Local Area Information

Cambridge is renowned as one of the two great University towns of England, and has been described as one of the most beautiful cities in Britain. Just as the two churches of St Edward’s and Great St Mary’s remain from the English Reformation, so does much else from the era – a 1574 map has much in common with the street plan of today.

The colleges contain the great architectural treasures of Cambridge. Their large endowments afforded beautiful buildings that reflect perfectly 700 years of British architectural heritage, a heritage symbolised by the soaring windows and fan vaults of King's College Chapel.

The University produced over 50 Nobel Prize winners in the 20th century, most of them scientists. Industry has harnessed this genius with the arrival of hi-tech, specialist companies such as Microsoft to the area, accompanied by a programme of confident modern architecture.

Today Cambridge is a thriving city of some 100,000 people served by excellent shops including many bookshops and specialist shops – and yet many of the ancient “greens” have been preserved in the city centre. The original shopping centre which includes Lion Yard is complemented by the Grafton Centre and the Newmarket Road shopping complex.  A word of warning - car parking can be expensive in the centre so consider using the excellent Park and Ride schemes (except for the Newmarket Road complex where parking is free).

The city also has a wealth of museums and galleries, as well as various entertainment venues (including theatres, cinemas, nightclubs) and recreational facilities (punting, swimming, ten-pin bowling etc). Further out of the city centre there is a multitude of supermarkets, golf courses and cycle ways.

The city suburbs spread out to the villages of Trumpington to the south and Cherry Hinton to the east, and are bordered by the A14 to the north and the M11 motorway to the west (the main road link to London). Direct rail links make it possible to reach King’s Cross or Liverpool Street in less than 45 minutes, whilst Stansted Airport is only 20 miles away.

The area is served by some very good schools, including “Village Colleges”, whilst further education is available at the excellent sixth form colleges of Hills Road and Long Road, and at Cambridge Regional College.

The area surrounding Cambridge features many attractive villages and places of interest, including Ely Cathedral, Bury St Edmunds and the stately homes of Audley End, Anglesey Abbey and Wimpole Hall. Newmarket houses the National Horseracing Museum, and to the south of Cambridge at Duxford is the Imperial War Museum. For those who enjoy the countryside there are bird reserves and natural fenland preservation areas such as Wicken Fen.

Some useful links:

http://www.streetmap.co.uk

http://www.cambridge.gov.uk

http://www.cambridge.co.uk

http://www.camcity.co.uk

http://www.cam.ac.uk/cambarea

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