Cambridge during lockdown

This post was first published in May 2020, when Cambridge and the rest of the UK was in the middle of the first Covid-19 lock down. It seems strange looking back on it now…

Cambridge, along with the rest of the UK, went into government ordered lock down 0n 23rd March 2020, in an attempt to slow the spread of the Coronavirus.

Quayside would normally be a hive of activity at this time of the year. Now there is not a single person or punt to be seen.

This thriving city, with a population of approximately 124,000 people, usually attracts over 5 million visitors every year.

However the normally busy streets have been deserted ever since the start of lock down, at the end of March, as shown by these captivating images.

A deserted Bridge street, the approach to Quayside

If you’ve ever visited Cambridge then you will know that it’s never this quiet. As well as the local residents and visitors, the city also has two universities, with approximately 30,000 students between them.

The city feels like a ghost town (did you know that the Specials wrote their song Ghost Town about Cambridge?).

Under normal circumstances, there are times when Cambridge feels quiet but never this quiet.

This is usually when the Cambridge students have finished term and local students, who study elsewhere but live in the city, have yet to return during the holidays.

But this is different.

No students but somehow there’s always a traffic cone…

Normally at this time of year, many of the Cambridge colleges would be closed to visitors anyway, because it’s exam term.

However, now they are all closed, along with all of the other attractions and businesses. Still no punting for us.

Many of the live events and festivals that would normally take place in the city, have sadly been cancelled this year.

King’s parade, taken just outside of Campkins Camera shop

Normally busy areas of Cambridge, like King’s Parade, pictured above, are completely deserted, except for the odd passer-by.

Local residents and frequent visitors to Cambridge will be used to dodging cyclists, even in the pedestrianised parts of town, and having to remember to look both ways even before stepping into one way streets.

No need to do that at the moment.

Not a single cyclist to be seen on Green Street

The impossible shot. Trinity College’s Great Gate without a single person stood in front of it

In the past, some have complained about Cambridge being too busy, about it being overwhelmed by visitors and tourism.

We’re sure that even they would now welcome the return of people to this beautiful city.

Historic Trinity Street. Dodging cyclists along here can be a bit of an extreme sport

Of course, we’re not advocating the lifting of lock down restrictions until it’s safe to do so, but we’ll be ready to welcome people back as soon as they are.

From a historical point of view, this literally is unprecedented.

These images make for fascinating viewing and with discussions going on about how restrictions might start to be lifted, the chances are that scenes like this may never be seen again.

The Mill pond would usually be busy with punts and people

We hope you’ve enjoyed these images of Cambridge during lockdown.

In some ways, now would be a perfect time to visit the city, whilst it’s so quiet. Of course, you can’t do that at the moment.

For the time being, you’ll just have to enjoy these photos of our beautiful city.

But once the lockdown restrictions start to be eased, it’s likely that it will be some time before overseas tourists start to return, so the city may well be quieter than usual for quite a while yet.

The view from Magdalene bridge. If you get up early enough it’s like this even outside of lockdown

We would like to thank local resident and manager of Campkins Camera shop, on King’s Parade, Owen Howell, for giving us permission to use these images that he has been capturing on his daily walks around Cambridge.