Status-Q

The Barton Road Rifle Range as seen from the next field, on a recent misty evening.

Small village. One straight road. Two names.

We Brits seem to think this is normal. This is partly why I got confused trying to find a restaurant the first time I went to California, but for the opposite reason.

I was on the right street, at about the right number... but I was in the wrong city.

In the flat, low-lying eastern part of England, where we live, much of the land is only just above sea level, and for many centuries the inhabitants have been working hard to avoid the appearance of large areas of water.

We have rivers, of course, and dykes and canals, and they are all kept carefully in order and they generally behave and do as they are told. There are village ponds, too.

But to see a body of water of any size here is a rarity, which is why I occasionally make the pilgrimage to Fen Drayton Lakes, about 12 miles from my house. Until around 30 years ago, it was a gravel quarry, but that's been enough time for nature to re-adopt it and flourish around it. Yesterday was the hottest day of the year so far, and it was pleasant to walk in the shade along the tree-lined paths and catch occasional glimpses of expanses of cool liquid.

It's tantalizing, too, because you can't go in or on the water: it's an RSPB reserve, and home to a vast number of birds, who were clearly having a good time. I foolishly only had an elderly iPhone with me, so just took a couple of more general snaps of the scenery.

There are certain areas where you do need to make sure your dog pays attention to the signs.

But it's a lovely spot, and very different from Cambridge just down the road. There's even a quick and efficient guided-bus service from the city -- when we get buses back -- for those without other means of transport.

Despite all this, surprisingly few people in the area seem to know about it. Don't tell too many of them...

The moon above Addenbrooke's Hospital, Cambridge, on Friday night. Click to enlarge.

[caption id="attachment_9142" align="alignnone" width="800"] Trinity College, Cambridge[/caption]

I was in town unusually early on Sunday morning. This is Rose's college, St Catharine's, just before dawn.

The river, just a few streets away, was unusually still.

Silver Street, because of the location of the coach-parking areas, is one of the first things that many tourists see. They don't often see it looking like this, though!

At King's College, only one chimney showed any signs of life.

Gradually, as things warmed, a brief mist appeared over the water.

But it soon cleared, as the sun rose a little higher, and started to reach the tops of the trees.

The garden at St Botolph's was also looking beautiful:

The streets were quiet...

And I crept quietly away as the day was beginning.

Last night I was being a little bit creative with my recent photos... :-)

There are many benefits to living close to Addenbrooke's Hospital, but, as any Cambridge resident will tell you, its effect on the aesthetics of the region is not one of them. Usually the best way to improve its visual appearance is to go a long way away. And then face in the opposite direction.

Even Addenbrooke's can have its moments, though. It's about 4 miles from my house, as the crow flies, so this was taken with a long lens from my kitchen window.

There's a nice post about the coffee pot webcam on the Gonville & Caius College website this morning. Thanks, Lucy!

Sean Riley creates the Computerphile YouTube channel, which has clocked up nearly a million subscribers, and produces some great stuff, especially for the geeks among us.

I had fun talking to him about the early days of the Trojan Room Coffee Pot.