Style
Local Style Secrets
Sorry boys this one's (mostly) just for the girls. We'll be dealing with your side of the story in our next installment of style secrets.
It might seem a little far into the season to be diving into ...
Family
Out and About at The Abbey
A couple of miles north of Cambridge on the A10, I'd driven past a small brown sign to Denny Abbey dozens of times without giving it much thought.
It finally dropped into my consciousness last Thursd...
Our city Viewpoints
Cambridge Weekly Blog
Monday 23rd August 2010Where a few weeks ago we were sneaking a peak at the Folk Festival at Cherry Hinton Hall through chained railings, on Saturday people were milling backwards and forwards to the ...
Ely Weekly Blog
Monday 23rd August 2010Rapunzel, Rapunzel... can I slide down you pole?
Far from being a damsel in distress, artist Emily Haysom has been experiencing what it is like to be a fire fighter. The ongoin...
Newmarket Weekly Blog
Monday 23rd August 2010August news conditions continue, especially for me as I've got a bad back. But never mind; on with the news!
Some of you may remember that a few months ago I unwittingly told a...
Saffron Walden Weekly Blog
Monday 23rd August 2010Sunday saw Saffron Walden's common filled with all manner of automobiles from this and the last century.
The relaxed, petrol tainted atmosphere was filled with technical chatte...
Royston Weekly Blog
Monday 23rd August 2010I'm sorry if I'm repeating myself, but I'm back on the subject of Royston High Street and its many empty shops.
It's a sad indictment of the times that shops can't survive by s...
Huntingdon Weekly Blog
Monday 23rd August 2010You're still getting sand out of your nooks and crannies and despite the gruelling holiday eating schedule you, like the rest of us, are suffering from a temporary lapse in your...
Classical & Jazz
Parker Ramsay
Parker Ramsay is a phenomenal musician. On harp or organ he excels. Probus, a thriving organization in Ely of like-minded gentlemen, was given a delightful harp recital by Parker as part of their regu...
Food and wine
Do children eat salad?
As parents we all want our children to eat healthily. Traditionally summer time is when we tend to eat more salad as it is the true season for growing it. Nowadays a whole host of salad leaves and sal...
Eating Out
St Edmunds Tavern
St Edmunds Tavern on Risbygate Street is one of the newest and most attractive additions to the culinary landscape of Bury St Edmunds.Formerly a run-down venue called the Rising Sun it can now claim t...
Style
In The Bloom of Health
Like most people I like to operate under the belief that I'm a fairly open-minded sort. But, having trained as a scientist in my former life I often find myself scoffing at the outlandish claims ...
Family
Just don't spread it around
About two years ago I heard rumours of a miniature steam railway that ran, intermittently, somewhere near Grantchester. I googled it no avail, before giving up and getting on with the rest of my life....
Theatre
As You Like It
'Do you not know I am a woman? When I think, I must speak!'Directed by Cambridge Shakespeare Festival veteran David Rowan, this year's choice of 'As You Like It' proves the perfect summer treat. For t...
Gigs & Clubs
Fordham Festival 2010
While proving an undeniable bright spot of an otherwise gloomy August weekend, Fordham Fest 2010 failed to fire on all cylinders as a lack of star power and audience focus cast a dampener over this ot...
Classical & Jazz
Peter Litman Recital
Peter Litman's contribution to the Ely Cathedral Summer Organ Recital Series was positively charming. There was little doubt that this programme was going to be a good one when Assistant Organist to E...
Art
Rapunzel's Shout
Emily Haysom is a painter and conceptual artist whose practice focuses on public and socially engaged art. Her particular interest area is around 'individuals in community', and this exploration of co...
Classical & Jazz
Quatuor Diotima
It's always a privilege to be part of a relatively small audience experiencing a really huge event - there is a nice sense of belonging to a special elite. This was the case of the wonderful recital g...
Food and wine
Tasteful Tomatoes
Colour is apparently an important factor in how people react to food - so how would you react to mottled and black tomatoes? Haven't tried them myself (yet) but wonderful things are said about them an...
Cooking & Eating Al Fresco
At this time of year when the sun shines and the children spend more time outdoors, barbecuing the main meal of the day is always an appealing option. There are so many things you can cook on the BBQ ...
Classical & Jazz
Fitz Prom
Nanki-Poo, you Mikado followers will remember, disguised himself as a 'second trombone'. Even before Gilbert and Sullivan's day, the instrument was seen as a something to smile about. The trombone has...
Features
St Ives Corn Exchange reopens
The St Ives Corn Exchange has successfully re-opened this summer after a lengthy battle to bring the building back to workable community use. The culmination of four years fundraising and campaigning,...
Food and wine
Chilford Wine Wins Big
Chilford Hall Vineyard in Linton, Cambridgeshire is celebrating after its Chilford Hundred Sparkling Rosé 2004 was awarded the top accolade of Wine of the Year 2010, as well as the Spear Trophy...
Sports & Outdoor
Local Sports Roundup
Granta get a little help from the weather ... and friendsCambridge Granta march to East Anglian crown continued despite not a ball being bowled at Clare College on Saturday. The game against Vauxhall ...
National Trust Goes Wild
The sun is out and the kids are off school, so parents will be wondering how to keep the little ones entertained. To encourage kids (and parents) to make the most of the school holidays - the National...
Summer Daze in the city
‘Evidence is growing that limiting children's outdoor play experience is likely to damage their physical, mental and emotional development, and to leave them less likely to be concerned about th...
Olympic legacy
The countdown to the London Olympics is now exactly two years and celebrations took part in Cambridge to mark this milestone. The UK-side event included a variety of sporting, arts and culture events ...
Style
Festival Fashion
Glastonbury mania may have come and gone but a long and hopefully hot summer of festival fun still lies ahead and with the mid-season sales now underway the time is right to embrace the hippy chick or...
Family
Small Reads
When Heffers in the Grafton Centre closed suddenly in May 2008, taking with it an excellent children's department, it spelled the beginning of a rough time for children's booksellers in Cambridge. Bor...
Theatre
Godspell
Everybody knows about the Edinburgh Fringe but not everybody knows about Soham's Viva Youth Theatre (yet). However, countrywide, even worldwide, fame is surely not long in coming for this remarkable c...
Classical & Jazz
Spanish Spice
Opening the Cambridge Summer Music Festival with a flamenco-baroque fusion group is a bold and welcome statement of eclecticism and diversity on the part of the organisers. Eclipse belongs to a recent...
Cinema
Toy Story 3
Never guys to tread water with their sequels, Pixar studios have not let us down with 'Toy Story 3'. Now, daring to ask what happens to toys after their owners grow up, they weave a harrowi...
Classical & Jazz
Classical Highlights Week 2
Highlights from week two of the Cambridge Summer Music Festival:Jack Glatzer - Wednesday 28th July & Saturday 31st JulyTwo solo performances encapsulating all of Paganini's 24 Caprices as well as ...
Philharmonic Finale
Cambridgeshire is very rightly known as a centre of some of the most talented musicians worldwide. Violinist Steve Bingham, leader of Cambridge Philharmonic, is undoubtedly one of these and I last saw...
Theatre
The History of Britain
Some say that revue is a thing of the past; if so, The History of Britain does a damn good job at proving that is true. This Reduced-Shakespeare-style romp through 2065 years of British history (do th...
Classical & Jazz
Classical Festival Highlights
Opening on Friday 16th July, the first week of the Cambridge Summer Music Festival offers a diverse and exciting line-up setting the tone for what is to come over the following three weeks of glorious...
Eating Out
Carpenters Arms
The Carpenters Arms in Great Wilbraham opens as a gastro pub on Saturday 17th July. British couple Rick and Heather Hurley - who have spent the past six years running an award-winning gourmet res...
Food and wine
Cherry Pleasures
Picking fruit can be very satisfying, but picking cherries - big, fat, glossy, dark red, juicy cherries - is wonderful. Partly is it the sheer abundance of cherries dripping down the branches to meet ...
Summer holidays....
As the summer approaches and holiday time is on the horizon, the prospect of all that wonderful food appears. Whether you're travelling abroad, within the UK or staying at home there are marvellous op...
Cinema
Twilight: Eclipse
Firstly, as a fan of this series of books and films it is rather difficult for me to be too objective when it comes to this review. The inner fifteen year old in me jumped on the ‘Twi-Hard' band...
Classical & Jazz
Guitar and Piano
Talented brothers, Jadran and Emil Duncumb, entertained an enthusiastic audience in the Hayward Theatre Ely with a fascinating programme of music for guitar and piano. At first, the guitar and piano s...
Art
Cambridge Art Fair
Taking place in the wonderfully picturesque setting of Chilford Hall in Linton just outside Cambridge is the annual art fair, returning for its fourth year. With 42 galleries an in turn hundreds of ar...
Features
The Two Counties Motor Show
As motoring events go, The Two Counties Motor Show, held on Sunday at Newmarket, was a relatively small affair. The event takes place every year at the Rowley Mile Racecourse and the two counties of t...
Gigs & Clubs
We Are Scientists
On their way to Glastonbury the Indie-rock duo (turned trio) We Are Scientists made a welcome return to Cambridge on 21st June with new material, a new band member and their usual serving of...
An Irresistible Beat
Unless you happen to be one of those prone to picking up on hot new talent, you're unlikely to have heard of The Drums before now, but this US indie-pop quartet are ...
Classical & Jazz
Bernstein to Broadway
It is always a special moment when you are present at the birth of something new and the debut of Ely Youth Choir was certainly one of these events. This select group of singers sang with rare purity ...
Style
Local Style Secrets
One of the greatest of Great British traditions has to be the humble picnic. Ok, so we may have stolen the idea from the French a few centuries back, but we as a nation embraced this concept of outdoo...
Family
Feeling the heat?
It may have been a wet bank holiday Monday the other week, but Cambridge's paddling pools opened as usual on 31st May. The city has a great selection of free pools that prove invaluable for dunking ch...
Cambridge Town & Country Show
Animals? Check. Fair rides? Check. Steam engines? Check. Huge inflatable slides? Check, check and check.June is the month that organised events suddenly seem to spring up on Parker's Piece almost ever...
Theatre
If I Were You
Alan Ayckbourn, well known for his prolific playwriting (among the more famous 'Bedroom Farce' and 'Private Fears in Public Places'), has delivered another bittersweet gem in this recent offering. 'If...
Travel
Frankfurt
What does Frankfurt conjure - banks, money and sausages? This is not by any means the whole story. Yes, the city is home to the mighty European Central Bank (a kind of mini state within a state which ...
Forward to Ouistreham
Perhaps the most important battle of the Second World War began where a Brittany Ferry ends. Many years ago I took the ferry from Portsmouth to Caen and discovered something rather shocking as I disem...
Family
The joys of the Garden Centre
You don't often see garden centres in the category 'things to do with young kids'. They loosely count as a shop, and mixing shops and young children doesn't usually sound like anyone's idea of a good ...
Style
Gardening tips for summer
Spend even more time outside in your garden this summer thanks to these handy hints from the friendly folk at Oakington Garden Centre.Bed out for summerNow that the risk of frost has passed (fingers c...
Travel
Nanjing
You take your life into your own hands when you go cycling in Nanjing. The bike is your first challenge: brakes and a straight wheel are a bonus. Now as a cyclist I don't like riding up hill, down hil...
Food and wine
Make Real Clay Ovens
Enjoy a day in the peaceful surroundings of Wandlebury Country Park and learn how to build and cook with your own outdoor clay oven.There is a growing interest in the use of clay ovens as an authentic...
Recommendations
ART
Summer Exhibition
This week don't miss the opportunity to see the last few days of the summer art exhibition at Michaelhouse cafe on Trinity Street. This exhibition takes place in the serene setting of Michaelhouse church and raises money for the Arthur Rank Hospice charity. It displays local artists including beauti ...
CINEMA
Dinner for Schmucks
Invite your inner idiot to dinner this week with 'Dinner for Schmucks'. A foreign film by stealth, despite the Frat Pack pairing of Paul Rudd and Steve Carell (last together in 'Anchorman'), it's actually based on a French comedy by Francis Veber. The premise is simple comedy gold: aspiring executiv ...
CLASSICAL & JAZZ
Beethoven Mass in C
Kings College Chapel is fairly reknowned for it's classical music concerts so take the time this Saturday to experience Clare College's Choir joining forces with Christina Sampson, Ann Murray DBE, Alessandro Fisher, James Birchall Daniel Pailthorpe (flute) and Jane Salmon (cello), to fill this impre ...
FAMILY
Garden Games Week
It's Garden games week until Saturday 4th September at Ickworth House and Gardens. Try out all the great (and not often played) garden games of summer such as Croquet, Giant Snakes and Ladders, Chess and Draughts. All children must be accompanied and remember - no cheating! Kicking your opponent's c ...
FOOD AND WINE
Food &Garden Show
This Oakleigh Fairs event returns to Parkers Piece for it's third year, for two food and plant filled days on Saturday 18th and Sunday 19th September. Visitors to the festival can enjoy all that's good to eat and drink as well as the arts crafts & gift marquees and the ever popular Produce tent. The ...
GIGS & CLUBS
LodeStar Festival
Head to a field near Lode, North Cambridge this weekend for a bumper music fix in the form of Lodestar festival. This new event packs its three days brim-full with some of the best emerging talent with the likes of Doll and the Kicks set to perform. Plus a bumper helping of family fun with games, co ...
SPORTS & OUTDOOR
London to Cambridge Ride
Got the OTHER way on the Ride for Ryder London to Cambridge Bike Ride taking place on Sunday 5th September. Hop on your bike and raise funds for Sue Ryder Care. If you have missed out on a place in the London to Brighton bike ride, why not try an alternative route and raise vital funds for people li ...
THEATRE
The Two Of Us
Four comic masterpieces from Michael Frayn grace the Theatre Royal this week in the guise of ?The Two of Us?. Originally performed with Richard Briers and Lynn Redgrave these short outings take a look at the complexities of love and marriage in the modern world. 1st NIGHT SPECIAL! Get 3 tickets for ...
