Charlie Gardner, West Norfolk based conservation scientist, climate communicator and activist, set off from Jesus Green on Sunday September 24th on a 180 mile walk to raise awareness of global heating and sea level rise. His route takes him entirely through land which is threatened by predicted sea level rise within decades. Friends of the Cam joined Charlie for the first leg of his walk and he welcomes company at any point along his journey for however long or short a stroll.
What happens when water is marketised? Leana Hosea links this with contamination of US drinking water, and the implications for the UK. On Zoom October 5th, 7-8.30pm. Book via Eventbrite here.
Martin Hultman will now be in Cambridge on Saturday 30th September and Sunday 1st October. We are having an informal discussion 5-7pm Sunday 1st and a walk along the river Cam on Saturday 30th. If you would like to take either/both of these opportunities to meet Martin and discuss masculinities, nature and river rights please get in touch for more details: contact@friendsofthecam.org
Friends of the Cam campaign for an unpolluted river, against over-abstraction from it, and the unsustainable growth in buildings and infrastructure that impact on both. Designating short stretches of rivers may lead to some very limited local improvement of water quality, at the expense of water quality elsewhere. Friends of the Cam will be opposing the DBA application in the consultation for reasons given below. You can respond to the on-line consultation here.
We rededicated the rights of the river Cam and its tributaries, on Jesus Green on Midsummer's Eve. Around 150 people gathered to hear and participate in wonderful music, singing, readings and talks from as far afield as Taiwan, Serbia and Yorkshire. As every year, the collective reading of the rights of the river was powerful and moving. The sun shone, and artful objections to Cambridge Water were created (more on this later).
Cambridge City Planning Committee turned down the application by Queens College for a new development of student housing, which would have involved the demolition of existing student housing and a recently constructed nursery. Friends of the Cam was one of the local groups, and 2000 signatories to a petition, which opposed its construction based on the likely disruption to Paradise Nature Reserve, including its rare biodiversity and valuable wetland. FotC steering group member Jean Glasberg was a key opponent of the scheme, as a member of Friends of Paradise Nature Reserve.
30 March 2023, 6.30-pm. St Philips Church Centre, Mill Road, Cambridge. Booking (and directions) at Eventbrite here
Bill McGuire talks about the magnitude of the climate emergency facing us and what we can do about this, based on his latest book Hothouse Earth. Cambridge is located in one of the most vulnerable parts of the UK - its hottest, most low-lying, and most drought prone region - and yet those who govern us, invest in and plan for the area fail to address this.
The latest Cam Valley Forum newsletter draws attention to pollution in the Cam. In its response to the Anglian Water DWMP Consultation, CVF has established elevated counts of indicator bacteria suggesting microbial faecal source material pollution. During data collection untreated sewage was witnessed being discharged into the Cam. The Citizen Science project collected samples from 47 sites over 16 parishes on 7 occasions over a period of 16 months, which were analysed at a specialist laboratory.