HOBSONS PARK

A crucial element of the 2006 Cambridge Local Plan which took large areas of farmland out of the Green Belt for new housing was the creation of new public open space for the city. This included a ‘green wedge’ coming down from the Botanic Gardens alongside Hobsons Conduit into the open countryside. The ‘thin end’ of this wedge is only a pleasant path along the Brook but it widens out into a substantial area between Trumpington and the railway, now named Hobsons Park.

In future this area will be owned by the Cambridge City Council, and managed like other large city open spaces to encourage a variety of activities and a diversity of species, including humans. Birds were the first to take advantage of the new habitats, first the muddy puddles created by construction machinery, and later the four balancing ponds where many species have been recorded Pond 1 birds March 2018.

Much of the former arable land is being managed for wildlife, while the northern section is being laid out for various sorts of ‘active recreation’. The creation of new allotments was also an important part of the 2006 plan, and the ones on Hobsons Park will be managed by the City Council and initially available to residents of the new Clay Farm part of Trumpington.

At time of writing (March 2019) the land is still in the ownership of the developer, Countryside Properties.  The name Great Kneighton was introduced by Countryside to distinguish its two developments at Glebe Farm and Clay Farm from those being built by Grosvenor which were called Trumpington Meadows. Other place names for new parts of Trumpington were carefully chosen by local people and an account of their derivation can be seen here and an A to Z for the village as a whole found here.

for more details of how the panel was made, look here.