IMAGES TAKEN NEAR TO
Castle Park, CAMBRIDGE, CB3 0AX

Part of the Shire Hall site is managed as a nature reserve. These spring flowers are growing on the earthwork that formed part of the Civil War defences of Cambridge Castle. For a wider view of the location and history of the fortifications see Image

A secret no longer, as it has been featured in the local press and even opened its unassuming door (behind the yellow railings) to visitors during Heritage Open Days. Concealed beneath the former Castle Court offices on the Shire Hall site and covered by a living roof, the bunker would have provided a safe refuge for council officers to coordinate responses to any nuclear incident affecting the area. Protected by an airlock and two blast doors, it provides working space and living accommodation for up to 40 personnel. There is a communications suite to enable enquiries from the public to be answered and information and advice to be broadcast to the local population. It has its own independent power supply and reserves of fuel and water to permit it to operate off grid. Over the years the facility has been used not only for civil defence training exercises but as a call centre in response to local flooding and other emergency incidents. It now provides archive storage for the County Council's archaeology unit. https://www.cambridge-news.co.uk/news/cambridge-news/gallery/shire-halls-secret-nuclear-bunker-13824512

At the beginning of the English Civil War in 1642, Cambridge Castle was occupied by Parliamentary forces. The townsfolk mainly supported Oliver Cromwell, their local hero with his background in Huntingdon and Ely, but the University and Colleges were a hotbed of Royalism. Cromwell ordered the long-neglected fortifications to be beefed up as a defence against this threat, and so two earthen bastions of earth were hastily constructed. In the event no assaults took place and in 1647 the remains of the castle were slighted. The grassy mound seen here is the remains of the northern bastion, which stands on the eastern edge of the Shire Hall office site. The roof beyond belongs to Wessex Place in Magrath Avenue, built on the site of the former Rex Cinema as sheltered housing for the vulnerable, subsequently converted into a graduate hostel for Trinity College. For a view from the opposite direction see Image

At the beginning of the English Civil War in 1642, Cambridge Castle was occupied by Parliamentary forces. The townsfolk mainly supported Oliver Cromwell, their local hero with his background in Huntingdon and Ely, but the University and Colleges were a hotbed of Royalism. Cromwell ordered the long-neglected fortifications to be beefed up as a defence against this threat, and so two earthen bastions of earth were hastily constructed. In the event no assaults took place and in 1647 the remains of the castle were slighted. The grassy mound seen here is the remains of the northern bastion, which stands on the eastern edge of the Shire Hall office site. Looming above it is the Octagon, part of the 1974 concrete extensions to the county offices, designed by John Pook of the County Architect's Department and dismissed by Simon Bradley in his 2014 revision of Pevsner's guide as "depressing". For a view from the opposite direction see Image

Wessex Place residential home in Magrath Avenue had 19 residents aged over 65 with mental health problems. NHS Cambridgeshire and Granta Housing Society decided to close the unit. Supporters say that no plans for alternative care have been put forward. They fear that frail residents could die if they are moved.

An evening thunderstorm settles in over Clare Street.