Queen Edith’s news 2020 vol.08: August

Eat Out to Help Out begins

Every Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday throughout August, the government’s eating out subsidy will be operating at a number of local restaurants. How it works is that the government will contribute half the price of every meal up to a maximum £10, excluding alcoholic drinks. For example, a £10 pizza at the Queen Edith pub will be just £5, and the £22.95, 12oz sirloin steak at Rockers Steak House will be just £12.95. There’s nothing for you to do, no vouchers or anything, just book a table as normal. The restaurants sort it out with the government. The scheme does not apply to takeaway food – you must eat in.

• Participating restaurants in the area include the Queen Edith Pub and the Coffee House on Wulfstan Way; the Dumpling Tree on Perne Road; Rock of Virtue at Pickwicks and Costa Coffee on Cherry Hinton Road; and Subway, Rockers Steak House, Pizza 1889, Nines Global Buffet and Creams at Cambridge Leisure. Why not give one a try?

Food Hub donations update

Thank you so much to everyone who continues to donate to the Community Food Hub, both financially and with food and household goods. The demand and appreciation are as great as ever. And we love donations from gardens and allotments! Thanks to Peter F and Henry who brought us plums this week. Please note that we are now changing the food donation time to be 3pm to 4.30pm on Friday, still at St James Church in Wulfstan Way. Here’s what we can and can’t take!

This week’s Local Walk

Every week this summer, we’ve got local walks for you to try, detailed in our free, 32-page Summer in Queen Edith’s booklet and on our website. This week’s theme is trees, and there are two walks: one to the Beechwoods, a little way out of the city, and the other the Friends of Rock Road Library’s ‘Tree Trail’, which we’ve called our ‘Suburban Tree Walk’. You can get a copy of the booklet from several venues around the area, or just get details of the walks (with printable maps) from the Community Forum website here.

Fitness sessions for children continue

We’re running our free fun fitness and sport sessions for children with funding from Sport England throughout the summer holidays. All children aged 5 to 16 are welcome. The one-hour sessions are at Nightingale Recreation Ground on Mondays and Fridays at 10am (5 to 11 years) and 11am (11 to 16 years) – meet by the Nightingale Park ‘pavilion’. No booking, just turn up on the day, but we are limited to 20 children per session, on a first-come first-served basis. A responsible adult will have to stay with children attending the 5 to 11 class. See you on Friday!

Get to know Cambridge for charity next month

The ‘Bridge The Gap Walk’ has been running for 18 years and will run again this year, but in a different format. It’ll be a self-guided tour of the city, which is 2.5 miles long and can be done in one go or in sections. The entry fee will raise funds for Romsey Mill and Arthur Rank Hospice Charity. More details here.

Safer supermarkets

If you’ve not been out shopping in recent months but are considering starting again soon, a nice video from Cambridgeshire County Council might give you some reassurance about the measures being taken at major stores. Watch it here.

Queen Edith’s magazine on the way

Our third issue of Queen Edith’s magazine this year is in preparation, and this week sees the closing of advertising bookings. We hope to publish on 31 August. More details here.

Netherhall Sports Centre & Fitness Suite reopens

Good news for those needing to step up their exercise: Netherhall Sports Centre and Fitness Suite reopened yesterday. To begin with, opening hours are 3.30pm to 9pm Tuesday to Friday, and 9am to 3pm Saturday. The centre is open for badminton, tennis and football. More details about the fitness suite here. Please call the centre on 01223 712142 for more information.

George Pippas retires

Our local councillors have announced that long-time Queen Edith’s city councillor George Pippas has had to retire due to ongoing ill health. George had already planned to retire at the elections last May, but these had to be cancelled and councillors’ terms of office were extended for a year. All of us at the Queen Edith’s Community Forum wish George the very best, and thank him for his service. The law has been amended to prevent any elections being held during the current coronavirus pandemic, so we will have one councillor fewer until next May.

Free family science fun next Wednesday

We’re delighted to announce that Cambridge Science Centre is bringing its ‘PopUp Science’ show to Queen Edith’s next Wednesday. If you have children between 7 and 12 years old, make a note in your diary now and bring them down to Wulfstan Way Shops for one of three free shows: Gums to Bum at 10am, Stronger by Design at 12pm and Could it be Magic? at 2pm. More details in the next few days – there’s a poster here if you’d like to print it out and display it locally.

More work at Fendon Road roundabout

The night before the new Fendon Road roundabout fully opened, a Belisha beacon on the Fendon Road side of the roundabout was hit by a vehicle. The driver immediately drove off, having sustained considerable damage to the car. The Belisha beacon was made safe but now contractors must assess the extent of the damage below ground and undertake necessary repairs which may include new kerbs on the island. Cambridgeshire County Council tells us that in order to carry out the works safely, a night time closure of the roundabout will be taking place from 8pm until 6am for three nights, starting next Monday (10 August). The council’s contractors hope that the works can be finished by midnight each night but need some leeway, hence the closure until 6am. They assure us that all efforts will be made to restrict the noisiest work to before 11pm.

Luard Road changes next week

The experimental measure to prevent cars, vans and lorries from using Luard Road as a cut-through will be introduced from next Wednesday (12 August), according to Greater Cambridge Partnership notices. Motor vehicles will be prohibited from crossing a point just to the west of the Luard Close junction. This means that access to and from the lower numbered houses in Luard Road – and to Luard Close) will only be from Hills Road, and access to the higher numbered houses and to Sedley Taylor Road will only be from Long Road. Physical barriers will be installed soon after the measure begins. This is a trial closure for up to 18 months, and through travel for pedestrians and cycles will be unaffected. The official notice is here.

Nightingale Avenue changes next week

The similar experimental measure to prevent cars, vans and lorries from using Nightingale Avenue as a cut-through will also be introduced from next Wednesday (12 August). Again, physical barriers will be installed soon after the measure begins. In this case, motor vehicles will be prohibited from crossing the point on Nightingale Avenue where it meets the parallel, set back part of Hills Road. This means that motor vehicle access to and from all houses on Nightingale Avenue and Rotherwick Way will now only be from Queen Edith’s Way. Motor vehicle access to the road in front of nos. 321 to 355 Hills Road will only be from the main Hills Road and from Wort’s Causeway. Again, this is a trial closure for up to 18 months, and through travel for pedestrians and cycles will be unaffected. The official notice is here.

Neighbourhood Watch for Red Cross area

The RedCross Areas Residents Association is helping to start off a neighbourhood watch scheme for Greenlands, Stansgate Avenue and Red Cross Lane. If you’re a resident, you can join here. Neighbourhood Watch is also running its first ever Neighbourhood Watch Impact Survey, open to all members of the public, which looks at concerns surrounding crime, fear of crime and the increase in neighbourliness and community spirit. It takes about 3 minutes and can be completed here.

Pig Passage closed

UK Power Networks tells us that Pig Passage will be closed and dug up to install cabling from Monday 10 August for approximately a week. Access to Glebe Allotments will be on foot only, by the gate between 20 and 22 Glebe Road.

Hills Road ‘pop-up fruit stand’ returns

The Hills Road fruit stand will be open again tomorrow (Saturday 8th) on the driveway of 253 Hills Road from 10.30am until all the fruit has gone. Not-for-profit, it helps residents taste seasonal produce from a local fruit farm. This will likely feature varieties of plums plus other fruits – depending on what has been picked. Cash only and please bring a bag.

Food Hub open tomorrow morning

The Queen Edith’s Community Food Hub is open as usual tomorrow morning (Saturday) from 10.30am to 12.30pm at St. James Church in Wulfstan Way, with fresh and packaged food supplies and household goods. New users are always welcome; we know times have become increasingly difficult for many families. There’s a great selection of food on offer, all free, no questions asked. More details here.

Science shows for families on Wednesday

We’ve had such good reaction to the free family events we’ve managed to arrange this summer that we’ve managed to find even more, starting with a celebration of all things science! Bring the kids to join PopUp Science from the Cambridge Science Centre, this Wednesday, outside the shops on Wulfstan Way. It’s completely free. More details here.

Rock Road Library reopen

Rock Road Library is now open again two days a week, to offer a ‘Select and Collect’ Service. Here are the full details how it all works, from Cambridgeshire Libraries. It isn’t possible to freely browse the shelves at the moment, but books can be chosen online or by telephone and then collected from 2pm to 6pm on Tuesdays or 10am to 2pm on Thursdays. The library’s IT facilities are available for 45 minute appointments which can also be made over the phone or online. The full library service is promised as soon as it is possible to do so safely.

This week’s Local Walk

Every week this summer, we’ve got local walks for you to try, detailed in our free, 32-page Summer in Queen Edith’s booklet and on our website. This week’s theme is paths, and there’s one big walk which might take you to some new places. It’s called the ‘Parish Boundary Walk’ and there are full details here. You can get a copy of the booklet from several venues around the area, or see all the walks (with printable maps) from the Community Forum website here.

Group Litter Pick at Wulfstan Way

Cambridge City Council’s Streets & Open Spaces Team are organising litter picks around the city, and this week they’re coming to the Wulfstan Way area, with anyone welcome to join in. Just turn up at the shops at 11am this Thursday (13 August)! The team will have adult and children-sized tools and PPE available. More details here.

Luard Road and Nightingale Avenue changes

As detailed in Friday’s Queen Edith’s news, the experimental measures to prevent cars, vans and lorries from using these roads as a cut-through come into force on Wednesday. We asked for a more accurate map of the closure point on Luard Road, and it appears to be in front of nos.18 and 19.

Eat Out to Help Out begins

More local restaurants have joined the government’s eating out subsidy operating every Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday throughout August. How it works is that the government will contribute half the price of every meal up to a maximum £10, excluding alcoholic drinks. The scheme does not apply to takeaway food – you must eat in.

• Participating restaurants in the area include the Queen Edith Pub and the Coffee House on Wulfstan Way; the Dumpling Tree on Perne Road; Tradizioni at Sorrento, Rock of Virtue at Pickwicks and Costa Coffee on Cherry Hinton Road; the Peking restaurant in Homerton Court; and Subway, Rockers Steak House, Pizza 1889, Nines Global Buffet and Creams at Cambridge Leisure.

Food Hub donations update

Thank you so much to everyone who continues to donate to the Community Food Hub, both financially and with food and household goods. The demand and appreciation are as great as ever. A reminder that the food donation time is now 3pm to 4.30pm on Friday, still at St James Church in Wulfstan Way. Here’s what we can and can’t take!

EACH Charity Shop reopen

Our local charity shop, the East Anglia’s Children’s Hospices shop on Cherry Hinton Road, is open again from Monday to Saturday, 9am to 4.30pm. Please do not bring donations without calling ahead on 01223 941144, as it may not be possible to accept them due to the amount received recently. The store is also in need of volunteers if you fancy an interesting opportunity.

A message from our hospitals

Cambridge University Hospitals says: “During the pandemic, we had to make some difficult decisions such as postponing non-emergency operations, outpatient appointments and diagnostic investigations. We want to reassure all patients who are waiting that they have not been forgotten and that we will schedule their appointment or treatment as soon as possible. It is important that patients know that if their health changes or their symptoms become much worse while they are waiting, they need to let us know so that we can re-assess their condition. If you or a loved one are waiting for your first outpatient appointment and have not yet been seen by anyone at CUH, please contact your GP to let them know if your symptoms have become much worse. If you have already been seen by someone at CUH for the condition you have been referred in for, please contact the hospital team which is are leading your current care. You may also have new questions about risks and precautions or about coming to hospital at this time. It’s fine to raise these questions and discuss any concerns. Similarly, if you are unwell, it is important that you still use the appropriate NHS services to get medical help if you need it. Further details on accessing NHS services during the pandemic can be found on the NHS website.”The week before last, Addenbrookes played host to the BBC for an extensive TV, radio and online piece about CUH’s ‘road to recovery’. You can watch some of the coverage here.

Fitness sessions for children continue

Numbers are rising at our free fun fitness and sport sessions for children running throughout the summer holidays. The one-hour sessions are at Nightingale Recreation Ground on Mondays and Fridays at 10am (5 to 11 years) and 11am (11 to 16 years) – meet by the Nightingale Park ‘pavilion’. No booking, just turn up on the day. A responsible adult will have to stay with children attending the 5 to 11 class. See you on Friday!

Luard Road and Nightingale Avenue

The legalities for the experimental measures to prevent cars, vans and lorries from using Luard Road and Nightingale Avenue as cut-throughs came into force from last Wednesday (12 August). Signs on these roads have now appeared announcing the actual ‘closure’ dates as being Monday 24 August for Luard Road and Friday 28 August for Nightingale Avenue.

Cambridge Re-Use re-opens

Cambridge Re-Use is the charity carrying on the good work of Cambridge Sofa, offering people on low income or benefits the chance to buy furniture, electrical and white goods and other household items that they may not otherwise be able to afford. Based at The Paddocks, off Cherry Hinton Road, Cambridge Re-Use gives residents the chance to donate items of furniture and electrical goods they no longer need, thereby avoiding the use of landfill and helping the environment. The store is now open again on Tuesday, Friday and Saturday from 10.00am to 3.00pm. Prices for most goods are about half of that in other charity shops. If you have good quality furniture and electrical goods you’d like to donate, you can drop them off or have them collected (a small financial donation is appreciated). More information here.

Addenbrooke’s Power Cable Works

The widespread maintenance work to install high voltage electricity cables from a local substation to Addenbrooke’s has already affected the likes of Baldock Way and Pig Passage. In a letter to some local residents, contractor Kier Utilities says the work will go on until November and at various times will affect Cherry Hinton Road, Rock Road, Blinco Grove, Baldock Way, Glebe Road, Holbrook Road, Mowbray Road, Queen Edith’s Way, Nightingale Avenue and Hills Road. The only night work will be at the Addenbrooke’s roundabout. We asked the County Council if the Fendon Way roundabout would be affected, but were assured that it will not, as the work was taken into account during the roundabout construction.

Cambridge Canopy Project

The Cambridge Canopy Project is a Cambridge City Council’s scheme to help the city adapt to climate change by increasing tree canopy cover and contributing to the sustainable management of the local ‘urban forest’. You can find out all sorts of background about it here and in particular, find out how we can all help manage the city’s trees here. Finally, there’s a survey here (which took us about 3 minutes) aiming to understand more about the public’s perception relating to trees in private gardens. Give it a go.

Hills Road ‘pop-up fruit stand’ returns

The Hills Road fruit stand will be open again this weekend (Saturday 15th) on the driveway of 253 Hills Road from 10.30am until all the fruit has gone. Not-for-profit, this is a community support project to help residents taste seasonal produce from local fruit farms. This week will feature several varieties of plums, gages and apples – both ready-to-eat and varieties ideal for cooking. Come see why a gage need not be green and how you may be persuaded to bake a pie! Cash only and please bring a bag.

Library apples at the Food Hub

The Queen Edith’s Community Food Hub is open as usual tomorrow morning at St. James Church in Wulfstan Way, with free fresh and packaged food supplies and household goods. This week our fruit and veg section will include a donation of 20 pounds of apples from the tree at Rock Road Library, which has had a bumper crop this year (thanks Anne!). Also thank you to Rachael B for the kind donation of a large quantity of canvas tote bags for visitors to use. There’s a great selection of food on offer, all free, no questions asked. The Food Hub is open from 10.30am to 12.30pm. More details here.

Light Cinema reopens on Friday

The team at our local multiplex cinema tell us they’re “beyond excited” to announce the cinema is back open this Friday (21 August). You can find out about the health and safety precautions they’re putting in place here and the complete upcoming film listing is here. The new Christopher Nolan-directed thriller Tenet is released on Wednesday week (26 August).

Land Speed Record car exhibition

This week’s Local Walk

A reminder to beware of scams

Online and telephone based scams are being reported more frequently than ever – as are pressure sales calls on the phone. We’ve heard several worrying stories from local residents recently. Legitimate and trustworthy companies shouldn’t need to call or email you unannounced, so please don’t respond to their approaches, even if they do appear to have details about you. Just hang up the phone or delete the emails. The Cambridgeshire and Peterborough Against Scams Partnership has some good information on the subject. If you have any neighbours who you think might benefit from a reminder (the elderly are targeted in particular), please do let them know.

New Cherry Hinton Community Centre

Our friends in Cherry Hinton have been working even longer than us on getting a modern community centre built, and the target is in sight for them, with a new extension planned to the Cherry Hinton Library in the High Street. To find out more about the centre and how to get involved, they now have a website which is well worth a look.

Food Hub donations update

Thank you so much to everyone who continues to donate to the Community Food Hub, both financially and with food and household goods. The demand and appreciation are as great as ever. A reminder that the food donation time is now 3pm to 4.30pm on Friday, still at St James Church in Wulfstan Way. Here’s what we can and can’t take!

Fitness sessions for children continue

Get back to fitness with Paul Risdon

Popular local personal trainer Paul Risdon is back at Hills Road Sports and Tennis Centre with regular group sessions, or you can take part online via Zoom. Outdoor group sessions are currently on Monday, Wednesday and Friday at 9.00am, 12.30pm and 6.45pm. Zoom sessions are on Monday, Wednesday and Friday at 7.00am and 6.00pm; and Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday at 10.00am. Check out Paul’s website for more.

AmEx offer at Queen Edith pub

American Express has a great offer on for card holders until 13 September: £5 back when you spend £10 or more in participating small businesses. The offer is valid once per location, and you’ll need to ‘save it to your card’ first online. Participating local outlets include Elajé, Taj, Go Glass, Cambridge Wine Merchants, Maharani, Dumpling Tree, Express Convenience Store and a new addition, the Queen Edith pub. The offer can be combined with the ‘Eat Out To Help Out’ deal, and if so, is applied to the amount spent on your card. We reckon that works out as follows: if you bought two £10 pizzas at the Queen Edith, the government deal (which runs for another week) would knock 50% off, and the AmEx deal would give you a further reduction on your account, so the £20 bill would end up costing you just £5.

Hills Road ‘pop-up fruit stand’ returns

The Hills Road fruit stand will be open again this weekend (Saturday 22nd) on the driveway of 253 Hills Road from 10.30am until all the fruit has gone. Not-for-profit, this is a community support project to help residents taste seasonal produce from local fruit farms. This week will feature Victoria and Avalon plums, greengages, apples and new this week – damsons. So come and try a taster of damson compote to see why a little effort with this wonderful fruit is well worth it. Cash only and please bring a bag.

Food Hub open tomorrow

Fendon Road roundabout on ‘The One Show’

Set your recorders – there’s a feature on the new Fendon Road roundabout on BBC1’s “The One Show” this week, so watch out for that. It should be in tomorrow (Tuesday’s) edition, but you’ll also be able to catch it on iPlayer after the broadcast.

Queen Edith Primary uniform event

The Queen Edith Primary Parents, Staff and Friends Association will be holding a second-hand uniform event on Saturday, with plenty of donated items available in good condition. Clothing is free, but there’s a chance to make a small donation if you can. The event will be in the Queen Edith Chapel car park, opposite the Food Hub at St James Church, from 10.30am to 12.30pm. All items will have been ‘quarantined’ for safety before the day. Note this event is for Queen Edith Primary school clothing only. If you’d like to help out at the event, please email us.

Help us deliver some magazines this weekend?

Food Hub donations update

Thank you so much to everyone who continues to donate to the Community Food Hub, both financially and with food and household goods. The demand and appreciation are as great as ever. A reminder that the food donation time is now 3pm to 4.30pm on Friday, still at St James Church in Wulfstan Way. Here’s what we can and can’t take!

This week’s Local Walk

Bin collections next week

Bin collections next week will be one day later than usual, following the Bank Holiday on Monday. This includes the collection scheduled for Friday 4 September, which will now take place on Saturday 5 September. The schedule returns to normal on Monday 7 September.

Issue no.99 …and back to a weekly schedule

Queen Edith’s News took over from the old weekly What’s On in Queen Edith’s back in March, when the previous title seemed a little inappropriate (nothing was on!). We published almost daily through to the start of the summer, and have continued twice-weekly since then, with this being issue number 99. From next week, as we’ll have made it through the summer, we thought we’d go back to our once-a-week schedule, while staying in the current format. We hope you continue to find it useful. – Chris Rand, Editor

Council Area Committee meeting announced

This one’s been sprung on us without any publicity, but fortunately we’ve noticed that the City Council’s South Area Committee (the one where the public can ask questions of councilllors!) is returning on Monday 7 September. The meeting is online, and we’ll give you a reminder in next week’s issue, but if you want to ask questions of councillors, they’ll need to be received by next Wednesday 2 September. The meeting will include reports on policing, the Cambridge South East Transport scheme and Cambridge South Station. Perhaps most intriguingly, there’s a report promised on our long-awaited pavilion on Nightingale Recreation Ground. Questions for councillors can be on any topic, however – we know you have plenty to ask. They should be sent to democratic.services@cambridge.gov.uk and marked as a question for South Area Committee Open Forum. Please include your name and address.

Next week at The Light Cinema

It feels good to have the cinema listings back! The lineup for The Light Cinema at Cambridge Leisure includes Tenet, Away, Trolls World Tour, Onward, Hope Gap, Pinocchio, Unhinged, Dirty Dancing, Jurassic Park, 100% Wolf, The New Mutants and, for its 40th anniversary, The Empire Strikes Back. Full listings here. You can read all about the safety measures they’ve got in place here.

Queen Edith Primary uniform event

The Queen Edith Primary Parents, Staff and Friends Association are holding a second-hand uniform event tomorrow (Saturday), with plenty of items available in good condition. Clothing is free, but there’s a chance to make a small donation if you can. Just turn up! The event will be in the Queen Edith Chapel car park, opposite the Food Hub at St James Church, from 10.30am to 12.30pm. All items will have been ‘quarantined’ for safety before the day. Note this event is for Queen Edith Primary school clothing only.

Queen Edith’s magazine is on the way

The autumn issue of our quarterly Queen Edith’s magazine should be dropping through your letterbox in the next few days. It has articles on the new Cambridge South station, our local nursery schools, and the incredible community involvement we’ve had over the summer. There’s also a new local history series starting with the story of a member of one of the most well-known family names to have lived in Queen Edith’s. Nearly 70 residents have offered to deliver the 5,500 copies of the magazine, so if you see one out and about, do say thanks for their efforts!

Fendon Road roundabout on The One Show

It appears that we were overtaken by events this week and the BBC1 ‘One Show’ feature on the Fendon Road roundabout was postponed. However, they do still plan to show it, probably next week, so keep watching (Tuesday to Thursday next week, 7pm).

Luard Road and Nightingale Avenue changes

Both Luard Road (as from last Monday) and Nightingale Avenue (as from today) are now closed to through motor vehicle traffic as part of an experimental scheme. This means that motor vehicle access to and from Sedley Taylor Road and most of Luard Road is from Long Road only. Similarly, motor vehicle access to and from Nightingale Avenue and Rotherwick Way is now from Queen Edith’s Way only. Pedestrians and cyclists are unaffected.

How the hospital coped

Addenbrooke’s Charitable Trust is running an online seminar for supporters on Friday 4th September at 11am, with Addenbrooke’s Medical Director Dr Ashley Shaw, and ACT Chief Executive Shelly Thake. They will explore how the senior leadership in the hospital managed their preparations for the COVID-19 crisis, and what steps the hospital is taking to prepare itself for the traditionally busy winter period in a COVID-19 world. You can register here or the event will be recorded for anyone to watch afterwards.

Really great exercise

The children’s sports sessions organised by the Queen Edith’s Community Forum over the summer have now finished. Some 68 children benefitted, most coming to multiple sessions. A special shout out to Autumn R who came to 8 out of the 10 sessions! There was an average of 13 children per session in the younger age group, even though we had pouring rain for the first and last days. The event was made possible by funding applied for from Sport England, with expert input from trainers Bruno, Ash and Paddy. If we can secure future funding, we would love to do this again! Hopefully if we can get this established, more children will ‘graduate’ from the younger age group to the older age group in future years. Thanks to all the parents who’ve given us such lovely feedback. – Sam Davies

Hills Road ‘pop-up fruit stand’ returns

The Hills Road fruit stand will be open again this weekend on the driveway of 253 Hills Road. Not for profit this is a community support project to help residents taste seasonal produce from local farms, with all donations going to the Queen Edith Community Food Hub. This week will feature Victoria plums, greengages, apples and (this time, if we’ve ordered enough) damsons. Saturday 29th August from 10.30am until all the fruit has gone.

Food Hub open tomorrow