[OSM-talk] SOTM travel and what to see in Cambridge

[Andy Robinson]

Lars Aronsson wrote:
>Sent: 13 June 2007 3:56 AM
>To: talk at openstreetmap.org
>Subject: [OSM-talk] SOTM travel and what to see in Cambridge
>
>
>I'm coming to SOTM but I don't know how or when.  I'll most
>probably fly Ryanair.  They take me to Stansted, which is very
>close to Cambridge.  Wikipedia says trains and buses leave
>Stansted for Cambridge every hour; buses probably cheaper.
>
>If I'm flying Ryanair out of Stansted (back to Stockholm-NYO),
>there is no flight late on Sunday evening, so I would have to stay
>til Monday.  Since that day is ruined anyway, I'll catch the
>latest flight out at 6.15pm.
>
>Is there anything else to see in or near Cambridge, so that I
>should come a day earlier?  Out of the blue I came to think of the
>Colossus museum at Bletchley Park (www.bletchleypark.org).  They
>seem to be open every day (otherwise, museums tend to be closed on
>Mondays), so this could be fit before or after the SOTM
>conference.  They should be open 9.30am to 5.00pm on weekdays.
>Is anybody else coming along?  Does Thursday, Friday or Monday fit
>best for this?
>
>Bletchley Park is located at Milton Keynes, halfway between
>Cambridge and Oxford.  This is farther than the distance
>Stansted-Cambridge, perhaps an hour (?) away, or two.  The
>museum's website describes how to get there from Milton Keynes,
>but what is the preferred way of spontaneous travel between Milton
>Keynes and Cambridge or Stansted?
>
>And what is a good way to catch Stansted in good time before
>departure at 6.15pm?  Would I need to start from Bletchley Park at
>lunch?  Perhaps Bletchley on Thursday is a better idea?  Or
>Friday?  Is anybody driving to SOTM and passing by Bletchley Park
>on Friday afternoon?
>
Lars,

Cambridge is a beautiful University City. You can easily spend two days
there as a tourist without doing any mapping at all! (Mind you its all
basically done now anyway)

My favourites in the City are the Fitzwilliam and Sedgwick museums, walks
along the "Backs" a punt ride along the Cam and a visit to Kings College
Chapel when the organ is playing.

With respect to travel a consultation of the current OSM map should give you
a pretty good idea of what's what. Cambridge is on one of the north south
main transport corridors out of London. Thus easy links from London and
Stanstead (which although a London airport is some distance north).

To the north of Cambridge there are two main road transport corridors
(trains to the north of Cambridge are not great). The M11 motorway continues
on to meet the A1 running north which takes you to Peterborough which is on
the East Coast main rail line. Unfortunately Manchester is on the West Coast
main rail line. From the M11 the A14 trunk road links Cambridge with the
Midlands (Birmingham and the M6 motorway). The M6 is the road route up to
Manchester.

Milton Keynes sits on the main M1 motorway and the West Coast Main rail
line. It therefore sits on route to Manchester from London. The link between
Cambridge and Milton Keynes is not a particularly strong one. Additionally,
apart from a visit to Bletchley, which I must say I've been meaning to do
for ages too, Milton Keynes has very little to offer the tourist.

The most logical way to get to Manchester is either to fly to Manchester
itself or to fly to London (Heathrow or Gatwick are a little better than
Stanstead) and then take the bus or train to Manchester. Some buses transit
via Birmingham. Birmingham airport is also a good alternative as it too sits
on a small loop off the West Coast main line and many of the north/south
trains route through Birmingham.

I'm sure others will give you other pointers but hopefully the above has
given you some ideas and a better perspective.

Cheers & look forward to meeting you next month.

Andy

Andy Robinson
Andy_J_Robinson at blueyonder.co.uk