Arbury - 1955

Glorious colour photograph of Arbury Road in 1955, showing the entrance to the Manor Farm, with Numbers 1 and 2 Manor Farm Cottages, part of the Manor Orchard, and, in the distance, Mr Ernest Sale's Manor Nurseries.

Mr Sale lived at No 1, Manor Farm Cottages.

In February 1955, work was underway on the original South Arbury, previously Hall Farm, with Stage One planned to include about 240 houses, flats and bungalows, two churches, a cinema, a pub and a shopping centre. The new primary school (Arbury) was underway.

In the end, South Arbury never got the cinema, but did get two pubs - the Carlton and the Snowcat.

The Council was already considering the land north of Arbury Road (Manor Farm) for a northern counterpart estate.

This would become North Arbury, with work beginning around 1958 on the Manor Schools (boys' and girls') - which opened in 1959.

We have marked the photograph with items of interest, and also included our 1900 map for orientation - the red dot marks the photographer's spot!

Many thanks to Mike Petty and James Milner for the 'On This Day In Cambridgeshire History' article:

https://www.inyourarea.co.uk/news/feb-2-on-this-day-in-cambridgeshire-history/

Ernest Sale was sorry to leave his cottage, which was demolished in 1960. He died in 1961.

Work began on North Arbury with the Manor School in the late 1950s. Community facilities were hard fought for by Arbury residents, but by the mid-1970s North Arbury Estate had the Arbury Adventure Playground, the Arbury Community Centre and Arbury Town Park. The Manor Farm Cottages stood in the middle of Campkin Road, with traffic now passing over the site. The back gardens now form part of the Arbury Town Park and Arbury Community Centre site.

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