An oft-received email here at Brain Damage, particularly around the summer months, comes from those on their travels. Specifically, those visiting towns and cities in England, and wanting guidance on finding the key sites of Pink Floyd-related interest.

Coming to their rescue is the recently published "A Pink Floyd fan's illustrated guide to Cambridge". This handily pocket-sized book gives an exhaustive tour of the place where many of the key individuals grew up, and where the early iterations of the band came together.

Cambridge was, of course, the home town of Roger Waters, Syd Barrett and the man who would later replace him in the group, David Gilmour. Original Pink Floyd member Rado (Bob) Klose was also a Cambridge lad, as was Storm Thorgerson. The book draws on various interviews with these people, along with some of their contemporaries, to give a flavour of what Cambridge was like in the 1960s.

Ranging from the Rex Cinema (venue for early Pink Floyd and Joker's Wild concerts) through to Ely Cathedral (seen on The Division Bell cover), the book takes in family homes, social places and professional venues across the whole Cambridge area.

It is through the anecdotal and interview segments that the significance of some of the locations becomes clear. There is a staggering amount of detail gleaned on many of the entries - much of this is interesting, although sometimes there is too much detail and information, particularly for places that the authors admit only have a relatively tenuous link to the band.

However, one could argue that coverage of, for instance, the various pubs and cafes frequented by various Floyd-related personnel gives a sense of the day-to-day life of these people, where of course paths would occasionally cross with interesting consequences.

With broadly speaking one page per place, you get full information alongside a picture of it (or of what now stands there), and a large scale map of each part of Cambridge. The authors have made it pretty easy to pinpoint each of the entries. This is particularly useful when the places are areas rather than specific addresses, or indeed if the place has undergone redevelopment.

This convenient book will be the answer for many who want to catch key Floyd sites on their visit to the area. The book only has limited outlets at the moment, but can be ordered for worldwide delivery through this link at Amazon UK.