On 1st April 1829, Darwin wrote to his cousin, William Darwin Fox, telling him of the fire that had broken out in the village of Linton the previous night:
“Last night there was a terrible fire at Linton, eleven miles from Cambridge. Seeing the reflection so plainly in the sky, Hall, Woodyeare, Turner, and myself thought we would ride and see it. We set out at half-past nine, and rode like incarnate devils there, and did not return till two in the morning. Altogether it was a most awful sight.”
Darwin kept a horse in Cambridge, as did many of the students of that time, and thus the group of friends were able to set out at only a moment's notice. We must remember that, when setting out, they would not have known where the fire was, and would have been guided only by the glow of the fire against the night sky. They may have ridden over the open countryside of the Gog-Magog hills, or maybe along one of the old Roman roads that lead southwards out of the city.