Summary …and the digitisation of long lost articles on the history of Cambridge I was in the Cambridgeshire Collection earlier today and discovered the undigitised copies of the Cambridgeshire Association of Local History‘s past publications. I browsed through about 65 years worth of records and articles – so by no means went into any detail. … More Medieval Cambridge Market Square
Summary On how historical knowledge can help inform future policy making I promised Sarah Nicmanis, one of the organisers of Cambridge’s Changing Conversations event series that I’d write a blogpost on a small workshop I hosted at their event on transport, where Nicola Terry and Emma Fletcher spoke about the problems and possible solutions. Before … More Cambridge Transport – how did we get to here?
Summary A detailed response from Cambridgeshire historian Mike Petty MBE “When the Cambridge (Daily) News moved offices from St Andrews Street to Newmarket Road most of the original glass negatives and prints were dumped. One photographer, John Carter, defied instructions by saving score of prints which he took to his home on Milton Road. I … More Cambridge’s lost photo archives
Summary Any suggestions? Ploughing through the newspaper archives in the Cambridge Central Library and the http://www.britishnewspaperarchive.co.uk/ has opened the world of lots of old photographs from the newspapers of decades ago. The Central Library has a digitising machine that allows you to take screengrabs of articles from their extensive microfiche collection that Mike Petty and friends must … More What happened to the photo archives of old newspapers?
Summary Eglantyne Jebb gives me another pointer In an excruciatingly tough session in the archives today due to a toxic mix of general election exhaustion and depression, I managed to re-read parts of Eglantyne Jebb’s study of social questions and cross-referenced it with a book published a year prior that she mentioned, “Housing in Cambridge” … More Housing reform in Cambridge in late 1800s
Summary Town and gown united to protest against Neville Chamberlain’s policy of appeasement – and of conscription in the run up to the Second World War I took these screenshots from a video in the Central Library, Cambridge in their 3rd floor media unit. One of the things that strikes me about the images, as … More Cambridge May Day protests in 1939
Summary An ever-present force in the first half of the 20th Century in Cambridge, our city has much to be grateful to her for. In the days when newspapers listed the names of councillors who attended meetings, and when they quoted debates verbatim, one name comes up with incredible frequency: “Mrs Rackham”. But who was … More Cllr Clara Rackham – half a century of public service
Summary She may have received tellybox fame very late in life, but Baroness Trumpington was a huge civic presence in our city. And not just because she is 6ft tall. I stumbled across this book originally at the height of Lady Trumpington’s late media fame – prior to my interest in local democracy in Cambridge. Its … More Mayor Jean Barker – Lady Trumpington, the First Conservative Woman Mayor of Cambridge
Summary You have probably heard of the Venn diagram. But did you know its creator, Dr John Venn, a Cambridge academic was also an active participant in Cambridge’s civic society? Ploughing through the various local archives in Cambridge on all things turn of the 19th/20th Century and one name seems to pop up all over … More Dr John Venn – more than just that diagram
Summary A little known historical gem linking up even more people and groups in the story of Lost Cambridge. The Co-operative Movement – here’s a little intro on what they do today. I’m one of the 17.5m people with a co-op card. Follow their overhaul of all things digital at https://twitter.com/CoopDigital, now led by the former … More The cooperative movement in our university town
