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Mary Donaldson Cambridgeshire Circular

Distance: Short route: 9miles (15km), Long route: l6miles (27km).

Map: OS Landranger Sheet 154 Cambridge and Newmarket.

Start and Finish: Grantchester.

Terrain: This circular route is all on roads and cycle paths. The South Cambridgeshire landscape is fairly flat and you don't have to be particularly fit to manage this route. The views over the cornfields to the south of Trumpington are particularly spectacular in June when the poppies are in bloom.

Places to Eat: There are many pubs and teashops in the villages round this route but two I would particularly recommend are The Orchard in Grantchester (01223 845 788), and The Green Man (01223 841 178), also in Grantchester. The Orchard does the best tea and scones in Cambridge and you can sit out in deck chairs under the apple trees in the orchard. The Green Man had a wonderful broad-ranging menu and a pleasant beer garden (children are not allowed in the pub though).

Points of Interest: Just after the start of the route is Byron's Pool where the poet is reputed to have swam. It is best reached on foot and is only a quarter mile stroll from the road. You can lock your bikes at the start of the track. There are many scenic churches in the villages along the route.

Accommodation and Tourist Information:
Cambridge Tourist Information Centre, Wheeler Street, Cambridge. CB2 3QB.
Phone: 01223 322 640 Email: tourism@cambridqe.qov.uk
URL: www.cambridge.gov.uk/leisure/TICWEB/tourism.htm

THE ROUTE:

The route starts in Grantchester village to the south of Cambridge and near to the M11. There is roadside parking in the centre of the village near the Green Man Pub.

Cycle southwest through the village towards Trumpington. As you cross the river, a track on the right takes you to Byron's Pool. As you come into Trumpington, there is a fork in the road that is one-way for cars. Take the right hand fork (no-entry for cars) and you will end up on the main road through Trumpington. Turn right onto the A1309 but don't cross the road. The footpath on the Grantchester side of the road is for shared used with bikes and keeps you off a busy main road.

Cycle along the A1309, over the M1 and on towards Hauxton and Harston (the main road will become the A10). The views over the fields in this area are breathtaking on a good day. In Harston, take the minor road to the right that is signposted to Haslingfield. In Haslingfield you have a choice. You can take the shorter route on the minor road that goes out of the north of the village to Barton, or the longer route which goes out of the west of the village to Harlton.

For the shorter route, stay on the main road through Haslingfield and follow it all the way through the village. The continuation of this road out of the north of the village leads to Barton and is signposted as so. This is a very quiet back road and popular with cyclists. It offers fantastic views of the antennae of the University's Mullard Radio Astronomy Observatory, though people either seem to love or hate these oversized satellite dishes. In Barton, join the A603 going east towards Cambridge and cycle back to the Ml I. Take the third exit off the roundabout on the Cambridge side off the M11 and a mile or so later, you'll find yourself back where you started.

For the longer route, follow the main road through Haslingfield then just before you leave the village, turn left onto the minor road sign posted to Harlton. In Harlton, stay on the main road, which will take you past some pretty thatched cottages. Cross over the A603 at the crossroads beside the Wheatsheaf pub and take the minor road signposted to Kingston and The Eversdens. Cycle through the Eversdens (Little and Great) and just past Kingston, turn right onto the B1046 and cycle through the villages of Toft and Comberton to Barton. In Barton, join the A603 towards Cambridge. At the roundabout on the Cambridge side of the Ml 1, take the third exit and you'll soon find yourself back in Grantchester.