emma library. I'm good. I'm working. Working 9 til 5 etc, etc. I've had a casual two weeks off work (I'm crazy!) but I'm back and better than ever. Or so I think.

Through the windows comes the sound of Frivolity. Fun? What is that? Whomst is she??? Why aren't people 'studying', just like me? Come sit inside, friends and foes, come wither away with me.

I put my headphones in and try to let the calming waves of the Hannah Montana theme tune soothe me, but I can still hear their taunting laughter from the paddock and a sunbeam hits my statistics work. Fuck off, sunlight. I want to go out there and scream at them, fight them, but I am too Vitamin D deficient to do so and my rickets are getting bad.

And then it hits me. Hannah sings to me about the best of both worlds, and I think: perchance I can have the best of both worlds, too? What if I combined ENJOYMENT OF SUNLIGHT with PRODUCTIVE WORK.

So I'm here, countrymen, to help you all. I've scouted around Cam for the best places to work whilst basking in the sun and actually getting a bit of Vitamin D.

1. EDUCATION FACULTY LIBRARY

Right, hear me out now. I know the Education Faculty is at Homerton (gosh! an entire 20 minute walk away!). But this is a gorgeous, gorgeous place to work. The library gives me a hard on.

Find the seats on the top floor overlooking the garden. Comfy seats, warm but not hot, a bit of sunlight, perfect. And they'll let you borrow noise-cancelling headphones from the front desk.

credit: Wikimedia Commons

2. GRANTA PUB

When the weather's nice (which, if you hadn't noticed, it is right this very moment), the patio/ balcony of this pub is a lovely place to work. A really relaxed atmosphere and a view over the river and meadows. And I'm not saying that we would advocate drinking combined with work here at The Tab Cambridge, however, one pint would surely just add a bit of spice to your essay, right?

credit: Geograph

3. THE LOCKER CAFE PATIO

I'm mostly mentioning this because they have the best cheese toasties in Cambridge. But they also have a really cute mini patio outside on the top floor, a little sun trap with a couple small tables and plants. It's a lovely place to do some reading for your essay or do whatever the equivalent for Science people is.

credit: Tripadvisor

This photo of The Locker Cafe is courtesy of TripAdvisor

4. NOVI

This one's for the gal who has an actual purse, like not just a back pack that's got cookie crumbs all at the bottom and actually changes over her mascara every six months like the label says you should. So it's safe to say I haven't been there! But I always walk past, and during nice weather they have their whole front window drawn back so you can work in the fresh air. They also serve really good coffee. Apparently. And it's v chic. Apparently.

they also have a patio!!! credit: Tripadvisor

5. EMMA PADDOCK/ JESUS GREEN

So when I did give into the sounds of Frivolity, eventually (read: after 5 minutes), I brought my work onto the paddock. You're not gonna get much work done here to be honest, but it's got benches under the shade and a pond and ducks so who cares!

Alternatively, Jesus Green is also lovely and you can sit by an equally excellent water feature (the river).

credit: Wikimedia Commons

6. ORCHARD TEA GARDEN, GRANCHESTER

Another one you won't do any work at, but there's good tea and cake.

credit: Geograph

Big creds for this article go out to the human race for sufficiently fucking up the planet so that we can have such peng weather in February, we love you climate change