Cambridge
Encyclopedia : C : CA : CAM : Cambridge
- For other places by the same name, see Cambridge (disambiguation).
| City of Cambridge | |||||||||
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|  Shown within Cambridgeshire | ||||||||
| Geography | |||||||||
| Status | City (1951) | ||||||||
| Region | East of England | ||||||||
| Admin. County | Cambridgeshire | ||||||||
| Area - Total | Ranked 316th 40.70 km² | ||||||||
| Admin. HQ | Cambridge | ||||||||
| ONS code | 12UB | ||||||||
| Coordinates | |||||||||
| Demographics | |||||||||
| Population: - Total () - Density | Ranked " title=" format=HTML
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 format=HTML}} Drawing on its links with the University, the Cambridge area today is sometimes referred to as Silicon Fen, due to the growth of high tech businesses and technology incubators that have sprung up in the series of science parks and other developments in and around the city. Such companies include Acorn Computers and Sinclair. The University was joined by the larger part of Anglia Ruskin University, and the educational reputation has led to other bodies (such as the Open University in East Anglia) basing themselves in the city. The University has a large number of museums that are open to the public.
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Housing estatesThroughout the 1960s and 70s the size of the city was greatly increased by several large council estates planned to hold London's overspill. The biggest impact has been on the area north of the river, which is now home to the estates of Arbury, East Chesterton and King's Hedges, whilst there are many smaller estates to the south of the city.Government
 Local governmentCambridge is a non-metropolitan district, with a city council. The city council's headquarters are in the Guildhall, an imposing building in the market square.Cambridge is also served by Cambridgeshire county council. For electoral purposes the city is divided into the following wards: Abbey, Arbury, Castle, Cherry Hinton, Coleridge, East Chesterton, Kings Hedges, Market, Newnham, Petersfield, Queen Edith's, Romsey, Trumpington, West Chesterton. The political composition of the city wards of the county council after the May 2005 elections was ([link]):
WestminsterThe parliamentary constituency of Cambridge covers most of the city. David Howarth (Liberal Democrat) was elected MP in 2005, winning the seat from the former MP, Anne Campbell (Labour). Some areas, however - corresponding largely to the Queen Edith's and Trumpington wards ([link]) - lie in the South Cambridgeshire constituency, whose MP is Andrew Lansley (Conservative), first elected in 1997.The University used to have a seat in the House of Commons, Sir Isaac Newton being one of the most notable holders. The university seats were abolished in 1948 and ceased at the dissolution of Parliament in 1950. AffiliationsCambridge is twinned with: TransportRoads
 The city has a ring road about 2km in diameter, inside which there are traffic restrictions intended to improve conditions for pedestrians, cyclists and bus users and to reduce congestion. It has a well developed park and ride bus service encouraging motorists to park near the city's edge. RailCambridge railway station was built in 1845 with a platform designed to take two full-length trains. Cambridge has direct rail links to King's Cross (via Hitchin and the East Coast Main Line) and Liverpool Street (via the West Anglia Main Line) stations in London. It is also linked to Kings Lynn and Ely (via the Fen Line), Norwich (via the Breckland Line), Liverpool, Birmingham, Ipswich and as well as London Stansted Airport. The important UK rail hub of Peterborough is also within reach of Cambridge. The railway service connecting Cambridge and Oxford, known as the Varsity Line, was discontinued in 1968.AirCambridge City Airport is owned by Marshall Aerospace, who are capable of adapting and fitting out military transports, airliners and corporate jets, and most notably has been involved in fitting out the world's largest airliner, the Airbus A380. The runway can accommodate an unladen Boeing 747 or MD-11, but there is no regular scheduled service and it is mostly used by business and leisure flights. In Summer 2004 a charter service to Jersey was operated by Aurigny Air Services using Saab 340 turboprop aircraft. A dealer in fibreglass-moulded light monoplanes is also based here. Removal of Marshalls to a site away from the city, with development of the airport site for housing, is a possibility over 5-10 years.CyclingAs a university town lying on fairly flat ground and with traffic congestion, Cambridge has a large number of cyclists. Many residents also prefer cycling to driving in the narrow, busy streets, giving the city the highest level of cycle use in the UK. According to the 2001 census, 25% of residents travelled to work by cycle. A few roads within the city are adapted for cycling, including separate traffic lights for cycle lanes, and cycle contraflows on streets which are otherwise one-way and the city benefits from parks which have shared use paths. There are, however, no separate cycle paths. Despite the high levels of cycling, expenditure on cycling infrastructure is around the national average of 0.3% of the transport budget. There are a few cycle routes in the surrounding countryside and the city is now linked to the National Cycle Network. The main organisation campaigning to improve conditions for cyclists in Cambridge is [Cambridge Cycling Campaign].Sport
 Cambridge is home to Cambridge United F.C., who played in the Football League at the Abbey Stadium from 1970 to 2005, when they were relegated to Conference National. When relegation became inevitable the club was placed in administration with substantial debts, but it emerged from administration in time for the 2005-2006 season. Non-league Cambridge City F.C. play at Milton Road in Chesterton. The town is also known for the University sporting events against Oxford, especially the rugby union varsity match and the Boat Race. These are followed by people across the globe, many of whom have no connection to the institutions themselves. Cambridge has a King George's Field in memorial to King George V HealthCambridge is well served by medical care, with several smaller medical centers dotted around the city, along with Addenbrooke's Hospital a learning and teaching hospital and one of the largest in the United Kingdom.MulticulturalFor its size, Cambridge has a relatively diverse ethnic population. This is mainly due to people from other countries coming to study at the University. The area around Mill Road has a large Turkish population, and is home to many Asian food stores and the Abu Bakr Mosque.ReligionCambridge has an active Christian population which makes use of the many churches that dominate the town's landscape. There is also a mosque used by Muslim residents and students, and a synagogue belonging to the university Jewish Society.FictionIn the 1950s, the English children's writer Philippa Pearce created a fictionalised version of Cambridge known as "Castleford" (not connected to the real town of the same name in West Yorkshire). It appears in several of her books, most notably Tom's Midnight Garden and Minnow on the Say. The main distinguishing point between "Castleford" and the real Cambridge is that this "Castleford" does not have a university, apparently because the author wanted the readers to think of the town in itself, and she felt that Cambridge was too closely associated with its university in the public imagination for this to be possible.Tom Sharpe is also a Cambridge-based author who has written fictional accounts of teaching at Cambridge Technical College (now Anglia Ruskin University) and of Cambridge college life. Susanna Gregory wrote a series of novels set in 14th-century Cambridge and featuring a teacher of medicine and sleuth named Matthew Bartholomew. Douglas Adams was at one time a resident of Cambridge, and parts of his novel Dirk Gently's Holistic Detective Agency are set in the city. This novel was partially reworked from his untransmitted Doctor Who serial Shada, which also included scenes in Cambridge. Sylvia Plath wrote a number of short stories with a Cambridge setting which are published in the collection Johnny Panic and the Bible of Dreams. Dame Rose Macaulay had strong connections to the city, and set part of her novel They Were Defeated in the city during the reign of Charles I. A number of novels in C.P.Snow's Strangers and Brothers series (The Masters, The Affair) are set in a Cambridge college (a thinly-veiled Christ's). Kate Atkinson used the town as the setting for her book Case Histories. Michelle Spring wrote a series of novels about a Cambridge-based private detective, Laura Principal, beginning with Every Breath You Take (1994). Festivals and events
Notable residents
Trivia
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ReferencesExternal links
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