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anyone from Cambridge?

93 replies

gloworm · 25/10/2005 10:42

We are living in Ireland at the moment, I'm Irish and DH is English, and we have 2 toddlers.
We are thinking about moving to Cambridge next year or year after.
It has been about 8 or 9 years years since we last lived there and I'm sure Cambridge (and us) has changed loads.
I'm looking for as much info as possible:
renting house
or buying house
good/bad areas
schools
good local websites
anything and everything!

Thanks in advance

OP posts:
spacecadet · 23/02/2006 11:08

i used to go in the cambridge arms when i was a student circa 1990, also have fond memories of the boatrace, used to go there to see all the local bands.

Gloworm · 23/02/2006 11:21

the boat race was great craic too, especially the sunday blues jam.
DH was in Cambridge a few weeks ago and said it is now a wine bar

OP posts:
MaryBS · 23/02/2006 12:31

I work in Cambridge....

Gizmo · 23/02/2006 12:52

How did I miss this, eh? A 'good old pubs of Cambridge wot I have known' thread.

Sorry folks, both the Boat Race and Cambridge Arms are no more (at least not in their old format)...there are still nice pubby pubs around, though! I can recommend the Kingston Arms, the Fort St George or the Cambridge Blue for child and adult friendly pubs and the Graduate on Mitcham's Corner (used to be....hang on...no, memory gone, shall have to ask DH) still has decent live music upstairs (friend of mine had a gig there just last week). In fact there seem to be more live music venues than there used to be, and obviously the Folk Festival and Strawberry Fair are going from strength to strength.

It sounds like any of the larger 'semi detached' villages (Histon, Shelfords, Girton, Fulborn, Milton) might suit you, Gloworm, although driving in from any of them in the rush hour is going to be a pain compared to cycling. Northern villages (Milton, Histon, Girton) tend to be less pricey than Shelfords, Trumpington, Fulborn etc.

In town, lots of nice period family homes to the east of Cherry Hinton road (between Cherry hinton and Hills Road) too, but they are mucho, mucho expensive - you might find a bit more for your money, funnily enough, slightly closer into town, on the west side of Cherry Hinton road, towards Mill Road. You'd need to be careful of the school catchments in that area, though, as it includes some of Cambridge's less good schools.

Cherry Hinton itself has good facilities but I get the impression it's a bit of a mixed bag, housing wise, with a few estate locations that aren't that great.

Nice to see how many of us there are round here: I feel a meet up coming on....

Gizmo · 23/02/2006 12:54

Oh, and WharfRat, your old colleague Matt? Wasn't Matt Purvis, by any chance - tall, floppy hair, Sidney Sussex graduate? I think he used to work in the Cambridge Arms around then..

WharfRat · 23/02/2006 13:56

This reply has been deleted

Message withdrawn

Gizmo · 23/02/2006 14:17

S'true it's not the same when you're grown up (for a start, you realise what a baby you were as a student, even though you thought you were so grown up ) but it's still a very special place. I love it.

The Blue is now managed by Chris Lloyd (ex of the Free Press) so it has lost its collection of exotic lizards and hats and gained a garden full of rabbits and a fine collection of top grade boatie memorabilia, along with a 'no smoking and even the smallest babies welcome' policy.

spacecadet · 23/02/2006 16:16

i was gutted when they closed the boatrace, it is unfortunately a more upmarket winebar now.

alliebaba · 23/02/2006 16:17

yes, it was always a good old dive...good bands there too

Gizmo · 23/02/2006 16:18

Do you think we should have lunch there, Spacey? Or would it be like heresy?

cupcakes · 23/02/2006 16:22

I grew up in Cambridge - and lived off the notorious Mill Road . It isn't as nice now as I remember it - my parents live further up towards the bridge now so we still go there quite regularly. I used to live on Mawson Road and the families round there and Lyndewode Road, Glisson Road and St Barnabas Road were all vairy naice when I was young.
The schools were very good back then too.

Gizmo · 23/02/2006 16:29

Sorry, I just don't get why Mill Road is quite so notorious - it's great, IMHO. Fantastic independent shops (Al Amin is the tops, not to mention Arjuna and the legendary Touch Wood), proper community atmosphere, and until three years ago, comparatively affordable housing.

I know there is a high density of homeless people (and pubs, leading to a lot of late night drunkenness) but honestly, compared to many other inner city locations, it's pretty innocuous.

I moved out about 12 months ago and miss it a lot, every time I go over there to see friends I'm flooded with nostalgia...

cupcakes · 23/02/2006 16:31

It's still much nicer than most places in LOndon. It's just not as nice as when I was a child (but I may have rose specs on). It was everyone else who said it was dodgy! I have fond memories.

hugeheadofhair · 23/02/2006 16:32

I know families who live in the Mill road area, who love it too. They really like the bohemian feel. BUT parking is a nightmare and they go out of catchment for good schooling.

Gizmo · 23/02/2006 16:32

Yeah, maybe it's one of those places that's always much nicer when you've moved out

Mind you - Barnabus Road, Lyndewood Road, Glisson Road - they're still well posh....

cupcakes · 23/02/2006 16:33

glad to hear it

Gizmo · 23/02/2006 16:33

Yeah, and the catchment schools are not the best, it has to be said...

cupcakes · 23/02/2006 16:34

with regards to parking - my parents don't drive, they cycle. Owning a car round there is a major pain!

cupcakes · 23/02/2006 16:35

I went to St Pauls which I loved and had a good reputation (this was early 80's).

cupcakes · 23/02/2006 16:35

and then Parkside and Hills Road. ditto.

Gizmo · 23/02/2006 16:36

God yes. We ended up using ours once a week at most, just walk or cycle everywhere, otherwise you're condemned to driving around and around looking for a parking space. Left us with a bad addiction to near central living which is going to cost us a lot in the long run...

Gizmo · 23/02/2006 16:38

I think St Paul's is still a pretty good school (a friend is in their catchment - her little boy due in their reception class this year) but has a very high special needs population so it doesn't show up in the blasted league tables.

libb · 23/02/2006 16:41

Checking in for Cambridge - I currently live in Haverhill but am waiting for a house in Cambridge at the moment. I work there, my new chappy lives off Parkers Piece there and so are all my friends.

Love the place and would love DS to grow up there - not Haverhill like his numpty father.

ps: love Mill Road personally.

cupcakes · 23/02/2006 16:44

cycling is great in Cambridge. I found it really odd when I moved to Norwich and found it so unaccommodating for cyclists. I've hardly cycled since and when dh got me a bike recently I could hardly remember how to ride it. Very unnerving for someone who practically grew up on one!

alliebaba · 23/02/2006 16:45

the london borough of haverhill.....mini essex, no offence

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