With the children, teachers, families, community at Abbey Meadows we've undertaken a variety of activities to learn 'the history beneath your feet' of the area and along the river Cam into the centre of town, with the young people reflecting on this history using stories, raps, poems, songs, drawings, photographs, film. 

This walking trail will lead you from the Abbey area along Riverside into the Market place in the heart of Cambridge, exploring the important stories along the way including the prehistoric flying lizards of Coldham's Common, the 800 year old Leper Chapel, the stinkiest place at the Victorian sewage pumping station, and give you insights into the Cambridge Coat of Arms, the story of football, and much more!   

You can see a preview or the trail and route below or download a pdf version HERE

 

Michael Rosen has composed poems about Cambridge people and places pinned to the history trail which Historyworks has recorded with some new songs performed by local primary children to entertain you on your journey. The trail lasts approximately 90 minutes. 

Narration of the trails by Michael Rosen. Michael Rosen is a poet, novelist, broadcaster, famous for his poems like 'We're Going on a Bear Hunt', 'Chocolate Cake', and for this project his poems include 'The Fitzwilliam Lions' and 'Coldham's Common'. 

Audio Trail downloadable in MP3 format available on the web at: www.audioboom.fm/historyworks

© Historyworks 2017.

This trail & accompanying audio have been devised and produced by Helen Weinstein, to whom all suggestions for revisions should be directed (historyworkstv@gmail.com)

 

Historyworks is piloting a variety of trails in 2015 and 2016 using new technology, collaborating with ARM to use bluetooth beacons.  The beacon trails for Festival of Ideas and for Cambridge History Festival and the Science Festival will all be using the same technology, so please see below the instructions for how to navigate the physical web and find beacons using your smartphone or tablet.

Instructions for iOS (pdf)

Instructions for Android (pdf)