Cambridge

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{| class="toccolours" style="float: right; width: 24em; font-size: 90%"|+Cambridge|colspan="2" align="center" |
King's College Chapel, seen from The Backs.|-! colspan="2" bgcolor="#ff9999" align="center"| City of Cambridge|-| colspan="2" style="background: white;" |{| | style="text-align: center;" | {{location map|United Kingdom |label=|position=center|width=115|lat= 52.208|long= 0.123|caption=|float=--> | style="text-align: center;" | ]
''Shown within [Cambridgeshire |} |-|colspan="2" align="center" ||-! colspan="2" bgcolor="#ff9999" align="center"| Geography|-! style="text-align: left;" scope="row" | Status| City (1951)|-! style="text-align: left;" scope="row" | Regions of England| East of England| [Cambridgeshire
- Total| [List of English districts by area
1 E7 m² square kilometre|-! style="text-align: left;" scope="row" | Admin. HQ| Cambridge|-! style="text-align: left;" scope="row" | ONS coding system| 12UB|-! style="text-align: left;" scope="row" | Coordinates| |-! colspan="2" bgcolor="#ff9999" align="center"| Demographics|-! style="text-align: left; font-weight: normal;" scope="row" | Population
- Total
- Population density| List of English districts by population
()
/ km²|-! style="text-align: left; vertical-align: top;" scope="row" | Ethnicity| 89.4% White British
4.4% Mixed Race/Other
3.8% British Asian
1.3% Black British
2.1% Han Chinese|-! colspan="2" bgcolor="#ff9999" align="center"| Politics|-|colspan="2" style="text-align: center; background: white;" |
Cambridge City Council
http://www.cambridge.gov.uk/|-! style="text-align: left;" scope="row" | Local government in England#Councils and councillors|Leader & Cabinet|-! style="text-align: left;" scope="row" | Executive| |-! style="text-align: left; vertical-align: top;" scope="row" | MPs| David Howarth (Liberal Democrats, Cambridge (UK Parliament constituency))
Andrew Lansley (Conservative Party (UK), Cambridgeshire South (UK Parliament constituency))|}

with the tower of the college's chapel looming in the background

The city status in the United Kingdom of Cambridge is an old England College town and the administrative centre of the county of Cambridgeshire. It lies approximately 50 miles (80 kilometre) north-northeast of London and is surrounded by a number of smaller towns and villages. It is also at the heart of the high-technology centre known as Silicon Fen.

Cambridge is best known for the University of Cambridge, which includes the renowned Cavendish Laboratory, King's College Chapel, Cambridge, and the Cambridge University Library. The Cambridge skyline is dominated by the last two, along with the chimney of Addenbrooke's Hospital in the far south of the city and St John's College, Cambridge Chapel tower in the north. The city's name is pronounced , as opposed to another Cambridge, Gloucestershire in Gloucestershire, England, which is pronounced .

According to the 2001 census, the City's population was 108,863 (including 22,153 students). However, the population of the urban area, which includes parts of South Cambridgeshire district is estimated to be 130,000.

History Prehistory Settlements have existed around the area since before the Roman Empire. The earliest clear evidence of occupation, a collection of hunting weapons, is from the Late Bronze Age, starting around 1000 BC. There is further archaeological evidence through the Iron Age, a Belgic tribe having settled on Castle Hill in the 1st century BC.

Roman times The first major development of the area began with the Roman invasion of Britain in about 40. Castle Hill made Cambridge a useful place for a military outpost from which to defend the River Cam. It was also the crossing point for the Via Devana which linked Colchester, England in Essex, England with the garrisons at Lincoln, England and the north. This Roman settlement has been identified as Duroliponte.

The settlement remained a regional centre during the 350 years after the Roman occupation, until about AD 400. Roman roads and walled enclosures can still be seen in the area.

Saxon and Viking age After the Romans had left, Anglo-Saxons took over the land on and around Castle Hill. Their grave goods have been found in the area. During Anglo-Saxon times Cambridge benefited from good trade links across the otherwise hard-to-travel fenlands. By the 7th century, however, visitors from nearby Ely reported that Cambridge had declined severely. Cambridge is mentioned in the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle as Grantebrycge. This is the earliest known reference to a bridge at Cambridge.

The arrival of the Vikings in Cambridge was recorded in the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle in 875. Viking rule, the Danelaw, had been imposed by 878. The Vikings' vigorous trading habits caused Cambridge to grow rapidly. During this period the centre of the town shifted from Castle Hill on the left bank of the river to the area now known as the Quayside on the right bank. After the end of the Viking period the Saxons enjoyed a brief return to power, building St Bene't's http://www.stbenets.org.uk church in 1025, which still stands in Bene't Street.

Norman times In 1068, two years after his conquest of England, William of Normandy built a castle on Castle Hill. Like the rest of the new kingdom, Cambridge fell under the control of the King and his deputies. The distinctive The Holy Sepulchre, Cambridge dates from this period. By Norman times the name of the town had mutated to Grentabrige or Cantebrigge (Grantbridge), while the river that flowed through it was called the Granta.

Over time the name of the town changed to Cambridge, while the river Cam was still known as the Granta — indeed the Upper River (the stretch between the Millpond in Cambridge and Grantchester) is correctly known as the Granta to this day. The Welsh language name of the town remains Caergrawnt (roughly analogous to Grantchester, which is also the name of a village near Cambridge). It was only later that the river became known as the Cam, by analogy with the name Cambridge. The University, formed 1209, uses a Latin adjective cantabrigiensis (often contracted to "Cantab") to mean "of Cambridge", but this is obviously a retronym from the English name.

Beginnings of the university In 1209, students escaping from hostile townspeople in Oxford fled to Cambridge and formed a university there. The oldest college that still exists, Peterhouse, Cambridge, was founded in 1284. One of the most impressive buildings in Cambridge, King's College Chapel, Cambridge, was begun in 1446 by Henry VI of England. The project was completed in 1515 during the reign of Henry VIII of England.

was the third college to be founded in the University of Cambridge Cambridge University Press originated with a printing licence issued in 1534. Hobson's Conduit, the first project to bring clean drinking water to the town centre, was built in 1610 (by the Hobson of Hobson's choice). Parts of it survive today. Addenbrooke's Hospital was founded in 1766. The railway and station were built in 1845. According to legend, the University dictated their location: well away from the centre of town, so that the possibility of quick access to London would not distract students from their work. However, there is no basis for this in written record.

Despite having a university, Cambridge was not granted its city status in the United Kingdom until 1951. Cambridge does not have a List of Church of England dioceses, which was traditionally a pre-requisite for city status.

Original historical documents relating to the town of Cambridge (as opposed to the university or colleges within Cambridge) are held by Cambridgeshire Archives and Local Studies at the County Record Office Cambridge and at the Cambridgeshire Collection. These records include original registers for the parish churches dating back to the 1530s, local government records, maps, photographs, and records of some businesses, schools and charities.

Cambridge today ]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 business incubator that have sprung up in the series of science parks and other developments in and around the city. Such companies include CSR plc, world leader in Bluetooth chips, Acorn Computers and Sinclair Research Ltd. Cambridge was also the home of Pye famous in the last century for early wireless and TV sets. In later years Pye evolved into several other companies including Pye Telecommunications (now Sepura, famous for TETRA radio equipment). Another major business is Marshall Aerospace located on the eastern edge of the city. Such businesses and their early stage precursors are well networked within the Cambridge Network.

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.

Housing estates Throughout the 1960s and 1970s, the size of the city was greatly increased by several large council estates planned to hold London 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 government Cambridge is a non-metropolitan district served by Cambridge City Council, England. The city council's headquarters are in the Guildhall http://www.cambridge.gov.uk/ccm/content/itcm/maps/guildhall-information.en, 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, Cambridgeshire, King's Hedges, Market, Newnham, Cambridgeshire, Petersfield, Queen Edith's, Romsey, Trumpington, Cambridgeshire, West Chesterton.

The political composition http://www.cambridge.gov.uk/elections of the city wards of the county council after the May 2005 elections was:

10 Liberal Democrats seats
4 Labour Party (UK) seats

The political composition of the city council after the May 2006 elections was:

29 Liberal Democrat councillors
13 Labour councillors

The Liberal Democrats have controlled the city council since 2000.

Westminster The British House of Commons Cambridge (UK Parliament constituency) covers most of the city. David Howarth (Liberal Democrats (UK)) was elected Member of Parliament (MP) at the United Kingdom general election, 2005, winning the seat from the sitting MP, Labour Party (UK)'s Anne Campbell. Some areas, however — corresponding largely to the Queen Edith's and Trumpington wardshttp://www.election-maps.co.uk/ — lie in theSouth Cambridgeshire (UK Parliament constituency) constituency, whose MP is Andrew Lansley (Conservative Party (UK)), first elected in United Kingdom general election, 1997.

The University of Cambridge used to have a seat in the House of Commons, Isaac Newton being one of the most notable holders. The Cambridge University (UK Parliament constituency) was abolished under 1948 legislation, and ceased at the dissolution of Parliament for the United Kingdom general election, 1950, along with the other university constituency.

Transport Roads Because of its rapid growth since the twentieth century, Cambridge has a congested road network. Several major roads intersect at Cambridge. The M11 motorway from east London terminates here. The A14 (Britain) (formerly A604 and A45) east-west trunk route skirts the northern edge of the city. This is a major freight route connecting the port of Felixstowe on the east coast with the Midlands, North Wales, the west coast and Ireland. The A14 is often congested, particularly the section between Huntingdon and Cambridge where the east-west traffic is merged with the A1 road to M11 motorway north-south traffic on a 2-lane dual carriageway. The A10 road, a former Roman road from north London, passes round the city on its way to Ely and King's Lynn. Other roads connect the city with Bedford, Bedfordshire, St Neots, Newmarket and Colchester, England.

The city has a ring road about 2 km in diameter, inside which there are traffic restrictions which have successfully improved conditions for pedestrians, cyclists and bus users, and reduced congestion. It has a well developed bus service including five Park and Ride sites encouraging motorists to park near the city's edge.

Rail Cambridge railway station was built in 1845 with a platform designed to take two full-length trains, one of the longest in the country. Cambridge has direct rail links to King's Cross railway station (via Hitchin and the East Coast Main Line) and Liverpool Street station (via the West Anglia Main Line) stations in London. There is a direct shuttle service to London King's Cross every half hour during peak hours, taking only 45 minutes to reach London. It is also linked to King's Lynn and Ely (via the Fen Line), Norwich, England (via the Breckland Line), Leicester, 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.

Air Cambridge City Airport is owned by Marshall Aerospace. The runway can accommodate an unladen Boeing 747 or McDonnell Douglas MD-11, but there is no regular scheduled service and it is mostly used by business and leisure flights. In Summer 2004 a Charter airline service to Jersey was operated by Aurigny Air Services using Saab 340 turboprop aircraft. A dealer in Glass-reinforced plastic-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 the next 5-10 years.

The family run business, Suckling Airways, now trading as ScotAirways, used to make scheduled flights from Cambridge to Amsterdam Schiphol Airport.

Major airports, such as both Luton and Stansted, are within a convenient driving distance.

Cycling As 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; the city also benefits from parks which have shared use paths. There are, however, no separate cycle paths within the city centre. 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.

Bike theft in the city is a problem, with over 3000 bicycles reported stolen between April 2005 and March 2006. The actual number is believed to be higher as many thefts are not reported to the police.

Park and ride There are five park and ride sites in Cambridge that operate Monday–Saturday with three (Trumpington, Madingley Road and Newmarket Road) also operating on Sundays between 9am and 6pm. All the sites are staffed during opening hours. Overnight parking is not permitted at any of the sites. All sites are secured with barriers after the last bus, but these rise to allow traffic to leave after hours. All sites have height barriers except Babraham Road and Trumpington, which are suitable for camper vans, as larger spaces are provided. For more information see the National Park and Ride Directory

Sport on the Cam river is a popular recreation in CambridgeCambridge played a unique role in the invention of modern football as the game's first set of rules were drawn up by members of the university in 1848. The Cambridge Rules were first played in Parker's Piece and had a "defining influence on the 1863 The Football Association rules."

Cambridge's most successful sports team over recent years is its rugby union Cambridge R.U.F.C.. After three successive promotions they managed to survive their debut season in National Division Two 2006/07. The club's home ground is at West Renault Park on Granchester Road in the south west corner of the city.

The city is home to Cambridge United F.C., who played in the English Football League teams 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 (insolvency) with substantial debts, but it emerged from administration in time for the 2005–06 in English football. The city's other football club Cambridge City F.C. play in the Conference South at Milton Road in Chesterton (Cambridge). Satellite town Histon on the northern edge of the city is home to Conference National side Histon FC.

Cambridge Eagles rugby league team play in the National Conference League East Section during the summer months, often drawing on rugby union players keen to continue playing rugby throughout the year.

British American Football League club Cambridgeshire Cats play at Coldham's Common. The season runs from April to August. The team benefits from the experience of US servicemen from the nearby bases, but due to league quotas, the majority of players are British.

Cambridge is also known for its University of Cambridge sporting events against University of Oxford, especially the rugby union The Varsity Match and the Oxford and Cambridge Boat Race. These are followed by people across the globe, many of whom have no connection to the institutions themselves.The Cambridge Dampers Club (punting) used to take part in the Scottish Boat Race, winning the event on a number of occasions.

Motorcycle speedway racing took place at the Greyhound Stadium in Newmarket Road in 1939. It is not known if this venue operated in other years. The team raced as Newmarket as the meeetings were organised by the Newmarket Motorcycle Club.

The City Council hosts details of Local Sports Clubs. http://www.cambridge.gov.uk/sportsclubs

Health Cambridge is well served by medical care, with several smaller medical centres dotted around the city, along with Addenbrooke's Hospital a learning and teaching hospital and one of the largest in the United Kingdom, also functioning as a centre for medical research.

Multicultural Cambridge For its size, Cambridge has a relatively diverse ethnic population. This is mainly due to people from other countries coming to study at the Universities. The area around Mill Road has a large Turkish population, and is home to many Asian food stores and the Abu Bakr Mosque.

Religion marks the centre of Cambridge, whilst the Senate House (University of Cambridge) on the left is the centre of the University. Gonville and Caius College is in the background.Cambridge has an active Christian population and many churches, some of which form a significant part of the city's architectural landscape.

A Cambridge-based family and youth organisation, Romsey Mill, had its centre re-dedicated in 2007 by the Archbishop of York, and is quoted as an example of best practice in a study EERA social inclusion policy, ch. 3 into social inclusion by the East of England Regional Assembly.

University St Mary the Great with St Michael, Cambridge has the status of being the "University Church". Many of the University colleges contain chapels that hold services according to the rites and ceremonies of the Church of England, while the chapel of St Edmund's College, Cambridge is Roman Catholic. There is a mosque used by Muslim residents and students, an Orthodox synagogue (belonging to the university Jewish Society) and the Beth Shalom Reform synagogue.

The city also has a number of Cambridge Theological Federation for training clergy for ordination into a number of denominations, with affiliations to both the University of Cambridge and Anglia Ruskin University.

Cambridge in fiction

In the 1950s, the English children's writer Philippa Pearce created a fictionalised version of Cambridge known as "Castleford" (not connected to the Castleford). 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.

In the Charles Dickens novel Great Expectations Matthew Pocket, the tutor of the protagonist, Pip, was educated in Cambridge

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. His fictional "Porterhouse College" appears in many of his novels.

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 unbroadcast Doctor Who serial Shada, which also included scenes in Cambridge. The television serial Shada was filmed in Cambridge, but was never finished due to strike action. The unfinished story was available to buy on video but is not yet available on DVD.

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. Plath was a resident of the city when she won a scholarship to the university.

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 of England.

A number of novels in Charles Percy Snow's Strangers and Brothers series (The Masters, The Affair) are set in a Cambridge college (a thinly-veiled Christ's College, Cambridge).

E.M. Forster, who had a lifetime connection with King's College, Cambridge, set the early parts of two of his novels, The Longest Journey (novel) and Maurice (novel), at Cambridge University.

Kate Atkinson used the town as the setting for her book Case Histories (novel).

Michelle Spring wrote a series of novels about a Cambridge-based private detective, Laura Principal, beginning with Every Breath You Take (1994).

Rebecca Stott's Ghostwalk (2007) is set in the Cambridge of today and of Sir Isaac Newton's time.

Robert Harris's "Enigma" was partly set in Cambridge, when the leading character, Thomas Jericho, was sent to King's College to recover from a nervous break down. Much of the story describes the centre and west of Cambridge in much detail. The story itself was set in the middle of world war two. The rest of the story was set in Bletchley Park.
In the Charles Dickens novel, A Tale of Two Cities, Charles Darnay tutors a Cambridge student in French.

Music

Pink Floyd originally formed in Cambridge, and the band's former songwriter guitarist and vocalist Syd Barrett was born and lived in Cambridge. He and Roger Waters went to school together at Cambridge School For Boys now Hills Road Sixth Form College, David Gilmour lived here as well.
Katrina and the Waves formed in Cambridge in the 1970's.
The Soft Boys formed and reside in the Cambridge area.
The Broken Family Band still live and work in Cambridge.
Nick Drake studied at Cambridge university.
Julian Cope purchased the tortoise shell featured on the cover of his Fried album in a Cambridge antiques shop.
Tony Wilson Manchester music mogul and the founder of Factory Records read English at Jesus College, Cambridge.

Festivals and events

Cambridge Midsummer Fair is one of the oldest fairs in the UK and at one point was possibly the largest medieval fair in Europe. Today it exists primarily as an annual funfair with the vestige of a market attached.
Cambridge Folk Festival is one of the largest festivals of folk music in the UK
Strawberry Fair, is a free, public fair. It is held every first Saturday in June on Midsummer Common.
Cambridge Beer Festival, which began in 1973, takes place on Jesus Green for one week in May every year and offers nearly 200 different beershttp://www.cambridgebeerfestival.com/summer/themes/main/images/34th_poster.png.
The Cambridge Corporate Gateway in April and October provides an opportunity for the World's Best Companies to meet partners from the world of science and technology.
The Cambridge Film Festival is held annually in July and is considered to be one of the nation's best.
The Pink Festival is held annually as a one day event and is the largest free LGBT festival in Europe.

Other information

In 2004 Cambridge was granted Fairtrade City status.

Cambridge is town twinning with:

Heidelberg, Germany since 1957
Szeged, Hungary since 1987