A fresh perspective of Cambridge at Turing Locke
At the Turing Locke apartments in Eddington, Cambridge, a ten minute walk separates the new from the familiar.
The Cambridge residential suburb of Eddington didn’t exist ten years ago – the new area on the outskirts of the historic university city is blissfully surrounded by fields and you can see the town being built around you, with new bars and restaurants in development.
Other than new build flats, the main attraction here is the Turing Locke hotel. Its rooftop bar and ground-floor brasserie and cocktail bar are slowly bringing people from other parts of Cambridge into this new extension of the city, and the Turing Locke property’s extensive conference facilities mean thousands of business workers are living and working in Eddington every month.
Cambridge but different
But you’re not as remote as you might feel. Walk for ten minutes through fields weaving away from the new buildings and the Edwardian townhouses of the city’s north-westerly outskirts start to come into view. Walk for thirty minutes and you’re in the heart of town. It’s fun to live like a local, entering Cambridge on foot from the suburbs, getting closer to parts of the city most tourists wouldn’t come across.
The University of Cambridge is advertising Eddington as a place for students and staff to move because of affordability, community prospects and good transport links into the city. 1,500 homes in total are for sale.
Turing Locke has 330 rooms and some decent food and drinks offerings. Interesting spins on classic British dishes are served from a ground floor restaurant, and staff in the adjoining bar are knowledgeable about how to mix a good cocktail. The menu is scrawled in handwriting on chaotic little menus that adds an attractive personal touch.
Go to the rooftop bar to get a better idea of how Eddington fits into the broader landscape, and to see an imprint of what’s to come when the development extends further. Immediately next to Turing Locke is the Hyatt hotel, which co-habits the same building and is a smaller offering with 150 rooms.
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Accommodation comes in the form of self-catered apartments with kitchens and small living rooms. Mine was decorated in pops of natural colour (think burnt oranges and azure blues) and was inviting and spacious enough to while away an evening on the night I choose not to go into town.
The bar was lively at night with the visiting conference and during the day, people were working on laptops from the building’s communal areas. Locke focus on short and long-stay accommodation and have an international portfolio of properties in Zurich, Munich, Dublin, Paris, Manchester and Edinburgh, all with self-contained kitchenettes.
I’ve always found Cambridge to be prettier than Oxford in terms of the old university buildings, and a walk along the river – especially heading east towards Midsummer Common – can go on all day until you reach the Fens. The punting along the backs of the colleges is just objectively prettier than Oxford (come at me!) Or for something shorter, head up Castle Hill north of the city centre and reachable by foot. Of course, punting is great fun in the better weather, but sticking to on-foot exploration is enjoyable: especially with your new route to and from the city’s most burgeoning suburb.
To book visit the official Turing Locke website; rooms start from £124 per night
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