The road to Nowhereville

There is no shade in Northstowe. My trip to Britain’s biggest new town since Milton Keynes was originally postponed because a 37°C forecast would have made even a short amble around it too punishing. There are no shops, so no awnings or arcades. No mature trees. No porticos. No chance to shelter in the damp-kissed cool of a medieval stone church.

Planned in 2007, with its first residents moving in ten years later, Northstowe is a 25-minute drive – and everyone drives – from Cambridge. Around 3,000 residents live in the town, where 1,600 of the target 10,000 homes have been built so far. But there is still not a single shop, and no GP surgery, library, pharmacy, dentist, museum or heritage centre. There is one academy that covers all year groups. The only gym is the one at the school.