In the Cambridge Evening News of 1989 there was a local history article accompanying the political debate on extending the Grafton Centre. Just over 30 year later and the collapse of high street retail and 1980s-style shopping centres resulted in the site being put up for sale and marketed as suitable for science and tech … More A timeline of The Kite’s decline in the 20th Century
On the opposite side was another pub – the Malt and Hops which was taken over by some familiar faces in South Cambridge. An old digitised newspaper article pointed me to the old Beehive Pub on the corner of Ainsworth Street and Stone Street on the west side of the railway line. G-Maps Streetview gives … More The old Beehive Pub in the heart of Petersfield / St Matthew’s Ward, Cambridge.
The case of King’s Hedges infant and junior schools, designed by Gordon Logie, and the 25 year campaign by Cllr “Red Janet” Jones of Cambridgeshire Labour to get the buildings replaced. There’s a local history project for any interested teenagers interested in the challenges that North Cambridge faced in the late 20th Century – a … More The post-war school buildings that were crumbling by the 1980s
For some reason it’s never as good as the Monty Python original, but it’s a useful to remember what previous generations went through to achieve things we take for granted. The “What have the Romans ever done for us?” scene …from Monty Python’s The Life of Brian. In 2016 the Trades Union Congress commissioned their … More “What have the trade unions done for us?!? Oh yeah – holiday with pay, there is that” 1937.
Come to my event! It’s free! Tickets and details are at https://www.opencambridge.cam.ac.uk/events/cambridges-unbuilt-concert-hall Hope to see many of you there!
I wrote about the recent Demise of the Crown on my other blog regarding the late Queen Elizabeth II and the coming to an end of what I assume will be known as the Elizabethan Age. But between 1820-1838, Britain went through George III, George IV, William IV, and finally the latter’s niece, Queen Victoria. … More King George III is dead! Let the great bell ring! All day! Cambridge 1820 and the Demise of the Crown
In this very recently digitised piece from the British Newspaper Archive here, we find Labour’s first MP asking if the Local Government Officers’ association should affiliate to the Trades Union Congress. The National Association for Local Government Officers – NALGO, would later affiliate to the Trades Union Congress – the foundation stone of the modern … More Former Cambridge MP, Cllr Arthur Leslie Symonds speaks at the National Association for Local Government Officers’ Jubilee. 1955.
I’ve transcribed this summary from a recently-digitised series of uploads from the British Newspaper Archive of live in Cambridge in 1994. Within the Cambridge Weekly News’ edition of 26 January 1994 (a time when I delivered its sister paper the Evening News on my paper round) was this article by local historian Mike Petty MBE, … More Mike Petty’s summary of the 20th Century Lion Yard Redevelopment and multi-storey car park from 1994
Continued from Part 1 here “At 9.15pm The Mayor stood on a small dais in the reading department and said it was his privilege to declare the new building open. (Applause). On Thursday the ordinary routine of the library work would begin there. By means of that building they hoped that the advantages of the … More The opening of the Mill Road Library, Cambridge – June 1897 (Part 2 – the speeches)
Following the news that the Mill Road Library building is being put up for sale by Cambridgeshire County Council, a new Save Mill Road Library FB Group has formed for anyone interested in supporting a community right to bid application. Above – Save Mill Road Library! Alternatively you can contact the Petersfield Area Community Trust, … More The opening of the Mill Road Library, Cambridge – June 1897 (Part 1 – the library & attendees described)
Lost Cambridge 