I’ve been away for a few years and back now and despite all the negativity I read until now, it really seems like things changed for the better. Not trying to diminish issues like the effect of climate change, or general cost of living which are not specific to Cambridge.

Also not in the touristy centre which is just continuing to change into what it should be: a tourist attraction. Hopefully soon there will be an additional tax on these to help fund services. I think weekly garbage collection should definitely return.

But most places in the non-touristy areas have visibly improved: lots of buildings and houses have been renovated or improved. I see solar panels on many houses and they were inexistant before covid. Also lots of heat pumps, something that I almost never saw in 2020.

I haven’t seen any of unsavoury people that used to hang out in places like Mitcham’s corner, etc. But I admit this can be by chance.

There is a new train station that connects Cambridge North (where lots of housing is available+connects with villages) to Cambridge South where lots of jobs are available in 5 minutes, something that took at least 45min-1hour in the past regardless of mode of transport. The whole Cambridge south campus looks like there’s lots of future things that will happen there. I haven’t seen many other UK cities with such developments.

Of course it could be even better with better buses and less traffic but it’s on the good path it seems.

I was just cycling up the Ferry Path to Chesterton Road (past The Old Spring) earlier around 6:30 and there was a massive, rowdy group of people. It seemed to be all men and boys, likely white but very tanned, shirtless and shouting. Parked across from the pub there was a huge SUV with someone laying on the horn and a bunch of boys running across the street to get in. While waiting at the nearby crosswalk to cross Chesterton road, I noticed a large group approaching from the west. I couldn't hear specifics of what they were yelling but I am pretty sure I heard a lot of "fuck you"s. They appeared to possibly be yelling at passersby, including a cycling family with young children. I considered getting closer to observe but when I got a green light I decided to preserve my safety and get out of there as they seemed really angry.

Does anyone know what this was all about?? My partner speculated that it might be political in nature, which did of course cross my mind. I thought maybe it was associated with the pub, which I don't have any firsthand experience with, but honestly looking at Google Maps it seems like a nice place. To be fair if there are problems with it, I wouldn't know, as this is my second day trying out a new route for my commute and I've never gone that way before this.

Sorry, I know these "what's going on down the street" posts can be annoying and nosy, but I'm so curious if anyone knows anything.

ETA: I do know that we get groups committing antisocial behaviour in Cambridge, I experience it regularly in my line of work. It was the size of the group, over 20 people, and the fact that it was all men/boys that made it stand out and think it was different from our usual ASB.

Just a warning to anyone that uses Veezu,

We pre-paid £108 for a taxi from Cambridge to Thetford, but they took an additional extra £85 after the journey saying it was a busy time of day, so they added a surge charge.

Have tried fighting to get it back, but they are ignoring me now, so going through my bank.

Just a warning to others not to use Veezu, they are crooks!

Hi all, my work are running a *totally FREE* GameJam for young people aged 10-15 in our offices in the summer holidays.

I work for Raspberry Pi, and we've got some new content we're trialling with kids: showing them how to code simple video games in Scratch, a children's coding language. It's totally free, runs from 9:30am-4pm on the 21st of August and will be staffed by qualified teachers. Think of it as a free day of summer camp in a central Cambridge office: only with AC, coding and game design instead of grass stains, wasps and plasters. Packed lunch is still the go, though. :)

No one needs to arrive as an expert, or even having coded before. The important ingredients are curiosity, imagination and a willingness to experiment. We’ll provide the structure, support and creative mischief.

Please share this with someone you know who might love it. Places are limited to 30, so get your tickets fast!

https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/code-club-gamejam-raspberry-pi-tickets-1994544918543

We are looking for recommendations for someone who offers ongoing household support that isn’t quite traditional cleaning or childcare (hence the poor choice of the word 'home helper' in the title!).

We are after help with things like tidying, folding and putting away laundry, loading or unloading the dishwasher, changing bedding, organising everyday clutter, running some small errands, occasional grocery shop and generally helping reset the house so it stays more manageable (with two very young kids).

Ideally, this would be for around one hour a day on weekdays.

Not sure whether this the best place to ask but if anyone has someone for this kind of role, or can recommend a reliable local person or service? We are based in Trumpington!

Thanks in advance :)

Had a lovely meal there yesterday, but accidentally left a belonging of mine in the restaraunt. Does anyone know any way of co reacting them? Can’t find any phone number, email social media etc.

Any help appreciated.

I thought people might like the view from the balcony on the top floor of 20 Station Road showing the building work behind The Flying Pig

friend can no longer make it, i intend to drive from cb1 cambridge to Silverstone this Saturday for this https://www.silverstone.co.uk/events/brdc-classic F1 cars and Le Mans cars etc , message me if interested can pick you up if you live in Cambridge, tickets are £40 per person in advance or £45 on the gate ,( mods i am not selling tickets i do not have any i am saying what it costs to get into the event ! ) i am male aged 50 , room for 3 people plus me in car at most,

Hi all,

I'm about for end of tenancy cleaners in Cambridge CB1 and would be grateful if you could please share recommendations. Thank you so much!

PS - I know we're not legally required to hire professional cleaners, but I'd like to get it professionally cleaned anyway as I want my complete deposit back 😄

There have been sooooo many new types of wildlife in my garden recenthly, like hummingbird hawkmoths and dragon/damsel flies (idk which, they wizzzzzzzz past too fast). Along with strange looking birds and a woodpecker that I can hear but not see.

Not to mention the hedgehogish sized life.

But my favourite is super simple - the red fuzzy butt bee :DDD - one let me stroke it today while it was on the honeysuckles. OH BUTTERFLIES - has anyone else seen wayyyyyyy more colours of butterflies recently.

Also snails have been crawling alll the way up to my bedroom window along the wall. Second story!

Also - I thought dove were grey and they arrrrre but there was a genuinely pure white one the other day, it was almost shiny due to the sun. And it was an actual dove - I originallaylylaylay (can't spell) thought pigeon because of the cow print pigeons but it was shaped like its partner - they also ... um ... piggy backed so I assume it was a dove. I didnt stay to watch though.

Also, theres a nest with three smallish green speckled eggs, and like 2 other nests too - even though the garden is small. And a brown blackbird (lady??) that likes straw and is now very comfortable with humans, you know the follow when lawning the mow?? That thing!!

Anyway - I forgot the reason I made this post. Um... bye

Our family's cargo bike was stolen from outside the Tesco on Christ's Lane on Thursday 17 July at around 4:00 pm.

I popped into the shop for just a couple of minutes to buy some milk with my young child. When we came back out, I realised I'd made a terrible mistake: I'd left the key in our bike, and it was gone. Along with the bike were some much-loved children's toys, which makes the loss even harder.
I'm kicking myself for the mistake, but I'm hoping someone might have spotted the bike around town. It's a dark blue Bakfiets cargo bike (pictured above).

They're very distinctive, not especially easy to ride if you're unfamiliar with them, and not the easiest bikes to sell on, so I'm hopeful it may still be somewhere locally.

We've reported the theft to the police. If you've seen the bike or have any information about where it might be, I'd be hugely grateful if you could contact the police quoting the crime reference number (35-53960-26), or send me a message here so I can pass the information on.

Thank you so much for keeping an eye out.

I’ve heard a lot of mixed opinions about Arbury and King’s Hedges. The places that particularly seem to get a bad rap are Akeman Street/Darwin Drive, Kingsway flats, and The Ship pub.

Are these specific areas still as bad as people say or have they been gentrified?

Taken this morning at 8AM

Ok so there was an unlocked bike leant against the wall by the station near subway. I didn't think much of it but when I came back 30mins later and it was still there and I saw another guy looking at it.

I lived here for over 10 years and I had multiple bikes stolen, so I know how painful it can be. I took it across the road and I used my spare lock to secure it (I have two because I am careful with my bike).

Hopefully this person will have evidence that the bike belongs to them, so they can just get my cheap lock removed.. or they can contact me and I will come remove it. Worst can is it was stolen and they probably won't even look at this because the thief left it at the station.. who knows. Had to try tho

I see lots of posts on here asking how to meet people in Cambridge.

I don't think the problem is finding people who have the same interests (in my experience anyway) because we have loads of pubs, gigs, online meet ups etc. Stuff gets posted in this subreddit all the time with ideas. For me the problem was not knowing how to actually start a conversation with a total stranger.

I'm socially very awkward, so this isn't coming from someone who's naturally good at it. But I think once you get past the initial anxiety of making a fool of yourself it can be quite simple.

Basically you've just got to be brave about it.

Imagine you're in the pub and you see someone wearing a Fontaines DC shirt (and that's a band you also like). You could say "Hi, sorry to bother you, I just wanted to say I love your shirt".

If they just say "thanks" then that's fine. Literally just leave it there. That's them saying they're not really very interested. This is fine and normal and you might feel a bit stupid for 5 minutes but that's all. You'll get over it and it feels less weird the more you try it over time.

But if they reply with something like "yeah I saw them in London last year" - they are inviting you to have a conversation and you can see where it goes. Maybe you'll make a new friend.

Sorry if this all sounds horribly obvious but maybe it could help.

A magnificent dance piece

I was stopped at the junction between Cherry Hinton Rd and Coleridge Road - police cars escorting a chauffeur driven car went by - who was it?

I don't mean to come off as a narc with this hosepipe ban*, but this bothers me:

Hill (owners of Marleigh estate) watering their established lawns for marketing purposes, days after a hosepipe ban is put in. Multiple sprinklers.

These guys just bought the entire airport to develop it, and the area needs to believe they care about what they're developing and the community they're developing in.

They could be doing much better local environmental stewardship -- or if you don't care for the environmental angle, then they could at least be abiding by the rules.l the rest of the community has to work to...

*I'm aware there is an exemption for some essential business activities, but I struggle to see how the lawn is "essential" in this case...

Bothered.....

Can anyone explain to me why a train ticket to huntingdon costs twenty quid?!

Edit: that is £20 with a railcard, its £28 without. An Uber is £28-30 for the same trip...

Hi! I'm not sure how to frame the title, but I'm new in the city and will be here for quite a while. Though I'm here for some work and have met a few people in a professional setting, I really want to explore the city and hangout with people for fun. Unfortunately Im having a really hard time with that because I don't have friends here and don't know how to befriend people. This is my first time going to a city alone so I don't really know how to start or where to start. It would be great if some of you can suggest me something about the social life in Cambridge

Hiya! Are there any chest binder shops in Cambridge? I'd really appreciate if anyone knows a shop or two :)

Thanks!

Hi 35M, I have never played DnD because I grew up super religious and my parents thought it was glorifying the devil (theyre stupid but I still love them) and then just never really found a friend group as an adult that was into it. So basically now I am begging to try it on for size. I understand the general idea. Happy to dress up if thats the vibe as well, but im rather sparse in fantasy-themed wear admittedly.

Ideally looking for something that wont take half a lifetime to complete (which is subjective as some peoples lifetimes are unfortunately rather brief), but other than that no real expectations.

Hi! I'm looking to swap driving tests for a test in late August or September. If anyone is interested or knows someone who might be, please let me know :)

Booked test: Cambridge Brookmount Court DVSA Test Centre
Date: Sunday 25th October 10:04

Mosque is closed, police is there, parking prohibited, as well as lots of men in black suits