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girton college situation

Hi,

I'm probably going to apply to girton college at cambridge to do geography. I wanted to know if there's any other people here who are girton students or know a bit about it and whether they think its location out of cambridge is a disadvantage or not?

ben

Reply 1

leannemarie

11

It's probably a bit of a pain if you have lots of stuff to get back to your room. Not sure what the social life is like but if you're away from the other colleges then you might consider that a disadvantage?

Reply 2

CamSPSer

How long does it take to cycle to Girton? From say Kings

Reply 3

musicbloke

17

notyourpunk

How long does it take to cycle to Girton? From say Kings

longer than cycling to most other places in Cambridge.

MB

Reply 4

PDJM

4

As a former Girton student I may be able to answer your queries- feel free to PM me.

Reply 5

Reema

14

People already at Girton have told me 15-20 minutes or so. Ask me in a couple of weeks, I'll be better able to answer then :wink:

. From PolTheGael: http://www.thestudentroom.co.uk/showpost.php?p=1511008&postcount=70

There is a thread on cycle safety I also started a while ago that might interest you: http://www.thestudentroom.co.uk/t97998.html

Reply 6

Alaric

10

Half hour walk, so a 15 minute cycle sounds reasonable.

A.

Reply 7

CamSPSer

Reema

People already at Girton have told me 15-20 minutes or so. Ask me in a couple of weeks, I'll be better able to answer then :wink:

. From PolTheGael: http://www.thestudentroom.co.uk/showpost.php?p=1511008&postcount=70

There is a thread on cycle safety I also started a while ago that might interest you: http://www.thestudentroom.co.uk/t97998.html

OOh thanks for the for the link on cycle safety. I have just got my first bike since i was at primary school. I live on a square, which I have been cycling around for hours (near city university where I think the students must think I'm a little odd, but most of them seem a little odd) and have finally started to venture onto the roads of london (outside rush hour) but I'm still not keen on signalling (went straight on when I needed to turn right for about 5 turns as didnt want to get hit by the car behind) or carrying shopping on the handlebars. Hopefully it will be slightly better when I get to Cam!

Reply 8

MattT_NI

2

Hey, I'm goin to Girton to study MML- I may not have done the trip every day for a term (yet!), but i do have some thoughts on it!

First of all, all things considered...its really not that far! Just cuz its cambridge ppl seem to think that a 15 minute cycle ride from lectures is enormous, simply because of the proximity of the majority of colleges. But i guarantee that if you look at any other large(ish) city (even Belfast!), nearly all student's halls are an average 10/15 mins from the city centre! And some are much further! I have a few friends in Edinburgh who have to travel half an hour into town every day!

Secondly, i think it can be nice to feel that you're "coming home" every day from the academic pressure cooker that is Cambrige city centre! ...Not to mention the increased fitness from all the cycling! lol.

Finally, the distance gives Girton so many advantages that are overlooked with all the emphasis being on the negative aspects! The grounds are unique among Cambridge colleges, all the sports facilities (ok, ok, except the boat house!) are on site, it allows Girtonians to live on (relatively spacious)corridors instead of cramped staircases...and we too have a duck pond! (yah boo sucks Emma! lol)

So, i hope that helps!

Matt

Reply 9

jonas123

1

its far enough to be annoying. It's not even on the uni map! Then again it is a nice college.

Reply 10

Reema

14

notyourpunk

OOh thanks for the for the link on cycle safety. I have just got my first bike since i was at primary school. I live on a square, which I have been cycling around for hours (near city university where I think the students must think I'm a little odd, but most of them seem a little odd) and have finally started to venture onto the roads of london (outside rush hour) but I'm still not keen on signalling (went straight on when I needed to turn right for about 5 turns as didnt want to get hit by the car behind) or carrying shopping on the handlebars. Hopefully it will be slightly better when I get to Cam!

If you look at the thread, and I've noticed when looking at the actual city, that it's quite rare that you have to actually indicate to turn left or right. If you cross at the (traffic operated) "crossings" usually reserved for pedestrians, as cyclists can use them in Cam too, that should be alright. If someone can give some more information on this? I don't know much about cycling in the actual Cam city centre, but I do know that straight down Huntingdon Road and through Castle Street is quite simple...

Also, at traffic lights on the road, there are markings in front of the cars reserved for cyclists when you stop at a red light, which I also noticed. I presume this increases safety, though I don't know what it's like when there are hundreds of cyclists all descending down in rush hour at the same time...

Reply 11

Supermerp

2

The entrance to the New Museums Site gets a bit scary between lectures if you're a pedestrian: white vans, loads and loads of cyclists, one of those barriers that goes up and down to let the white vans through and probably more that I've blocked out because it was all too harrowing.

Reply 12

the_catcher

All i know about Girton is that it is home to the most beuatiful girl i know (possibly in the world!)....oh and someting about a horse......

Reply 13

PDJM

4

15 minutes is probably an overestimate if you are going straight into the town from Girton itself- Castle Hill is wonderfull for picking up speed and provided the traffic lights are in you favour you are looking at 10 minutes. Artists going to the Sigdwick site are best off taking the road leading off Huntingdon road (by a small hotel) which takes you past the now front entrance of Fitz. Cycling is pretty safe in Cambridge, cycle tracks are marked and some of the crossings are also bike crossings (including the one outside Girton and the one leading into the lane alongside Wolfie. Although there are some hotspots such as the thin lane leading from the UL to Wolfie; you're better of taking the route past Robinson instead.

The centre of the City is pedestrianised and thus very safe for cyclists- although be careful of the one way system. It is nothing like Oxford and you will not be madly wieving around buses.

Reply 14

Pollo Loco

7

Hello guys, i'm one of the resident girton bods and i can say the only people who complain about the distance to Girton are people who don't go there. Cycling is usually safe and the only people who get into trouble are the ones who do something stupid. It usually takes me 10 mins to cycle into town. Any queries pm or mail me as i'm not on TSR as much at the moment.

DB

Reply 15

naelse

15

girton is lovely. and it's not that far away. it's just narrow minded snobs who truly think that it sucks just because of the distance. I suspect that a lot of the bad press that girton got in the beginning was because it was a women's college, and since then it has always been tradition to hate girton.

Reply 16

Mop

Supermerp

The entrance to the New Museums Site gets a bit scary between lectures if you're a pedestrian: white vans, loads and loads of cyclists, one of those barriers that goes up and down to let the white vans through and probably more that I've blocked out because it was all too harrowing.

Go in through the Free School Lane entrance then.

girton college situation

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