Hidden Cambridge

15/08/2024

The tradition of the Cambridge Nightclimbers lives on! Perhaps not as challenging as the cones that appeared on King's College Chapel pinnacles (at least once in 2009), but impressive nonetheless!

20/07/2024

Hidden Cambridge are very pleased to be one of the featured events at this September's Cambridge University Alumni Festival where will be running 3 different walking tours.

https://www.alumni.cam.ac.uk/festival/events

BOOKINGS OPEN

22/06/2024

Hidden Cambridge have been busy this summer running their latest treasure hunt: The Quirky Side of Cambridge
If you're looking for an intriguing, challenging and fun group activity, this might be for you.

More details below:

19/06/2024

The Cambridge May Balls are well underway! This chap was waiting to get into Trinity Hall to be a feature in the Salvador Dali garden!

14/05/2024

This Saturday May 18th Hidden Cambridge will be running treasure hunts and a walking tour in support of CPSL Mind. See below for more details:

12/03/2024

Saturday March 23rd - Hidden Cambridge is going to be running our own unique, fun and informative city centre walking tour and also treasure hunts looking at the quirky side of Cambridge. We’re very pleased to say that we’ve teamed up with the charity Cambridgeshire, Peterborough and South Lincolnshire (CPSL) Mind and 15% of each booking will be donated to CPSL Mind. Whether you are already familiar with Cambridge or visiting for the first time, we are quietly confident you will discover numerous things you didn’t know about. The tour and the treasure hunts both aim to be fun and informative. For more details, please see below

08/03/2024

The perfect day to remember "Snowy" and a well-researched article.

Snowy could be spotted with a cat on his hat and a mouse in his mouth

26/02/2024

How do you feel about Brutalist architecture?
I really wasn't keen on the "Grad Pad" at first, but I'm now a fan.
They are now considering what to do with it and there's still time to have your say!

https://www.cambridge-news.co.uk/news/cambridge-news/four-possible-futures-60-year-28705852

The 60-year-old building needs 'vital upgrades' to preserve its future

01/02/2024

A Banksy in Cambridge? Well, this hasn't been confirmed, but....
https://www.cambridge-news.co.uk/news/cambridge-news/possible-banksy-like-artwork-spotted-28549073

If confirmed, it would be the mystery artist's latest image

27/01/2024

Cambridge gets its first "sculpture" to honour the life of Alan Turing. Historic England did not support the location of the sculpture in its place in King's College.
"The addition of such an eye-catching sculpture in a prominent location would erode the character which contributes to the significance of the college." I wonder what the general feeling will be.

https://www.cambridge-news.co.uk/news/cambridge-news/new-alan-turing-statue-kings-28475585?utm_source=mynewsassistant.com&utm_medium=referral&utm_campaign=embedded_search_item_desktop

Concerns have been raised about the statue since it was first proposed

18/01/2024

Coming soon is the very first Cambridge Arts Festival and Hidden Cambridge, as part of the Society of Cambridge Tourist Guides, will be taking part in the art walking tours and introducing a variety of public art, some of which you may never have known existed!

Love Cambridge

10/01/2024

The Thomas Hobson mentioned in the article was the person credited with the phrase “Hobson’s Choice” who, when renting horses to students and professors etc., would only let the most rested horse be taken and so you took that one or nothing, leading to the phrase “Hobson’s Choice”
https://www.cambridge-news.co.uk/news/history/history-behind-strange-ditches-cambridge-28248037

Hobson’s Conduit is a key part of the city’s history which stretches back 400 years

01/01/2024

I agree that it's certainly an attractive street and I like some of the photos from the past!

From colourful front doors to fantastic flower displays, it's no wonder why this is such a beloved area of the city

22/12/2023

A big thank you to BBC Radio Cambridgeshire and especially Kerry and Chris for the chance to tell listeners a little about the walking tour for dog owners and their dogs. While the link is active, if you'd like to hear one or two of the stories, I recommend you start listening from round about 36 minutes and 40 seconds.

https://www.bbc.co.uk/sounds/play/p0gw3l80

28/05/2023

In 2018 Christ's College repainted the front of their gatehouse. The college was founded by Lady Margaret Beaufort as was St John's and now it seems that St John's have also decided their gatehouse needs a bit of paint. The red rose of Lancashire is starting to turn red!!

30/04/2023

Something to look out for at Emmanuel College! From tomorrow until early July Emmanuel will be closed to the public due to "The Quiet Period" when students will be preparing for their exams. When they reopen you might want to pop into the chapel and see if there are still two plastic ducks on the organ! Why ducks? Well, Emmanuel is the only Cambridge college with a duck pond and the students are very proud of their ducks...
college

09/03/2023

Hidden Cambridge gets a thumbs up from Varsity. Varsity, the newspaper for the University of Cambridge, tried out one of our tours and the review is in!
https://www.varsity.co.uk/arts/25131

In a city renowned for its 'in your face' cultural artefacts, Grace Cobb goes on a self-guided art tour of Cambridge's hidden gems, proving you can find fascinating things in the most unlikely of places

07/02/2023

Hidden Cambridge’s unique (and not app-based) treasure hunt!
At the meeting place you’ll be given your instructions. Once received, you’ll have exactly 1.5 hours to locate a number of quirky spots in the city centre and to pick up clues along the way. After making your way to the rendezvous point, you’ll be “debriefed” by a Cambridge Green Badge Guide to hear one or two fascinating facts about the places you discovered. Finally, with the clues found, will you be able to find your way to one last unusual spot?
Suitable for young and old. Dogs welcome. Up to 5 people in one group. Cost per group £20
You’ll need to bring a phone/camera and a pen/pencil
Dates and starting times:
Saturday February 11th 10:30, 11:00 and 11:30
Wednesday February 15th 1:00
Thursday February 16th 1:00
Saturday February 18th 10:30, 11:00 and 11:30
Meeting Place: City centre (exact details to be revealed after booking)
See contact details below to book/get more details

08/01/2023

Hidden Cambridge will soon be launching its first "interactive" treasure hunt to find quirky public art in Cambridge. You'll need to follow instructions to get to a number of different sites, where you'll receive some rather fascinating facts about what you're looking at. After picking up clues, will you be able to solve one final question?
Stephen Hawking famously said "Remember to look up at the stars and not down at your feet". A lovely quote, but on this treasure hunt, you'll be spending most of your time doing the exact opposite!

04/12/2022

Hidden Cambridge is shortly going to launch it’s “Quirky Public Art” walking tour
Stephen Hawking famously said “Remember to look up at the stars and not down at your feet” but if you don’t want to miss a lot of quirky public art in Cambridge you need to do the exact opposite!
This one-hour tour will include public art by the famous and the less well-known. It’s suitable for the whole family and includes a number of those fantastic Dinky Doors.
You can get a preview from the YouTube taster.

https://youtu.be/4Kxc_pn1NfE


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If you like Quirky Public Art then you might want to try the Hidden Cambridge guided walking tour that looks at just that. This taster introduces you to two...

15/09/2022

Surely only Cambridge could have a Bicycle Blessing!

29/08/2022

How well do you know the King’s Parade area? Hidden Cambridge are quietly confident that even long-term residents won’t know many of these stories. A Cambridge Green Badge Guide will take you on a fun 1-hour walking tour at a relaxing pace - a small area, yes, but with an awful lot of intriguing stories!
The next scheduled tours this week are:
Thursday Sep 1st 10:00 to 11:00 and 12:30 to 1:30
Saturday Sep 3rd 12:30 to 1:30
Sunday Sep 4th 10:00 to 11:00 and 12:30 to 1:30
Adults and youths (£10) Under 10 (free)
Please check below for contact details

24/08/2022

Yes, that’s a shire horse working at King’s College today!
It came in to help King’s harvest their wildflower meadow. The hay will be gathered up and turned into bales for local gardeners.

20/06/2022

Kettle's Yard has the largest collection of works by Henri Gaudier-Brzeska. This one from 1914 is perhaps not unsurprisingly titled "Dog" - very cute in my opinion!

10/06/2022

One of my favourite museums in Cambridge. This is a scene from Kettle's Yard house where Jim and Helen Ede displayed both art and items they had found/collected. It's a cross between an art gallery and house - really unique in my opinion. It's free to go in but you will need to book a ticket in advance and will be semi-guided for around 40 minutes.

09/06/2022

Anyone who has been on one of my tours to the University Library site won't be surprised to hear about this rather interesting addition to the site!

https://www.lib.cam.ac.uk/stories/iconic-red-phone-box-begins-new-life-cambridge-university-library

Our bespoke book drop is revealed!

30/05/2022

It was nice to see that Hidden Cambridge's latest tour-a tour of Cambridge for dog-lovers was featured in a recent article in the Cambridge Independent.

https://www.cambridgeindependent.co.uk/whats-on/your-guide-to-the-best-dog-friendly-days-out-in-cambridge-9256461/

28/03/2022

If you were in Cambridge on Saturday, you may have seen the graduation ceremonies taking place. This photo was taken in Pembroke's Old Court and you can see all the graduating students lined up and waiting to be led to the Senate House. There were quite a few!

20/03/2022

A dog-themed walking tour for dog owners and their dogs, but Ruby, who must have heard the story before, is much more interested in the photographer!

03/03/2022

The latest Dinky Door has arrived!
It seems that the Cambridge University Press bookshop may have some competition now from a magician or "mage" growing books right next to their bookshop!!