Sunday, 07 February 2021
Here is Nigel's entry for iSpysolation round 5.
1 A blue plaque
Here at 19 Brookside are two blue plaques.
The top one commemorates Millicent Garrett Fawcett (1847-1929), who was a "lifelong suffragist and co-founder of Newnham College and a lifelong campaigner for women's education and equal citizenship".
The lower plaque commemorates Henry Fawcett (1833-1884), who was a Liberal MP who "promoted women's suffrage and as Postmaster-General introduced the parcel post". Fawcett Primary School in Alpha Terrace, Trumpington was named after Henry. Curiously, the CPPF website doesn't mention that Millicent Garrett Fawcett and Henry Fawcett were married to each other.
This plaque caught my eye as I made my way home after photographing the blue plaque in Brookside. This is the Cambridge University Chemistry Department in Lensfield Road, which I visited for lectures and laboratory practicals during my first year as a student.
The stone artwork looks rather more interesting, but the blue plaque commemorates the architect William Wilkins (1778-1839), who lived in a house on this site. He was clearly happy to design both neo-classical and neo-gothic buildings: he designed the neo-classical Downing College, and the neo-gothic front screen of King's College, which you can't miss when you look at the college from King's Parade, and which many visitors probably think is medieval like the chapel.
2 An old advertisement
(Bonus point for one painted onto the side of a building)
This advert is painted onto the side of 105 Cherry Hinton Road, which used to be a bakery. It advertises "Pure machine-made bread. Finest pastry and good household flour. One quality only the best." They are also "agents for Nectar Tea, in packets only. At the bottom are some prices but I can't make out the exact wording.
44 Hills Road. A milk advert. Obviously the paintwork was restored relatively recently, which makes it look rather self-conscious when compared with the faded bakery advert at 105 Cherry Hinton Road.
3 Written graffiti
(bonus point for something amusing)
The most famous piece of graffiti in Cambridge is probably the words "Reality Checkpoint", painted onto a lamp post in the middle of Parker's Piece. I remember first seeing it in the 1980's, and although the words would gradually wear off they were always repainted by persons unknown. However that graffiti has become so familiar that the council adopted it a few years ago, and the words "Reality Checkpoint" are now painted and managed by the council, so this isn't really graffiti any more in the normal British sense.
So I had to revert to what is probably the second most familiar piece of graffiti in Cambridge, the words "To the river", which are written at the corner of Garret Hostel Lane and Trinity Lane. I also first saw this back in the 1980s, and these words have remained there (in some form) ever since. I don't know who repaints this graffiti. This building is part of Trinity College; in the past I've wondered whether this graffiti was there to encourage tourists to stay on public roads rather than take the next left turn which takes you into the college. Unfortunately the words "to the river" are not remotely amusing, so no bonus point for me.
4 A building with a jettied upper storey
This is 25 Magdalene Street. Pevsner writes that this is C16 in origin and was once the Cross Keys inn. Further along the street are several more C16 houses with overhanging upper storeys.
5 A building with a date stone from the 1800s
This is the foundation stone for the Corn Exchange and bears the date 26th May 1874.
When I first arrived in Cambridge, this building hosted regular public rollerskating sessions: you could turn up, hire some roller skates, and have fun. A few years later the building was renovated and converted into a (rather mediocre) concert hall. The floor was replaced, and the roller-disco afternoons stopped.
6: Wind turbines (in the distance or close up)
There are one or two solitary wind turbines in Cambridge, such as one at the back of Cambridge Regional College. However the clue asks for "turbines", the plural, and the nearest place where I could find more than one was Wadlow Wind Farm near West Wratting and Balsham, which is an unmissable landmark for anyone cycling east of Cambridge (and which I also photographed last week)
7 A Cambridge Past Present and Future site
I think this is the only site they own in Cambridge itself, the Leper Chapel in Newmarket Road. The sign (which bears CPPF's old name, Cambridge Preservation Society) explains that it was built in the 12th century, so is one of the oldest buildings in Cambridge.
I like it because it's nothing to do with the university. Instead it had a connection with the largest medieval fair in Europe, Stourbridge Fair, which was held close by: several nearby streets (e.g. Garlic Row, Mercers Row, and of course Stourbridge Common) have names that date back to those days. Photo also includes my bike!
8 A terrible cycle path
(bonus point for one which has featured on Warrington Cycle Facility of the Month)
Here's a cycle path that is
featured on that website. It's on King's Hedges Road, and is intended to allow eastbound cyclists to transfer from the busway cycleway onto King's Hedges Road itself.
The Warrington people were most concerned about how a large bush had reduced its width to less than the width of a bicycle. The large bush is still there (this photo), and the path is as narrow as ever, but the view from the other side (below) shows how truly bad this "facility" is. Note: photo includes my bike (bonus)!
This view shows better how truly bad this "facility" is. First of all the narrow "cycleway" comes to an immediate stop, with a give-way line at a sharp angle that makes it difficult to see whether the road is clear (since you need to look behind you). The cycleway then turns into a worn-out on-road cycle lane that runs in between two lanes of traffic if you want to continue along King's Hedges road at the next junction. Still terrible.
9 A pothole
(bonus point if you report it)
I don't see many potholes: the main problem I encounter are very worn-out roads, or cycleways damaged by tree roots. But I spotted this pothole in Dogget Lane, Fulbourn (on the main road from Balsham to Cambridge) and
reported it on the county council website
10 A factory chimney
Hmm. The most impressive chimney in Cambridge is the one on Riverside, at what is now the Cambridge Museum of Technology. But that was never a factory: it was originally a water pumping station, and (in normal times) you can go inside and see how it worked (recommended).
This left me wondering where my nearest factory was. I decided I should visit the Hartley's jam factory in Histon, which is familiar to anyone who's ridden past on the busway cycleway. Until 2012 this is where Chiver's jam and Hartley's jam were made (the road leading to it is called Chivers Way). But in 2012 this factory, and the Hartley's brand, were sold by Premier Foods to Hain Celestial, and since then only Hartley's jam is made here (wikipedia link).
11 A pub sign involving four legs
This hanging sign for The Flying Pig, a pub in Hills Road, shows the four legs of the eponymous porcine animal very clearly.
Apparently a large office building will soon be constructed directly behind: the developers have been forbidden from demolishing the pub (I have no idea why); they have therefore produced drawings that suggest it will be awkwardly integrated into the gleaming glass frontage of the offices.
12 A Greene King wall plaque
This is the Champion of the Thames in King Street
Selfie
Earlier in this round I took a photo of a blue plaque in Lensfield Road that commemorated the architect William Wilkins who designed the buildings of Downing College. Behind this selfie is his other well-known work, the gatehouse and adjoining screens of King's College. They were built in 1824-8 and I expect many casual visitors to King's Parade assume they are a similar age as the chapel (far right, 1446-1515)