This is the picture postcard view of Cambridge. For the most part, this is what visitors expect to see when they come to Cambridge. This website is here to help you to see beyond the picture postcard images, and see the things you would otherwise not notice or miss.

If you have nice (unfiltered) photos, or features for the site, please get in touch. I'm happy to credit your photo if you would like to contribute.

Guide Map

The River Cam

The river Cam gives Cambridge its name and curls around Cambridge to the West and to the North. It is a busy river with punting on the backs and upstream towards Grantchester, separated from rowing, houseboats and holiday craft below Jesus Lock.

In the area called "The Backs", it passes by King's College Chapel, the most famous picture postcard view of Cambridge. Downstream it passes under the A14 and winds towards Ely and beyond. By Midsummer Common, it is lined along the North side by boathouses for the many Universtiy and Town rowing clubs, with keen rowers out on the river at all times of day and in the worst weather too.

Boathouses on Midsummer Common

Swans settle down for the night outside the Goldie Boathouse

The 'Rollers'

Some punts can transfer between the backs and the stretch out by Grantchester Meadows, by means of "the rollers". A punt is generally, very heavy, being made of solid hardwood and it takes several people to manhandle one up and over the rollers opposite the Doubletree Hotel. An easier transition is getting a punt back down, but there's a trick to it, make sure someone is in the punt (and not at the front or it will become a submarine) and make sure they have a pole with them to punt back to shore to pick up the ones who heaved it over the rollers. Safer though to just have enough muscle to lower it carefully down the rollers to the waters edge and probably better if you want to get your deposit back.

Kingfisher by the Cam

Upstream, beyond Grantchester, the Cam plays host to Kingfishers and Otters.

Public art

Sculpture

Full height human figure by Antony Gormley. How?

Cambridge is rich. Well the colleges and businesses are and so Cambridge is also rich in the sculptures it has to offer. Check out the Cambridge Sculpture Trails.

The sculpture pictured is very well hidden.

Playful Seating for Midsummer Lawn

A sculpture on the wall of John Lewis, featured in the sculpture trail.

Also, check out The Barnwell Sentence and Playful seating for midsummer lawn pictured here.

Murals

These marvelous murals are found in the underpasses at the junction of East Road and Newmarket Road.

Look up!

You can miss much of "Hidden Cambridge" if you never look up! From the chimneys along Downing Street, once an indication of wealth, to a lighthouse like lantern feature or cupola on the back of a building on Park Street.

I challenge you to look up and find the components of the decorations in the header of this web site in Cambridge.

Ornate, tall chimneys on Downing Street.

More tall chimneys on Trinity Lane.

Like a lighthouse in a city centre, an unusual cupola

This cupola, best viewed from Clarendon Street, is to the rear of an old house at 22 Parkside which now belongs to Emmanuel College.

Amanda Goode, the Emmanuel College Archivist, kindly gave me this information: "I am afraid I cannot tell you a great deal about 22 Parkside, as the College only acquired it fairly recently and we do not have the original architect's drawings, etc. It is a listed building and the listing entry describes the lantern tower as 'Wooden cupola at rear', without giving any further details. The earliest deed relating to the property in the College Archives is dated 1913, when it was known as ‘Inveruglas House’, and sold by William B Redfearn to Dr John Charles William Graham. The deed states that the property had been erected by the vendor on land acquired in 1873."

If anyone has a photo of the inside of this feature, I'd love to see it!

Hidden by History

This section is mostly for sights that have disappeared since I first moved to Cambridge, some, like this general store, John Cook & Bros Ltd, were already like time capsules but now sadly gone, though the building remains at the corner of Prospect Street and Eden Street.

Others were Cambridge institutions, like H. Gee. on Mill Road. A one stop shop for anything electrical. A forerunner of Maplin & Tandy.

Fitzbillie's, a famous bakery, patissery and cafe, dating back to 1920, was nearly lost after a fire, but some hero stepped up to preserve this heritage!

Fitzbillies

View from the Pike and Eeel

The Pike and Eel pub, latterly known also as the Penny Ferry, was one of my favourite pubs in Cambridge, simply because of this view in summer. The pub itself was unremarkable and suffered from troubles from time to time. In the end, Greene King decided to close it and sell the land for development. Now the only people to enjoy this 180° view of Stourbridge Common are the new owners of the houses built on the plot of the old pub. Another pub, one of so many, lost forever.

Time of Year

This gable end of a house in Orchard Street is just a tangle of wood in winter time, but pass by at the right time in spring/summer and it is a waterfall of wysteria.

Orchard Street itself is an attractive architectural site

Summer

Redpoll cows graze Midsummer Common

Winter

Bridge of Sighs in Winter

Snowy avenue, Trinity College

Snowy bicycle

Snowy punts

Some sights are totally unexpected, for example this appearance of a hovercraft on Parkers Piece. My son and I were fortunate to take a ride in it.

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Time of Day

Aspects of Cambridge are hidden unless you're there at the right time of day.

Cambridge Early Morning

A dewy morning on Parker's Piece

Reality Checkpoint early morning

Reality Checkpoint, so named as it marks an imaginary border between "town and gown".

A misty morning on Midsummer Common

Cambridge Evening

Sunset over Midsummer Common

Midsummer Common sunset from the boathouses

Flat calm river Cam in the evening

Cambridge at Night

Riverside bridge at night

Bike lights leave a trail by the river Cam

Vantage Points

On visiting a new place, it's often nice (if you have a head for heights), to take a look from a high vantage point.

Here are a few in Cambridge, first of all the free ones, then Great St. Mary's Church Tower where you have to pay for admission.

Castle Mound

Castle Mound

Castle mound is the motte of Cambridge Castle, built after the Norman Conquest. From the top you have a good view over Cambridge and surrounding countryside. If you look to the North West, Huntingdon Road looks long and straight and you'd be right if you guessed that it was once a roman road. There are other roman roads in the area, notably at Wandlebury.

John Lewis

The upper floors of the John Lewis store in Cambridge give a good view over the city, though not as spectacular as the views offered by Great St. Mary's Church Tower.

Grafton Centre

The upper car park level offers views over surrounding streets and the Midsummer Common and East Road areas.

Great St. Mary's Church Tower

Cambridge Market from Great St. Marys tower

King's College Chapel from Great St. Marys tower

Aerial Views

A very pleasant way to see Cambridge is to take a flight, or a trial flying lesson.

Kings College Chapel and Cambridge Market from the air

Contact Cambridge Aero Club, Cambridge Flying Group or Aeromega Helicopters

The Darker Side of Cambridge

A hyperdermic carelessly discarded by a drug addict.

Perhaps what the tourist industry would prefer to be "Hidden Cambridge" - the Cambridge flipside.

There are discarded hyperdermic needles from drug addicts which pose a danger to anyone, toddlers especially if they pick them up or play in piles of leaves.

Moorhen nest built with discarded plastic litter.

Discarded chewing gum leaves dark blotches on the pavements, pretty much everywhere. I can understand why Singapore made it illegal.

Fly tipping on Cutter Ferry Path.

People fly tip (I don't know why) and people leave packaging from their picnic in the sunny weather when there are bins just metres away, they also carelessly burn rectangles into the grass in the open spaces with disposable barbecues. It's a blight. Perhaps one year the council should refuse to tidy up after people and then they would have nowhere to enjoy and sit in the sunshine expect for on piles of litter?

It is also pretty standard to encounter unwelcome grafiti.

Grafiti on Victoria Bridge.

Subway grafiti.

Two rough sleepers in Cambridge city centre.

Homelessness is also commonplace in Cambridge with street begging and sleeping rough. The police recommend that if you want to help, give to the local shelter charities Jimmy's and Wintercomfort. Giving directly to the homeless may just fuel an addiction or make things worse for them.

Museums

There are many fine museums in Cambridge, many with free entry. If you visit Cambridge on a rainy day and don't want to brave the weather, try one of these hidden gems. Here are just some of my favourites:

The Museum of Zoology

The Museum of Zoology, housed in the newly refurbished and renamed David Attenborough building, is a place of curiosity when you go beyond the iconic whale skeleton in the foyer.

The Museum of Zoology

The Sedgwick

The Sedgwick Museum of Earth Sciences sounds a bit dry, but trust me, it's a great place to meet dinosaurs and many other exhibits.

It's also here, in the courtyard, that you'll find the Antony Gormley statue mentioned in the sculpture section!

The Fitzwilliam

The Fitzwilliam

The Fitzwilliam Museum, in it's grand building, houses treasures of art, sculpture, antiquity and rare exhibitions.

The Cambridge Museum of Technology

The Cambridge Museum of Technology

The Cambridge Museum of Technology was an old sh** pumping station that rid Cambridge of its effluent in days gone by. Now with a lottery grant, the whole site has been refurbished and you may even be lucky enough to visit on a day when the steam engines are running.

The Centre for Computing History

The Centre for Computing History is a little outside the city centre, but well worth a visit. It is itself a little hidden in an industrial estate.

The Museum of Cambridge

The Museum of Cambridge I have mentioned in the sections about the Histon Giant and Elizabeth Woodcock.

The Chronophage

The Chronophage

This is the amazing "Chronophage" or Corpus Christi Clock. You could easily walk by and miss it if there are a few people in front of it.

This 'Midsummer' Chronophage was exhibited in Lion Yard for a time in 2019.

DNA and Cambridge

Cambridge is famous for DNA discovery and centres of excellence for DNA research. Watson, Crick and Franklin are probably the most famous scientists in this field for their work though there are many more.

DNA features in sculptures, cycle path markings etc. in Cambridge.

This cycle path near Great Shelford is marked with a fragment of human DNA.

DNA sculpture.

Double helix sculpture, Clare College.

The Wellcome Trust Genome Campus. Just one of many genetic campuses in and around Cambridge.

The Cambridge Biomedical Campus.

The Leper Chapel

A leper chapel? In Cambridge? Well yes, on Newmarket Road, next to the Chisholm Trail, you'll find this bijoux, pretty building belying it's history

The leper chapel

The leper chapel interior

Lloyds Bank

This building puts me in mind of Gringot's from the Harry Potter Stories and looks grand from the outside, but I'd urge you to venture in to see the beautiful, rich glazed tiles adorning the walls and columns. Easily missed if yo uwalk by.

Lower Park Street

As well as Orchard Street (mentioned before), Lower Park Street, close by Jesus Green, is a highly photogenic street of University properties which seem to be charming clones of one another with identical door colours. Hard to photograph without the wheely bins sadly!

Working Gas Lights

Would you believe we have some preserved, working gaslights in Cambridge? Check the map for locations.

Gas light at Claremont off Hills Road

Gas light at Claremont off Hills Road

Gas light at Little St. Mary's Lane

Gas light at Thrift's Walk in Chesterton

Gas light at South Green Road

There are many more at nearby Millington Road. They are all marked on the map near the top of the page.

Gas light at Willow Walk

Gas lights at Willow Walk

Hobson's Conduit

Hobson's Conduit is a water course (Named after Thomas Hobson), to supply clean drinking water to the centre of Cambridge, from Springs including the chalk springs at Nine Wells in the Shelfords area. Nine Wells chalk spring. Unfortunately, Nine Wells is not immune to those who care less about the environment. Obelisk at Nine Wells.

Before entering Cambridge, it is an open brook. In Cambridge it can be see as open gullys by the side of Trumpington Street (Good luck if you park carelessly and drop a wheel in there!). Elsewhere it is covered but identified by decorative iron covers.

Hobson's Conduit in Trumpington Street

Hobson's Conduit, decorative iron covers in St. Andrews Street

The original drinking fountain in Market Square has been moved to the corner of Trumpington Road and Lensfield Road (See map).

Hobson's Conduit, drinking fountain

Hobson's Conduit drinking fountain top detail

Just Beyond

You don't have to travel far to find delights and mysteries beyond Cambridge, from the island of Ely to the giant of Histon.

The Strange Tale of Elizabeth Woodcock

As I was cycling along the guided busway, I noticed a stone like a plinth or a memorial in a field. There had to be a story behind this or surely the farmer would simply move it to allow easier access with farm machinery?

Guided Busway

Memorial stone visible from guided busway

Well there is a story behind it. Elizabeth Woodcock was a market trader in Cambridge, who lived in Histon and travelled to and from the market on horseback. On one occasion in February 1799, she headed out of Cambridge but stopped off for "refreshment" at one or two of the inns on the way. After setting out again on her journey and reaching the area now marked by the stone, feeling slightly the worse for drink, she fell from her horse into a bush and was incapacitated. It started to snow and she was not noticed for around 8 days when a passer by saw her waving a red handkerchief from her position in a bush under the snow. She was rescued, but the experience did nothing good for her health and she took to her bed. She died later, not, they say from the experience of being in the open against the elements, but from the kindness of visitors, bringing gifts of alcohol!

Plaque on Elizabeth Woodcock's Cottage.

Elizabeth Woodcock's Cottage in Histon

It turns out, the stone I saw is not the original. The origianl can be seen in the Museum of Cambridge.

The original memorial stone in the Museum of Cambridge

The Histon Giant, Moses Carter

On a warm day in Histon, you may find yourself in the beer garden of The Boot and wonder why there is a large stone there.

This website tells the story behind the Histon Giant - Moses Carter

The rock in the beer garden at the Boot