Book 1, Walk 26 - Shelford to Cambridge
Length: 20.5 km (12.7 miles)
Toughness: 5 out of 10
London Kings Cross: 10-14 hrs Ely service
Arrive Cambridge: 11-02 hrs
Leave Cambridge: 11-21 hrs London Liverpool Street service
Arrive Shelford: 11-26 hrs
OR
London Liverpool Street: 09-58 hrs Cambridge service Tottenham Hale 10-10 hrs
Arrive Cambridge: 11-08 hrs
Leave Cambridge: 11-21 hrs London Liverpool Street service (as above)
Arrive Shelford: 11-26 hrs
Return
Cambridge to Kings Cross: 15 and 47 mins past hour fast; 24 and 56 mins past hour stopping service
Rail ticket: buy a day return to Cambridge. You will also need a single from Cambridge to Shelford.
Footwear: sections of the walk are on hard standings and are quite hard on the feet, particularly if you indulge in the tour of the colleges at walk-end. Suggest comfortable, well cushioned trainers instead of walking boots today.
Our additional mid-week programme of alternate Tuesday and Thursday walks starts up again today after a two month break, and we commence our programme with this "unpopular" walk ! As walks go, both our Book 1 university walks are duds - as country walks go - but both score highly in historic and architectural interest when you tour the colleges at walk-end. That said, many a SWC walker treats these walks as "trophy walks" - to get the tick in the book - never to do them again. That's fair enough, but it so happens I don't dislike the Cambridge walk, and if you haven't yet got that "tick in the book" here is your chance to do so, by joining me on today's outing,
The morning leg starts along a permissive path to Hauxton then its across vast Cambridgeshire fields to the village of Haslingfield, where you could stop for lunch or refreshments at its pub (which has a history of closing down and reopening). But better to keep going until you reach Grantchester where taking tea in the famous Orchard Tea Garden is almost de regueur. After tea you say hello to the statue of Rupert Brooke (in the garden of Lord Jeffrey Archer's house - the Old Vicarage), then you walk beside the River Cam into the city centre. The tour of the colleges is worth doing - the once - or for repeat visitors like myself, a visit to one of the colleges is always enjoyable.
There are lots of tea options at walk-end (or before you embark on the college tour). It's a trudge to the railway station from the city centre - but you have my permission to rest your tired feet and have a good snooze on the train back to London.
T=1.26
Walk directions here: L=1.26
Next week: Thursday 13 July: Book 1, Walk 3 (R) Botley to Netley
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2 comments:
Just n=2 of us (presumably everyone else already had the "tick in the book"). w=warm-overcast-and-humid-in-the-morning-sunny-and-hot-in-the-afternoon. We had an enjoyable day's walking - and my companion very gamely put up with me all day. Picnic in the garden of the closed Little Rose pub in Haslingfield, with provisions and beers purchased at the excellent village shop nearby, and a lovely tea in The Orchard, Grantchester. Indeed, we could easily have nodded off in the comfy deckchairs in the shade of the apple trees and getting out of them took some effort. Hello then to Rupert in Lord Archer's garden before we took the Trumpington route to Cambridge, via the Botanic Gardens. As it was quite late now, we skipped the tour of the colleges and headed direct to the railway station, for the 18-15 hrs fast train back to London.
Would have loved to do the Grantchester walk but was looking for a Wednesday walk not too far afield and missed this one jfk
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