Lost Cambridge

On the day the Census 2021 headline data is released, there is value in analysing what the plans for Cambourne stated in its early days vs what has actually been delivered, and what the further plans are. Have a look at South Cambridgeshire’s results here. You can also see the results of other areas at … More Analysing Cambourne’s contemporary history

From the British Newspaper Archive – The Vote Newspaper of 06 July 1923 The article on Cambridge Women Graduates is here. …and the absence of Cambridge Borough’s MP, Sir Douglas Newton is hard to avoid given the presence of the MPs for Cambridge University – seats that were not abolished until after the Second World … More “When I am MP” – July 1923 – also when Cambridge University’s MPs tried to change the University’s rules to enable women to graduate

I’m in the process of scanning, digitising, and uploading much of my collection of old and very old documents and things that I’ve acquired over the years – and more recently with the help of those of you kind enough to subscribe/donate towards my research. You can see the results of my recent uploads here. … More Digitising old documents for new generations learning about Lost Cambridge

Why compare these three? Cambridge is often compared with Oxford, and Brighton is not only where I used to live but also the only UK seaside resort with a direct rail link from Cambridge. One that was opened twenty years after I might have found it useful instead of having to interchange on the Victoria … More Comparing Oxford, Cambridge, and Brighton’s post war development planning in the motor car age

Some publications by Cambridge City Council that I’ve scanned for you to see. But first, a big Thank you to those of you who have contributed towards the expense of purchasing these old documents from various sources (mainly ‘electronic-bay’, Abe-books’, and G-David in Cambridge) which I’ve spent much of the past few weeks scanning and … More Central Cambridge’s townscape in the 1970s

Another discovery by Mike Petty MBE from his series of digitised articles and images from the Cambridge Daily News in 1935 – have a look here. Above – Not just a pool but a “Swimming Stadium” – Cambridge Daily News 15 April 1935. The text below it (out of shot) reads: “The above design prepared … More The plan for a new indoor swimming pool at Parkside in 1935.

From the British Newspaper Archive, the death of Charles Henry Cooper in 1866 led to may tributes, including this one from Professor John Mayor of St John’s College, who was a Professor of Latin at Cambridge University. The Town Clerk, Coroner, Local Historian and Antiquarian amongst other things, I describe Charles Henry Cooper as the … More Charles Henry Cooper – the Father of Modern Cambridge

I was today years old when I discovered Cambridge once had a centre for unemployed and unwaged people similar to the one that I heard about in Brighton when I lived there in the early 2000s. I’d been asking on-and-off about this for years. Turns out we did have one – it was called the … More The Andrew Murden Centre for Unemployed and Unwaged Citizens

It took a few years and lots of meetings before St Matthew’s Piece could be opened and designated a public park by Cambridge Borough Council. The report also raises some contemporary questions about the construction of, and later the selling off of the old Howard Mallett Centre built on the green. The brass band concerned … More Army brass band opens St Matthew’s Piece, Petersfield, Cambridge, 1898.