A visit to Cambridge 7/10/11

On a day visit to Cambridge we stopped on the way to have a look at the American Cemetery at Madingley. This is a quiet, moving place with rows of white crosses each one representing the final resting place of an American killed in the Second World War whilst serving in the UK.

There are over 3800 Americans buried  on the 30 acre site. The site it's self was originally donated by the University of Cambridge. Along the front of the site is the Wall of the Missing. This lists over 5000 more Americans whose bodies were never recovered or identified.

The crosses, the gardens and the Chapel are all immaculate and great care is taken of them. When you see the crosses stretching away and seeming to almost go on forever it's a very moving experience. In the rush of modern life it's easy to forget all the amazing people that gave their lives so that we can live as we do. This place serves to remember the individuals and to remind us of the sacrifices that were made by so many.

We used the Madingley Park and Ride bus to get into Cambridge. There is a huge car park and comfortable frequent buses that take you to the centre of Cambridge for a price of £2.40. With the congestion and difficulty of finding a parking place this is certainly a good way to get to get there (along with the guided bus but more of this later). Cambridge centre is mostly pedestrian-friendly and most sights can be easily reached on foot and much of the central area is traffic-free. Bicycles are everywhere in Cambridge and one has to be careful not to get knocked over by bikes that often travel on the footpaths and have scant regard for things like traffic lights!

Almost as soon as you get off the Park and Ride bus you see the Round Church building which dates back to about 1130 AD making it one of the oldest buildings in Cambridge. It's no longer used as a church; it now houses exhibitions on the history of the church and Christianity in Cambridge.

I worked in Cambridge about twenty years ago, since then many new and modern shops have been built some of them in large well designed shopping centres. However the old streets and alleyways with many unique shops still exist and are well worth exploring. There are numerous eating places and visitor attractions such as the punts on the river. Most tourists will be attracted to the Universities impressive colleges.

Whether you interest is shopping, history, dinning or just people watching you will find plenty of interest in Cambridge.

As well as the conventional Park and Ride Cambridge has a 'Guided Busway' and we went to have a look at the Huntingdon station. This has a well designed car park with wide bays. The cost of using the bus to travel to and from Cambridge is £5.40 although to me the prices were rather confusing with two bus companies operating on the route and appearing to charge different amounts.

Basically conventional buses have been fitted with small guide wheels and travel in concrete channels. These buses can also travel on normal roads when they get to the end of the actual guided part of the route. This appears to make for a flexible system.

Start of the Guided Busway.

The buses travel at just over 50mph without
the usual traffic problems.