Another new start

So I am still in Cambridge and still watching it vanish before my eyes, I did think of just not letting it bother me like I suspect a lot of other locals do, but even though I dont have any hope of saving whats left or bringing back whats gone, I can still write about it and in a way that is saving it. A town or city starts with just open space, then it becomes a place with lots of different types of buildings, if you then go and knock a building down and put something in its place it means you are knocking down parts of the Town or City, putting up new buildings doesnt change that fact. In Cambridge you'll find that all the shopping malls were built on what used to be housing, I am interested in the houses and the people who lived in them. I was lucky to live in one of those houses so thats probably why I get depressed about whats happening here in Cambridge. I have accepted that I just wasnt around at the right time to maybe help put a stop to the destruction, it started way back in 1950 with the Holford report I think it was. So the best thing I can do is just try and find out facts about Cambridge that have all been lost with all the so called progress, i dont think there is anything wrong with being angry about it all though, in the Cambridge evening news there are many old photos and stories from the past and thats great, but its all delivered in a straight jounalistic fashion, I want to know how the person writing the article feels about the way things have changed, the trouble is most of the writing about Cambridge is done by people who are probably more concerened with the university then the town itself. I know a lot of people who have come into Cambridge to work at the university, acedemics who might have once been a student and have since returned, or just outsiders. Now I have to confess that my father got a job at the university and thats how we ended up living here, I was seven years old when we first moved into fitzroy street, so i'm not really a local who doesnt like the university and all that stuff, in a way i would have been happy to have become a cambridge student, thats based on me seeing chariots of fire though heh and not much more, but I am sure certain things have been the same for hundreds of years, customs and all that Gilbert and Sullivan society type of thing, and that does appeal to me. Anyway thats it for now, i'll be back soon with more ramblings, and hopefully a few pictures.

The passageway leading to M&S

well here is a pic of the passageway and you can see the toombstones in the wall on the left, I didnt get the names but I will for next time, have a good weekend

Holy Trinity Church

This photograph shows the small passageway leading to marks and spencers, the churches in the city center show how much things have changed by the way the buildings around them almost swalow them up, I suppose the colleges dont own the land so they have to build around them, marks and sparks is where victoria cinema used to be, the facade of the cinema remains but everything behind it is new, I cant remember what the passageway used to be like before m&s, it might have gone all the way through to market hill.It does look a bit macabre as there are tomb stones stuck in the wall facing out so its like you are stepping on dead people as you go along the path, I've been told by a reliable source, THE SURVEYOR , that it was a common thing to do and he doesnt think there are any bodies there but it still doesnt feel right, picture to follow.

Bradwells Court

This concrete disaster is about to be put out of its misery and guess whats going up in its place, yes a bigger one.Bradwells Court was the very first shopping center in cambridge.From the late 1800s up to 1958 there were houses and shops here, the area was called Bradwells Yard, you see in the old days people thought it might be a good idea to have houses as well as shops in the town centre, now its all shops yet still people wonder why the traffic problems have grown. Whoever was responsible for the design of the court obviously didnt bother about trying to blend it in with its surroundings, and from the pictures of the new arcade nothing has changed, so you could say Bradwells court was where it all started.

Thats more like it

Just a slight adjustment and the picture looks a lot older, the 80s paintwork doesnt show up and the bicycles dont look too out of place either. I actually didnt know I could do that, my excuse is that I havent had this camera for long, oh well, there will be a lot more black and white shots from now on heh.

Looking up St Edwards passage

I got hold of a city guidebook that goes back to 1964 and although its aimed at the tourist there isnt much day to day life stuff but it is still very interesting.There are some great adverts for local shops that have long gone though.I dont have the hardware to scan pictures yet but I will one day I hope.There is one great picture that shows the passageway along the side of St Edwards church so I thought why not take one now and see how much things have changed.Well to be honest not much has changed at all, the bikes in the original were leaning on the wall and there wasnt that hideous red paint on the window frame, also the brickwork has been painted over, I think it was an 80s thing to paint over bricks, I could be wrong but it makes perfect sense to me.

The Rose Tavern

Today I ventured into the city center and took this picture of macdonalds, and yes this is the very place that Samuel Pepys used to drink in, he mentions going there one day, the date is july 15 1661, my birthday, not the year though heh, anyway he goes in and gets "very merry" as he puts it.Well I never thought i'd say something good about macdonalds but here goes......... They have managed to hold back on the red and yellow paint and have been very subtle and even the sign is hanging where the original one used to I would guess. I took the picture and swiftly moved on.

Cambridge nearly had a white christmas!

This picture was taken on dec 28th last year, it shows York street and its a view that has been like that for a long time, a rare opportunity to have a glimpse of the past, thats a good thing isnt it? Why would anyone think it isnt, and I bet those houses arent cheap either.

Back to Cambridge ramblings, with added pics!

This photo shows the building that replaced the inn from the 1600s, one of the pubs that samuel pepys used to frequent while in Cambridge, it was knocked down and replaced by this ugly looking thing in 1959, a hostel for kings college students.The rest of the buildings are all quite old, the church next to it is St Edwards, it dates back to 1200s.What I dont understand is why the central hotel as it was called in the 50s had to be knocked down at all, I am trying to be more understanding of change in me old age you see, another pub that pepys drank in is now a macdonalds but at least the building itself is still there, so there is always the chance that one day someone with a bit of sense might realise how important local history is, not just the academic side, old pepys did have something to do with the university though as well.