Resources for Cambridge Parents

With a strong emphasis on resources that have WWW pages

General Resources
Local places to go
Day trips
Health and Welfare
Local Organisations
Childcare
Local Event Listings
Parks and Playgrounds
Sports
Arts/Pastimes
CD Roms
Languages
Schools and Nurseries
Historical Re-enactments

Diary

December 7th	Mill Road Winter Fair (Cambridge)
December 13-15th	Christmas Fair (Bedford)

General Resources

The Tourist Office (behind the Guildhall) and public libraries have many pamphlets. Also

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

NB: The City Leisurecard gives locals discounts for many leisure facilities (including swimming pools).

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)
- Cambridge Science Centre (18 Jesus Lane)
Pubs and Eating places
- 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.
- Great Fen (north of Huntingdon)
- 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

See the Cambridge/London train timetables and National Express coach timetables. The coach to London is about £4 return for children (sometimes it's nothing) and has convenient drop-off points.

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.