After getting caught in torrential rain and hail when I cycled around Cambridge in a largish loop the other day I returned on a sunny day to take more pictures than before. It was raining and hailing so hard water seeped inside my waterproof jacket and gloves and even if my camera had been waterproof I would not want to have taken my gloves off to take pictures. This time around I took so many pictures that I split the Post into two - this is part two.
A long shot of the new bridge over the Cambridge - London railway line near Addenbrooke's Hospital. These works form part of the Cambridge Guided Busway. Originally the route was going to be opened in two parts, with Cambridge to St Ives first and then Cambridge to Tumpington second. There have been delays and so there is no publicised date for when the CGB will open - perhaps they will open it all at once. Mind you this part looks far less complete than the Cambridge to St Ives bit. This part of the route is not so well publicised although according to Wikipedia unlike in most places where there are two tracks (and up and a down route) a part of this route will have a single bi-directional track. The same article also indicates that: "since February 2009 the contractors have been amassing fines of £14,000 per day for late delivery". (A little over £5million.)
The route I took then followed Sustrans 11 along Long Road. Whilst I was in Cambridge it was good to see so many people collecting their children from school by bicycle- many had trailer bikes and sometimes the child was doing a bit of pedalling. I think that shared use paths do work when it comes to encouraging mothers, because it does seem to be mainly mothers, both to cycle and to allow their children to cycle. I tend to use the paths as well when in Cambridge, most are OK. If I am in a hurry then I switch to the road - the shared use paths can be dangerous at higher cycling speeds - there is not much margin of safety. I am not sure why this path has barriers on the road side - perhaps because the path itself narrows at the bridge.
This bridge used to over another disused railway line heading of towards Trumpington - I assume that it will be now used for the CGB. Apparently this line used to connect Cambridge with Oxford and beyond as the London and North West Railway. The more I explore the more I realise how large the rail network used to be and what a shame that we were not able to to hang onto those routes. In my case I would have liked to see the routes become part of a cycle/walking network - but the CGB seems to be an interesting compromise.
A pretty good example of share cycle/footpaths in Cambridge along the Trumpington Road - of course this benefits from the fat that the pavement was pretty wide to begin with and that walking is not a normal means of transport any more so the path does not get too busy and give rise to conflict between different types of users. The other good thing about this path is that there are only a few side roads along if for this stretch. The Cambridge Cycling Campaign has this article on the route during its construction.
What I do find a little unusual is that the Bus route marked on the other side of the road allows parking at certain times, to pick up children from the Private School adjacent. Section 11 of this document show the Council Minutes noting the 236 signatures opposing the Bus lane. This seems to be a classic example of the power of the car over that of other transport. When I cycle along here in the evening the traffic is invariably snarled, perhaps the belief is that the school pickup occurs outside of the normal rush hour. I must check the rules the next time I cycle by.
When cycling alongside Vicar's Brook (Lammas Land, Coe Fen, Sheep's Green) I was surprised how much the Cam had flooded in the area - without any real drama. I guess that is what flood plains are for. At this point there are lots of streams leading into the Cam. The other thing I had not know is that a bridge on the Fen Causeway (again it has shared use paths) passes over Crusoe Bridge. Checking on Wikipedia it seems that I was wrong - Crusoe Bridge refers to a footbridge. It also mentioned that Fen Causeway was opened in 1926.
This path leads from West Cambridge to Coton and on the OS map is noted as part of the Harcamlow Way, it passes the world famous Cavendish Labs.
From the path you could see the construction cranes over near the Addenbrooke's site building the new MRC centre.
There was also quite a good view of the tower that forms part of the Cambridge University Library
This path had also been flooded - a few walkers seemed to have reached here and turned back - it was ok for cyclists to pass along though.
The path has its own bridge across the M11 motorway - this cyclist was using her phone as we passed. It is not nearly as worrying as when White Van Man drive past me whilst using the phone though.
From the bridge you can see the Madingley Road bridge into Cambridge along with the junction turn offs. The route only connects the Madingley Road with the southern M11. My route takes me up to Coton and then back along the Madingley Road and over the bridge. It has a rather narrow cycle path along there and care has to be taken as it has quite a few bumps and is pretty narrow. When I was cycling along it in the rain an overhanging bramble pulled off my hat and dumped it on the ground.
Once back in Cambridge I followed the Sustrans 51 route alongside the Cam. Jesus Green had some flooding - here you can combine sitting in the sun with a bit of paddling.
The pathway under Victoria Bridge was completely flooded - the last time I went through here I cycled through the water - it looked too deep this time to risk it though.
The River Cam looked full to the brim as I cycled along towards Riverside.
There are a bunch of boat sheds on the other bank - you can see how hight the water is as it has flooded the cycle racks - a couple of bikes remain at the more shallow end. As I was taking this picture another cyclist stopped and said they wished they'd got their camera.
Another view of the Cam - the boats all seem to be floating closer to the path level. The bridge is Cutter Ferry Bridge - the original bridge was closed in 2003 after 75 years and this new one opened in 2005.
Despite the recent rains and flood warnings the immediate area around Cambridge seems to have gotten off lightly. Mind you there is not much room for more rain.
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