Resources for Cambridge Parents

With a strong emphasis on resources that have WWW pages

Diary

• We're all neighbours listings of events
• Cambridge University What's On for Families

General Resources

• The education section of CEN's citizen's guide (includes information on Creche services, Playgroups and nurseries, After-school play centres, Play organisations, Toy libraries, etc).
• Cambridge University's Cambridge for All page has information for residents, schools, etc. You can search the resource directory
• The City Council's Leisure page
• The uk.people.parents newsgroup.
• The misc.kids newsgroup.
• Families in Cambridgeshire
• Kids Direct is a booklet of information produced by Debbie Banaszkiewicz and distributed via schools.
• Lifestyle.uk's list of sites
• Cambridge Area Guide
• The Cambridge (UK) Web Guide
• The Family Grapevine - up-to-date directory for parents in Cambridgeshire
• Everything for children in Cambridge (Qype)

Local places to go

• Museums and Talks
  • Fitzwilliam Museum - knights and mummies.
  • Museum of Archaeology and Anthropology, in Downing Street
  • Museum of Zoology (just off Downing Street)
  • Sedgwick Museum of Earth Sciences (just off Downing Street) - dinosaurs.
  • Whipple Museum (scientific instruments. Open most weekday afternoons)
  • Cambridge Museum of Technology, Riverside (open most Bank Holiday weekends)
  • Cambridge Folk Museum, bottom of Castle Street
  • Scott Polar Research Institute
  • Burwell Museum, Mill Close, Burwell (open Thursdays and Sundays in summer).
  • Denny Abbey and Farmland Museum (Waterbeach)
  • Prickwillow Drainage Museum - Main Street, Prickwillow. Engines for draining the Fens. Phone: 01353 - 88230
  • Imperial War Museum Duxford Airfield (museums, playground, airliners to go in).
  • Millennium Mathematics Project events (talks in Spring, etc)
  • Cromwell Museum (Huntingdon)
• Pubs and Eating places
  • The Unicorn, Trumpington (family room)
  • Cambridge Blue on Gwydir St (has an interesting garden)
  • The University Centre ("Grad Pad") - for university staff/students. Child-friendly
  • The Carlton Arms - children welcome in the non-smoking lounge; children's menu; family games and puzzles; comfy couches as well as tables; huge beer garden for nice weather plus heated marquee tent for rest of the year. A bit out of the way for those walking around City Centre, but the C1 bus stops right by the pub (Debbie Grossman)
  • See also Local Restaurants for Families with Young Children by Simon Tam.
• Shops
  • Scotsdale, Cambridge Road, Gt. Shelford (Garden centre - Xmas display, fish, PYO sweets)
  • Burwash Manor Farm, New Road, Barton (refreshments, a play area, and a toy shop).
  • Lighthouse Toys (Histon)
  • Hanchett Toys
  • The Cambridge Toy Shop
  • Junior2senior
  • Pink Dinosaur (children's toys, gift and partyshop, Cottenham)
  • Inner Sanctum Collectibles (board games)
  • Model and Toy Expo (Snetterton Park, Norfolk)
• Activity Worlds
  • Spy Masters (Bar Hill)
  • Funky Funhouse (Mercers Row)
  • Ely (Planet Zoom - Strikes Bowl Multiplex - near the train station)
  • Bury (near the train station)
  • Haverhill Leisure Centre (Ehringshausen Way, phone 01440 702548)
  • Eat 'n' Play (St Neots, with 10 pin bowling)
• Windmills and Watermills
  • Downfield Windmill (Fordham Road, Soham) - Working windmill, producing flour for sale to visitors. Phone 01353 720333
  • Swaffham Prior Windmill - Working windmill, producing flour
  • Denver Windmill (near Denver Sluice)
  • Hinxton Watermill
  • Houghton Mill
  • Anglesey Abbey Watermill (working 1st and 3rd Saturdays of each month)
• Wild Animals
  • Shepreth Wildlife Park (by Shepreth station)
  • Linton Zoo (open daily except xmas). Phone 0891 424201.
  • Mole Hall wildlife park (open Easter - October - includes a butterfly pavilion). Phone 01799 540400.
  • Hamerton Zoo Park (near Sawtry)
  • Colchester Zoo
  • Suffolk Wildlife Park (near Lowestoft)
  • Raptor Foundation (near St Ives. Open daily)
  • Sacrewell Farm and Country Centre, Thornhaugh (A1/A47 junction). Tel 01780 782254. Watermill, gardens, etc. Open Summer 9.30-5.
  • Thurleigh Farm Centre
  • The Shetland Pony Visitor Centre, Fenstanton, St. Ives. Tel 07979 280337.
  • Woodhouse farm park (Wisbech)
• Walks
  • Local Nature Reserves
  • Clare, Suffolk (castle ruins, nature walk, railway station without track)
  • Fowlmere Bird Reserve (near Royston).
  • Welney Wildfowl and Wetlands Trust (near Wisbech). Phone 01353 860711
  • Wicken Fen Nature Reserve - 20 mins North of Cambridge. Last remaining undrained portion of the great Fens of East. Includes working windpump.
  • Wandlebury, Stapleford (Iron Age hill fort and nature walk)
  • The Milton Maize Maze
• Pick-your-own
  • Chivers Farms (by Impington Lea hospital)
  • Coton Orchard (cafe and playground)
  • Harston Orchard (free)
  • Chaplin Farms (tearoom, farmshop, playarea, treasure hunt, etc). Fulborn
• Orchard Tea Gardens, Grantchester
• University Botanic Gardens (Bateman Street) - especially the tropical greenhouses. Phone 01223 - 336265.
• Wimpole Hall (the farm and the grounds). Phone 207257.
• Audley End (just for the 1.5 mile miniature railway). Xmas specials in December.
• Miniature Train Rides on Cambridge model engineering society railway at Fulbrooke Road (off Grantchester Road). 2nd Sunday, May-October, 2-5.30pm.
• Stansted Mountfitchet (norman village recreation - gory in parts).
• West Stow Anglo Saxon village (by Bury St Edmonds).
• Royston Cave - Cave under Melbourn Street with medieval carvings - for older children (see the movie - Quicktime). There's a park nearby
• Hinchingbrooke Country Park

Day trips

• History
  • Flag Fen (Bronze Age centre near Peterborough)
  • Warwick Castle (not cheap, but lots to do. The journey's not too bad on Sundays)
  • Gressenhall Farm & Workhouse
  • Grimes Graves - neolithic flint mine near Thetford. Pop into the forest too.
  • Kentwell Hall - Tudor recreations on bank holiday weekends. Also walks, a farm, etc. Between Sudbury and Bury.
  • Hedingham Castle (Hedingham, near Halstead, Essex, about 45 mins from Cambridge) - Well preserved medieval castle (12th Century) set in nice woodlands. Occasional jousting events.
  • The East England Tank Museum (south of Thetford - open weekends and Bank Holidays)
  • Secret Nuclear Bunker (Kelvedon Hatch, south of Stansted airport)
• Trains
  • Bressingham Steam and Gardens
  • Bure Valley Railway
  • Colne Valley Railway (Castle Hedingham (near Halstead), Essex) - Reconstruction of a Edwardian branch line.
  • Nene Valley Railway
• WildTracks (off-road activity park, near Newmarket. Open to the public on 1st Sundays of the month.)
• Cruises on the Rivers Cam and Gt Ouse
• Dinosaur Park (Norwich)
• EcoTech (Swaffham - between King's Lynn and Norwich). Wind turbine, Discovery Centre
• Thetford Forest - including Go Ape
• Rochester Turkey Farm (has a big Maize Maze)
• Mepal Outdoor Centre
• National Horseracing Museum, Newmarket - minibus tours available Mar-Sep.
• Grafham Water - hire bikes/trailers and cycle round the lakes. Also offers weekend adventure courses for 10-15 year olds.
• Woburn Safari Park - a hour's drive. Adventure playgrounds as well as the animals.

Health and Welfare

• Cambs real nappy network
• Yahoo's Children's Health
• misc.kids.health
• Child and Youth Health (Australia)
• National Meningitis Trust
• British Dyslexia Association
• Contact-Families Need Fathers (for non-resident parents). Phone 233232.

Childcare/Aupair/Parties

• Cambridge Connection Au Pair Agency
• Ark Angel Solutions (Au Pair Agency)
• Cambridge Childcare Guide
• Childcare Information Service for Cambridgeshire and Peterborough - Opportunity Links
• Tinies Childcare Cambridge
• Childcare for children of University staff and students
• BubbleOn (bubble parties, etc)
• Party Days
• Martial arts parties (from Fitness Works)
• The Animal Experience
• Cambridge Party Bouncers (bouncy castles, etc)
• The Bounce house (bouncy castles, etc)
• Born 2 Bounce (bouncy castles)

Local Organisations

• Gingerbread

Local Event Listings

• Corn Exchange
• ADC Theatre
• Cambridge Arts Theatre
• Mumford Theatre
• Cambridge Arts Cinema (often has children's events on Saturdays)
• Heffers organises some children's events.

Parks and Playgrounds

• Milton Country Park
• Gt Shelford (there's a river at the end)
• Cherry Hinton Park (paddling pools, lake, playground)
• Lammas Land (playground, paddling pool, nature walk)
• Jesus Green (outside pool, lock, playground)
• Coleridge Recreation Ground (Coleridge Road, Cambridge) has a paddling pool.

Sports

• Cycling - More routes are becoming child-friendly. Try the Cambridge-St.Ives guided bus route if you're ambitious.
• Swimming
  • Cambridge Swimming Club
  • Abbey Pool, Whitehill Road, near Coldhams Common (big, warm children's pool)
  • Parkside Pool (Flumes. "They also have a rather nice (and very warm!) mini-pool for toddlers that's got some nice interesting features to keep them occupied ...). They use ozone instead of chlorine to sterilise the water" - jpmg
  • Jesus Green Swimming Pool
  • Kings Hedges Learner Pool
• Tennis
  • Cambridge Lawn Tennis Club
  • Hills Road Sports and Tennis Centre, Purbeck Road.
  • Great Shelford Tennis Club
  • Mike's Tennis Academy
  • Cambridge City Outdoor Tennis Courts
  • Cambridge University Real Tennis Club (open to all)
• Cambridge Taekwon-do
• Paxton Lakes Sailing Club (St. Neots)
• Cambridge School Sports Partnership
• Cambridge City Council Sports Development
• Cambridge City's Sports Facilities (basketball courts, skateboard parks etc.)
• Find a local Sports Club within Cambridgeshire
• Cambridgeshire Cricket Board
• Cambridge City Korfball Club Tykes (aged 3-6) and Junior Club (aged 7-14)
• Tenpin bowling
• Kids Go Karting (Royston Road, Caxton, Cambridge, CB3 8PN. Phone 01954 718200)
• Bassingbourn Ski Centre (dry ski slope for year round skiing)
• Tumbletots

Arts/Pastimes

• Samara Ballet School
• Girlguiding in Trumpington
• Cambridge District Scouts
• Cambridge Woodcraft Folk
• Public arena theatre company
• Allotments and children
• Cambridge Junior Explorers
• Cambridge Astronomical Association
• Junior Chess & Go Club (563932)
• Music
  • Three Four Music Time. 01480 425809.
  • Duxford Saturday Music Workshop
  • suzuki piano
  • Music For Little People (Cambridge, St. Ives, etc)
  • Music with Mummy
  • Stringmoves
• Art
  • Cambridge Sculpture Workshops (workshops for 6-10 year olds)
  • Fitzwilliam Museum events
  • Kettles Yard runs a Wednesday club for 7-11 year olds, 4.15-5.15. See their education page for details.
  • Wysing Arts - At Bourn. Runs children's workshops.
  • Arty Crafts
• Pottery
  • Glaze to Amaze, 54 Burleigh Street Cambridge - create the perfect present, office mug or personal momento at the first 'paint your own' ceramics shop in East Anglia. Arrangements can be made to hold parties outside opening hours.
  • Creative Ceramics, Sawtry.
  • That Painting Place, Whittlesey (painting pottery)
  • Scribbles Ceramics

CD Roms

• TEEM - (Teachers Evaluating Educational Multimedia), part-sponsored by Homerton
• Tomino (language learning CD Roms)

Languages

• FrancoJuniors (French speaking kids in Cambridge)
• Jim Knopf German playgroup/preschool-sessions
• German Saturday School Cambridge

Schools and Nurseries

• Cambridge area schools
• Interesting Pages for Primary Schools
• Netherhall School
• Sawston Village College
• Cambridge Steiner School Project
• Millington Road Nursery
• Sunshine preschool (Bar Hill)
• Snap! 4 Kids
• Patacake nursery
• girotondo ( A playgroup for bilingual Italian-speaking children under 4)
• Under Fives Roundabout

Historical Re-enactments

• Bronze/Iron Age - Flag Fen
• Roman - some museums (Ely etc) have special events
• Romano-British - Hinchingbrooke Country Park
• Anglo Saxon - West Stow
• Norman - Stansted Mountfitchet
• Medieval - Barnwell Leper Chapel (Stourbridge Fair)
• Knights, jousting - Hedingham Castle, Warwick Castle
• Tudor - Kentwell Hall
• Civil War - Audley End