Grafton Centre Plans for Future

I had a couple of hours to kill in Cambridge yesterday so decided to document the present state of the Grafton Centre as it is 2 years since we last photographed the Grafton Centre. All the shops, restaurants and shops at the East Road end have now closed and a decision has been made as to how it is to be developed. Planners say the existing main entrance of the Grafton will be kept, with a corridor of shops leading to an outdoor courtyard that will take visitors to Burleigh Street, opposite the current Primark store. Two empty shops on Burleigh Street will be demolished to create another new entrance. A new life sciences building will replace Abbeygate House on East Road, with restaurants on the ground floor. The rear of the centre, where there are escalators and empty units, will become a "breakout area" for workers at the labs to use. There will also be a new Premier Inn hotel opposite the former Vue on East Road - see Artists Impression at end of Blog.

Last photoshoot 2023 - still some activity at the East Road End.

The plans for redevelopment

River Ouse at Brampton

The intention was to hunt for Fritillaries and White Admirals etc in Brampton Wood but it was closed for Management tasks so we diverted to the River Ouse banks and spent an enjoyable morning hunting sheltered spots for Dragonflies etc. Here some of the captures - interesting that we identified our last dragonfly of the morning as a Skimmer in the field but the photo (image 1) clearly shows the dark patches at the base of the wing and tips (compare image 2).

 

Butterfly Walk at Trumpington Meadows

Joined a butterfly walk at Trumpington Meadows, a Cambridgeshire  Wildlife Trust Reserve. We eventually found the three target species, the Small blue, Purple Hairstreak and White-Letter Hairstreak along with lots of other species. This Copper photo was my favourite along with the Small Blue. A small fly took my eye - Eliozeta pellucens - which looks to be quite rare in the area. Species iID list at the end.

Hollyhock Community

 It is strange how my favourite plants in the garden always seem to selfseed in the most inconvenient places - the only place that consistently has Hollyhocks is under the whirligig washing line and so is very inconvenient when hanging out clothes. However, having spent a short while studying the insects on the plants, I can't bring myself to pull them up so part of the drier will remain unused for a couple of months! Here some portraits and the ID sheet.

Close Encounters at Paxton Pits

Another 30 degree-plus day yesterday so an earlyish walk at Paxton. Common Darters certainly dominated the insect life and were very confiding allowing  close approach. Pleased to see a female Beewolf wasp in the area where they bred last year - probably too early in the day for them to have captured bees. Other models included a Bee-grabber Fly (Sicus ferruginous), Nettle Bug( Liocoris tripustulatus) and Kite-tailed Robberfly (Tolmerus atricapilus)