There are a lot of villages that surround Cambridge, and it would be quite an achievement to be able to name them all.

Everyone who lives in Cambridgeshire has a pretty good idea of where Milton, Trumpington and Madingley are not because they necessarily know the villages well, but because they are on the Park & Ride bus routes into and out of town.

While Trumpington and Milton feel almost like an extension of Cambridge, Madingley still retains that quintessential village feeling.

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Located on the north-western fringes of the city, while the village is known for the Park & Ride car park and central stop, there is much more to it than that.

For a start, the Park & Ride isn't in the village, and is really named after Madingley Road which runs from the village into Cambridge. That said the Park & Ride is just a stone's throw from the village.

The village could easily be the set of a Downton Abbey or Grantchester-type TV drama. Whitewashed thatched cottages sit off the street surrounded by green lawns and shady woodlands, and beyond that are golden fields of wheat that seem to stretch endlessly out into the horizon.

Cottages in Madingley
Cottages in Madingley

The village's traditional pub, the Three Horseshoes, was built in the 17th century and while it's more of a restaurant nowadays it still holds its rustic charm.

A focal point of the village is Madingley Hall, which was built in 1543 and is now owned by Cambridge University.

Surrounded by beautiful parklands and with its own gardens, the hall today is the university's Institute of Continuing Education, but was a private house until after the Second World War.

Madingley Hall set within its 1100 acres of parkland
Madingley Hall set within its 1,100 acres of parkland

In particular, Queen Victoria rented the hall for her son, the future King Edward VII, while he was studying at Cambridge, which might possibly be the best student hall of all time.

You can also visit the house's gardens with tours for small parties, including around the walled garden. The house's parkland was also designed by the famous Capability Brown so if you love sweeping grassy meadows, and scatterings of old oaks the park is a wonderful place for a brisk morning walk.

The Cambridge American Cemetery in Madingley
The Cambridge American Cemetery in Madingley

The American Cemetery is another place that draws people to Madingley, with many people from the US who come to visit their family members buried there, as well as regular visits from the local American military bases such as Lakenheath and Mildenhall.

The cemetery opened in the 1950s on the southern edge of the village. Nearly 4,000 American soldiers, airmen and sailors are buried there, with a further 5,000 names inscribed on the 'Wall of the Missing' who were never found or recovered, mostly from the Second World War.

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The 30-acre site has lines and lines of white gravestones in perfect curves leading up to the main memorial building, which was donated by Cambridge University as first a temporary cemetery during the war, before it became a permanent one, with the dead of two other temporary cemeteries moved there after the war.

Among the thousands of names at the cemetery is famous jazz musician Glenn Miller. Before the war he was one of the biggest names in music, and has more number one records than both Elvis Presley and the Beatles. While flying to Paris to entertain the troops in 1944 his plane was lost and his name now adorns the Wall of the Missing.

The church of St Mary Magdalene
The church of St Mary Magdalene

The village also has its own, much smaller graveyard outside the St Mary Magdalene church, which has a sundial that dates back to the 12th century.

As well as church services, the village also hosts a yearly quiz and has two cricket teams, cricket having always been an important, competitive part of village life in this part of the world.

In all the village holds that very special Cambridgeshire feeling. The village is quaint and picturesque, and is a snapshot of a simpler life from the olden days. But close to Cambridge it still has a bustling village life, that so many have lost over the years. And of course there's always the Park & Ride to get into town whenever you need.