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SHE READS BOOKS And Has Adventures
July 2, 2019

The Dinky Doors Of Cambridge, England

Portals into another dimension? Teleportation from one area to another? Props for a science fiction television show or fairy doors? When one sees the Dinky Doors of Cambridge, England, the tiny doors stir the imagination and delight both young and old. On my most recent trip to Cambridge, I enjoyed venturing out in different directions to try to find all the Dinky Doors.    

A typical scene in England: Phone booths. But notice there’s a little something extra in amongst these four. Do you see it?
Here’s a closer look. It is tiny and well camouflaged.
A tiny teleporter, right out of a science fiction movie, but ready for action in Cambridge. It looks like there is a choice of destinations and like it would be an inexpensive way to travel.

The Dinky Doors are all different and are not all in the same area of Cambridge. The funny thing about it is one could say that they are all hiding in plain sight. Many of them probably are never even noticed by people walking by day after day.

Parker’s Piece, Cambridge, England

One such place is probably the Dinky Door at Parker’s Piece. Parker’s Piece is a large, flat area near the center of Cambridge with two walking and biking paths that cross each other diagonally. In the center where the two paths cross, there is a single lamp post. This lamp post is called the Reality Checkpoint.

The Reality Checkpoint with a Dinky Door at the base.

The Dinky Door at the Reality Checkpoint looks like an elevator door. It makes me wonder, due to its location, if it is not a normal vertically moving elevator but maybe a horizontally moving one that moves along the intersecting pathways. The only problem with that theory is that there appears to be eight different destinations and only four paths leaving from the lamp post.

The Reality Checkpoint Dinky Door, with destinations that appear to go from Splendid to Feisty. Note the bottle of milk outside the door and the welcome mat.

The third Dinky Door I found was on Downing Street and I was amazed that it was still there and intact. I knew it existed before I arrived in Cambridge and had been worried that this one, as well as any of the other Dinky Doors in existence, would no longer be there when I was finally able to see it for myself. I think most people would not do anything to harm the doors but as you can see by this picture, it would be easy to step on this one accidentally.

This Downing Street Dinky Door blends into its surroundings quite well.

The Dinky Door on Downing Street appears to be a tiny replica of the actual 10 Downing Street’s door to the University of Cambridge’s Institute for Sustainability Leadership.

The 10 Downing Street Dinky Door

In another area of Cambridge near the river, there is a very ordinary Royal Mail receptacle. A much smaller version of it, complete with the little spikes on the top, stands beside it. It is, however, different in that it is black instead of red and also it doesn’t deal with paper mail. It is called a Emailerator.

Another example of a Dinky Door hiding in plain sight.
The Emailerator: A Letter-to-Email Service

There are only three steps to using the Emailerator. Number One: You insert your letter and Number Three: Letter gets emailed. The Number Two step I find quite curious. The directions simply say Feisty Magic. It’s thought provoking to me because if you remember the Dinky Door at the Reality Checkpoint, the destinations went from Splendid to Feisty.

Inside this Dinky Door is a little laptop computer and on the screen it says repeatedly, “All work and no play makes Dinky Doors all the more necessary.” This makes complete sense to me.

An inside view of the Dinky Door Emailerator.

 The next Dinky Door is actually hard to miss if you are walking in the right direction.

This Dinky Door melds in well with the surroundings.

I think that this one could be interpreted in several ways as not everyone will view it the same. It probably would depend on your background and beliefs.   It has the angel carving on All Saint’s Passage looking down on this little doorway with an obvious demon inside the door.

The present left on Mr. D. Mon’s doorstep with love from Angela.

 The next Dinky Door is one that I find quite delightful, as I like tiny things. This one was cleverly placed amongst other shops.

A great location for a Dinky Door.  Not as much chance to be stepped on in this area.
The Wonder Emporium, ready for tiny shoppers.

Gifts From Above, what a wonderful idea for a Dinky Door. All the little items are quite ordinary but yet each item makes one wonder why it is on the shelf.

Note the security camera on the top, along with the warning to thieves on the bottom.

Since I left Cambridge in May, there has been a new door placed there and yet another one still under creation. I’m looking forward to another hunt for more Dinky Doors on my next trip.   I am sure there will be many more to find.  

Please comment and let me know your thoughts about these little doors.

If you wish to know more about the Dinky Doors of Cambridge, you can visit https://www.dinkydoors.co.uk

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4 thoughts on “The Dinky Doors Of Cambridge, England”

  1. Cheryl A Hillman says:
    July 3, 2019 at 7:50 am

    I love reading your story they are so interesting the things you find to write about

    Reply
    1. Lizziejean says:
      July 3, 2019 at 4:28 pm

      Thanks. I like telling people all about different things like this. There are a lot of interesting things in this world to see.

      Reply
  2. Mary Rose says:
    July 3, 2019 at 6:18 pm

    Wow! I didn’t even know dinky doors existed. Some of them I was hard put to see until you did your close-up picture. Thank you for expanding my world in such a delightful way:)

    Reply
  3. Jane Arellano says:
    February 13, 2020 at 2:03 am

    I really enjoyed your article. I have been to the UK many times but I have never been to Cambridge. I loved the whimsical nature of these dinky doors. I thought the D. Mon was funny. Thanks for sharing a wonderful and interesting article.

    Reply

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