IMPORTANT SUPLEMENTARY PRE-COURSE INFORMATION
AND TRAVELLING TO MADINGLEY HALL
(TO BE READ IN CONJUNCTION WITH MADINGLEY HALL’S DELEGATE GUIDE)
Madingley Hall provides comfortable accommodation in very beautiful rural surroundings. However, the Hall is an
educational establishment, not a hotel. Some of the facilities which you might expect to find in a hotel are not
available. We hope that these additional notes will help to make your attendance at a BARQA course at Madingley
Hall an enjoyable experience.
Address: Madingley Hall, Madingley, Cambridge, England, CB23 8AQ
Madingley Hall Reception telephone number: +44 (0)1954 280280
Web Site: http://www.madingleyhall.co.uk/
Keeping in Touch
All guest bedrooms have a telephone, and unlike many hotels, charges are very reasonable. Please settle your
telephone bill at Reception before you leave.
A wide range of newspapers is provided for guests in the Saloon. Newspapers are not normally delivered to guest
bedrooms.
Waking Up
The night porter will provide an early morning call service, however, we recommend that you bring an alarm with you.
Toiletries
Soap and towels are provided in guest bedrooms. Shampoo or other toiletries can be purchased and hair dryers are
available on loan from Reception.
The House
Building work on Madingley Hall began in 1543. Please visit the Hall's website for further information.
The Gardens
Do take advantage of a walk in the beautiful gardens which surround Madingley Hall.
Shops
There are no shops in the village but there is a shop in Hardwick (2 miles/3km) and a range of shops, including a
supermarket, in Bar Hill (4 miles/6km). Cambridge (4 miles/6km) is a major shopping centre.
Extending Your Stay
If you wish to extend your stay, so that you can spend time visiting Cambridge, we will be happy to arrange
accommodation at Madingley Hall or provide a list of local hotels and bed and breakfasts.
For further information on Cambridge please browse www.visitcambridge.org .
TRAVELLING
BY AIR
If you are travelling by air try to arrange a flight into London Stansted Airport. If possible, avoid routing through
London Heathrow or London Gatwick as the journey on to Cambridge can be long.
London Stansted
There are direct, scheduled flights to Stansted from Europe. There is also a wide range of connecting flights from the
rest of the world, particularly through Amsterdam.
Many Stansted flights are with low cost airlines that don’t take bookings through travel agents. You can book direct
on-line with the following:
Revised February 2010
Ryanair
EasyJet
Air Berlin
www.ryanair.com
www.easyjet.com
www.airberlin.com
Madingley Hall is 25 miles (40km) from Stansted Airport.
There are direct trains from Stansted Airport to Cambridge (one train per hour) with a journey time of about 40
minutes. Madingley Hall is about four miles (6km) from Cambridge railway station and can be reached in a few
minutes by taxi for approximately 12 GB Pounds.
A pre-booked Panther taxi (See TAXIS below) from Stansted Airport to Madingley Hall will cost approximately 51 GB
Pounds and the journey time is about one hour. Airport taxis will be considerably more expensive and we strongly
recommend that you agree a fare with the driver before leaving the airport.
London City
Madingley Hall is about 55 miles (88km) from London City Airport.
There is a Docklands Light Railway station at the airport (www.tfl.gov.uk/dlr/) which gives easy access to the City of
London and the London Underground network which will take you on to either London Liverpool Street or Kings Cross
mainline rail stations for your onward journey to Cambridge. Madingley Hall is about four miles (6km) from
Cambridge railway station and can be reached in a few minutes by taxi for approximately 12.00 GB Pounds.
A pre-booked Panther taxi (See TAXIS below) from London City Airport to Madingley Hall will cost approximately 86
GB Pounds. We strongly recommend that you don’t use London black taxis for this journey as the fare may be 200 GB
Pounds or more.
Luton
Many Luton flights are with the low cost airline EasyJet. They don’t take bookings through travel agents. You can
book direct on-line at www.easyjet.com.
Madingley Hall is about 35 miles (56km) from Luton airport.
There is a coach service from Luton Airport to Cambridge. This service is operated by the National Express Coach
Company who run one bus every two hours with scheduled journey times of just over one and a half hour. However,
when traffic is heavy, these journey times are often considerably increased and the timetable disrupted. Please check
time and price on their website at www.nationalexpress.com . Madingley Hall is about four miles (6km) from
Cambridge bus station and can be reached in a few minutes by taxi for approximately 12.00 GB Pounds.
The train journey is via Thameslink Train to King’s Cross Thameslink (up to 10 trains per hour) and then from King’s
Cross to Cambridge. The total journey time is up to 21/2 hours.
A pre-booked Panther taxi (See TAXIS below) from Luton Airport to Madingley will cost approximately 66 GB Pounds.
Airport taxis will be considerably more expensive and we strongly recommend that you agree a fare with the driver
before leaving the airport.
London Heathrow
London’s Heathrow Airport has flights to and from almost everywhere in the world.
Madingley Hall is about 80 miles (130km) from Heathrow Airport. However, the journey to Cambridge can take up to
three hours. The journey is via the London Underground Piccadilly Line to King’s Cross railway station and from there
to Cambridge. Madingley Hall is about four miles (6km) from Cambridge railway station and can be reached in a few
minutes by taxi for approximately 12 GB Pounds.
There is a coach service from Heathrow to Cambridge. This service is operated by the National Express Coach
Company who run one bus an hour with scheduled journey times of 2.5 to 3 hours. However, when traffic is heavy,
the journey times may be increased. Please check time and price on their website www.nationalexpress.com
Madingley Hall is about four miles (6km) from Cambridge bus station and can be reached in a few minutes by taxi for
approximately 12 GB Pounds.
Revised February 2010
A pre-booked Panther taxi (See TAXIS below) from Heathrow Airport to Madingley Hall will cost approximately 104 GB
Pounds. We strongly recommend that you don’t use London black taxis for this journey as the fare may be 250 GB
Pounds or more.
Last summer I took the underground to Kings Cross and thereafter the train, quite complicated if you have a large
suitcase.
This time I used the National Express bus from Heathrow to central Cambridge. It was very convenient.
The ticket is booked and paid with credit card from National Express website (www.nationalexpress.com) and printed
out as an e-ticket. It is easy to find the time schedule for the bus and it leaves approximately every hour. For courses
ending by 4 pm the bus at 16:50 is very convenient.
The price for a two way ticket is £36.50 which is much less than for a cab. Travel time is approximately 3 h depending
on traffic and number of passengers getting on and off along the way.
Monica Ericsson, April 2009
London Gatwick
As with London Heathrow flight connections are good but the journey to Cambridge less so. Madingley Hall is about
100 miles (160km) from the airport. The journey is via the Thameslink Trains service to King’s Cross Thameslink (up to
4 trains per hour) and then by train from King’s Cross to Cambridge. As with Heathrow the journey can take up to
three hours. Madingley Hall is about four miles (6km) from Cambridge railway station and can be reached in a few
minutes by taxi for approximately 12 GB Pounds.
There is a coach service from Gatwick (via Heathrow) to Cambridge. This service is operated by the National Express
Coach Company who run one bus an hour with scheduled journey times of 4 to 6 hours. However, when traffic is
heavy, these journey time are often considerably increased and the timetable disrupted. Please check time and price
on their website at www.nationalexpress.com . Madingley Hall is about four miles (6km) from Cambridge bus station
and can be reached in a few minutes by taxi for approximately 12 GB Pounds.
A pre-booked Panther taxi (See TAXIS below) from Gatwick Airport to Madingley Hall will cost approximately 128 GB
Pounds. Airport taxis will be considerably more expensive and we strongly recommend that you agree a fare with the
driver before leaving the airport.
BY RAIL
Cambridge has good rail links to London with up to three trains per hour. There are also cross-country links via
Peterborough. Madingley Hall is about four miles (6km) from Cambridge railway station and can be reached in a few
minutes by taxi for approximately 12 GB Pounds. For information on rail timetables and fares go to
www.nationalrail.co.uk/times_fares/ or to www.thetrainline.com
TAXIS
All the taxi prices in these notes were quoted by Panther Taxi’s of Cambridge. They are happy to meet your plane at
the airport should you wish them to do so. They can be contacted by telephone on +44(0) 1223 715715. Please
ensure that you have agreed a fixed price before using this service.
Your course organiser will be happy to arrange a taxi for your return journey. Delegates are often able to share taxis
and thus reduce costs.
Note
Every effort has been made to include correct, up-to-date information in these notes. However, no guarantee
is given that routes, times and prices will not change.
Revised February 2010
Map
Policy Statement
Food allergies and intolerances
Madingley Hall operates a general catering kitchen, which uses many ingredients to which individuals may be allergic
or intolerant. If food is requested excluding a specific ingredient we will make reasonable effort to exclude this
ingredient. Categorical assurance cannot be provided as we cannot, and do not, guarantee absence of potential
allergens, even when requested, due to the possible presence of food traces.
Individuals with a life threatening or injurious reaction to certain foods should notify us in advance to enable us to
assess and advise on the risks of harmful food being provided. This will enable individuals to make an informed
decision but in view of the multiple use of ingredients, the safest measure is to assume contamination could arise.
Please note that we are unable to provide specialist dietary food (i.e. Soya milk, gluten free bread, diabetic jam) and
we ask course members to bring such items with them or exclude them from their diet when here.
Revised February 2010