A place of springs, cliffs and lakes

Who would have thought that the beautiful university city of Cambridge would contain these geographical features within its boundaries?  The idea for this post came from Cambridge Critique, an occasional email on the local cultural scene, describing some local hidden delights; visiting these made for a really enjoyable few hours out and about.
 
Springs
Nine Wells is a small area of woodland and nature reserve close to Addenbrooke's Hospital; concealed within the trees are four natural springheads.  Hobson's Conduit was constructed in 1610 to bring water from here to the city in order to sanitise the open sewers and to provide water for the population (see Cambridge Urban Ramble, part 3); water continues to flow into Cambridge to this day.  It is a lovely place to walk around and there is also a monument to Hobson's Conduit here.
 
Cliffs
It is short drive from Nine Wells to Cherry Hinton, where hidden between Fulbourn Road and Limekiln Road are the Cherry Hinton Chalk Pits - a 12 hectare site.  It was astonishing to see this for the first time after many, many years of living in the Cambridge area!  It is possible to discern coloured strata in the rocks, showing the levels of ancient seas that used to cover Eastern England.
 
Lakes
A couple of miles away close to where Mill Road meets Brooks Road is access to a walk that runs alongside a clear chalk stream known as Cherry Hinton Brook; it is called "Snakey Path" and it was another first for me - the walk passes several designated City Wildlife Sites.  Concealed behind a fence and trees are two old chalk pits that have been filled to form private fishing lakes.  Occasionally there are some wonderful views across these impressive stretches of water.Read more