Linton, Cambridgeshire

infobox UK place
country = England
latitude= 52.0991
longitude=0.277
official_name= Linton
population = 4,412 (2001)
shire_district= South Cambridgeshire
shire_county = Cambridgeshire
region= East of England
constituency_westminster= Cambridgeshire South East
post_town= CAMBRIDGE|postcode_district = CB21 (was CB1, postcode changed Sept 06)
postcode_area= CB |dial_code= 01223
os_grid_reference= TL560469

Linton is a village in rural Cambridgeshire much expanded since the 1960s and now one of several dormitory villages of Cambridge. The former railway station was on the Stour Valley Railway between Cambridge and Colchester, now closed. The Rivey Hill overlooks the village, with its famous water tower.

There are three schools in Linton, each one covering a different age group. At the Bartlow end of the village is Linton Junior School (teaching children aged from 7 to 11). Linton Infants School is situated in the middle of the village for children aged 5 to 7, while Linton Village College is situated alongside the main Haverhill to Cambridge road and teaches children aged 11 to 16, including those from several surrounding villages.

Linton Zoo is situated on the edge of the village.

There are a many businesses based in Linton all around the village with a number around the trading estate at The Grip such as Steve Goldsmith Cars, other companies in the High Street are Cream Ink Designers and [http://www.october-systems.co.uk October Systems] .

Spread evenly along the High Street are the three public houses. The Crown has an attached restaurant, while the Dog and Duck has been recently refurbished after flooding. Near the fire station is the Waggon and Horses. Although it has been closed for several years, The Bell probably remains Linton's most famous pub. It reputedly featured a ghostly gentleman clad in Elizabethan attire who appeared to be walking on his knees. During a renovation of the pub, it was discovered that the original floor was about 18 inches lower than the current one.

A recent local tradition is the "wacky races." This popular event occurs on the second Bank Holiday Weekend in May, and involves participants dressed in comedy costumes, racing down the High Street, stopping in all the pubs for a pint, and then through the fields next to the village and back down the High Street, again drinking in the pubs.

Linton has become famous through fictional character Alan Partridge, who once justified his extended stay at the "Linton Travel Tavern" by claiming that Linton is equidistant between London and Norwich. Indeed, Linton is near the halfway point of the London to Norwich A11 trunk road, although some 4 miles from the actual road. This suggests that the travel tavern was in fact not in Linton itself, but nearby on the A11. Even in this location, the travel tavern is probably further than Partridge would have wanted from the M11 motorway, to which he once walked to purchase several bottles of windscreen washer fluid from a petrol station.

The actual location used for the BBC series is the Hilton Hotel, on the A41 near Bushey.

ee also

* List of places in Cambridgeshire

External links

* [http://www.linton.info/ Linton.info - local information, including the monthly Linton News newspaper]
* [http://www.cambridgeshire.gov.uk/NR/rdonlyres/CF0CD870-FE11-422F-9CFE-A9C77A8571BF/0/LintonandBartlow.pdf 2001 Census]
* [http://www.lintonzoo.com/ Linton Zoo]
* [http://ely.anglican.org/parishes/linton/ St. Mary's Church]