'ping' Cab...

[Arch]

Just that I was in Cambridge over the weekend, and racking my brains trying to think if there were any Cambridge forummers, and just remembered you when I saw one of your posts...

There's a lot of bloody bikes ain't there! I thought York had a few! Blimey!
The best bit was seeing the new Lions Yard car park, with what looked like about an acre (slight exaggeration) of sheffield stands on the ground floor...

Pity, I was stuck in a conference, would have been nice to pootle about a bit...

 

[Maz]

I'm not Cab (as you can tell!) - he'll be along soon, no doubt, but I've been down to Cambridge more times than I care to remember - I've family there. I know the Lion's Yard CP well. Another impressive display of bikes can be found just beyond the roundabout right outside the railway station. Literally hundreds!
Traffic congestion in Cambridge is absolutely awful...all the more reason to bike it...right, Cab?

 

[Cab]

Cambridge is both the best and the worst place to cycle

We've usually got ample cycle locking (except for when you can't find anywhere, even a railing or a lamp post, that doesn't have a bike on it - it can get that way in summer). We've got more cyclists on our roads than anywhere else in the UK. I mean, really, we have. To the point where we have attained a sort of critical mass at commuting times, I often see more bikes on the road than cars.

But on the other hand, alongside things like the great covered car/bike parks, we've got some of the most awful cycle lanes I've ever seen. And I'd say that motorists here are generally angrier than anywhere else I've known, and the police are truly awful when it comes to cycling. Add to that some of the most congested roads you'll encounter and a road network that would have been improved had the Luftwaffe visited and cleared some of the old buildings away, and you've got an 'interesting' city to get around in

So yeah, its a fun place to ride and also a terrifying one at times.

If you're down this way again, Arch, give us a yell!

 

[Arch]

Yeah, I should have thought beforehand, I could have skived out of a conference session and demanded a guided tour...

I liked some of the 'parking' techniques...

I know what you mean about road layouts but as an archaeologist, I'm afaid, I'll plump for old buildings anyday, even if it does make things a bit complicated. My room at Corpus Christi had a view over the quad, and the bathroom had a view over Kings College Chapel. Fantastic!

Here in York, we also have old buildings and our fair share of crap cycle lanes. Still it's good to see half a dozen cyclists at the head of a traffic light queue, which I seem to see more and more often...

Was slightly disappointed not to see someone fall off a punt, but did see one guy drift at speed into the bank and nearly fall over, so that had to do...

 

[domtyler]

That's pretty cute!

 

[Cab]

And not unusual, its quite common to see bikes locked high up on railings here. Sometimes you're struggling to find anywhere else to lock up.

It is a really beautiful city. On the whole a good place to live. Just don't ever start a conversation about property prices.

 

[Maz]

@Arch...[off topic, sorry]...I was in Abbey Park, Leicester, recently and there was an extensive archeological dig going on...plenty of busy people carefully brushing away dirt under a big gazebo. I didn't get a chance to ask 'em what they'd uncovered. Any idea what it was? Was it Cardinal Wolsey?!

 

[domtyler]

House prices don't seem too bad in Cambridge, well as long as you have at least 400 grand spare anyway. How do you go about getting an allotment there?

 

[Cab]

House prices don't seem too bad in Cambridge, well as long as you have at least 400 grand spare anyway. How do you go about getting an allotment there?

Allotment committees handle these things here, although there are a few Council run ones that have a sort of communal list. Depending on where you're looking for a plot it can be hard or easy; ours have a waiting list, I gather there are a couple of empty plots up on the New Chesterton site though.

 

[Arch]

@Arch...[off topic, sorry]...I was in Abbey Park, Leicester, recently and there was an extensive archeological dig going on...plenty of busy people carefully brushing away dirt under a big gazebo. I didn't get a chance to ask 'em what they'd uncovered. Any idea what it was? Was it Cardinal Wolsey?!

Oooh, I dunno. I'd hazard a guess at something to do with the Abbey, but I haven't heard about it - I'm woefully uninformed about fieldwork unless I happen to trip over it....

Gazebo, though. Bah. Soft Southern archaeologists...