Ask Arbury & Arbury Postbag - 2: Manor School, Dormitory Suburbs, Andrew McCulloch, The King Street Tragedy, Phone Boxes in Arbury, and a Plesiosaur Relic

Thanks for all the emails to Arbury Cambridge. We appreciate the questions and feedback and have replied to all.

This is the second of our Ask Arbury articles, in which we highlight some readers' comments and questions.

Mr Reid has written:

I remember the pictures of Andy and Florrie Capp at Turners Fish Locker in Arbury Court. Do you remember Andrew McCulloch's video library in the 1980s and 1990s?

We do! VCRs became affordable and widespread during the 1980s, and Andrew McCulloch was very much into the new technology.

Delicious! A 1978 'Cambridge Evening News' advertisement for Turners Fish Locker in Arbury Court.

Mos has written:

I have been reading here since you started. It is excellent to know the history of Arbury and where everything was. I don't think historic areas are considered to be that important now, simply as election wards which are not in the right areas in Arbury. Everybody only talks about being in Central Cambridge or North Cambridge or Greater Cambridge. As you mentioned, the wealthier areas, like West Chesterton and Newnham, are more considered in terms of their history. I happen to know that when Carlyle Road was included in Arbury Ward for a while, the City Council took great care to distinguish it as part of 'the Chesterton triangle'. Nobody has ever taken any trouble with historic Arbury boundaries. It is good that somebody takes interest in our history here. I enjoy reading but I think for many people Arbury, including the strange King's Hedges, are really just dormitory suburbs or wards of Cambridge. Some of the old Arbury community spirit remains and I like that.

Thanks, Mos. Absolutely. We wanted to put Arbury's history online and we have had a lot of interest. We detail the facts, and readers can take them or leave them as they please. We delight in the fact that the Arbury Carnival still takes place, with the parade through the Arbury Meadows and the festivities at Arbury Town Park. It's always a delight to us to see our wonderful modern community celebrating under the historic Arbury name, which is linked to the oldest known (iron age) community in the area.

Mrs Sargent asks:

Was there a telephone box outside Arbury School in Carlton Way? I seem to remember one, but my sister says there wasn't!

The elders of the Arbury Archivists seem to think there was, Mrs S - if not exactly outside Arbury School, not far away. There are also recollections of one in Campkin Road, opposite Arbury Town Park near the Grove School, and one near the North Arbury Post Office in Cameron Road. There were also a couple, side by side, in Arbury Court.

Jim Smith's article What Did the Romans Ever Do for Arbury? has attracted many page views. Songe writes:

I love your blog. 'North Arbury' has been part of my vocabulary since I moved to the so-called King's Hedges over 20 years ago as it's what the more knowledgeable and experienced people have always called the estate to me. I didn't know that it's on a site previously known as Arbury Meadows though! The Manor Farm is also interesting because Manor School was the original name of North Cambridge Academy. I read something about a plesiosaur bone being discovered on one of the Arbury Meadows Roman sites very recently, apparently prized by its Roman occupants!

Thanks, Songe. Yes, we read about the plesiosaur relic. We must write something up about it!

Crissie T writes:

You must feature more about the Manor! If not I'm gonna walk up and down Arbury Road with a banner chanting 'MORE MANOR! MORE MANOR!' I'm kidding and congrats on the blog which is only brilliant but more Manor please. My kids go to North Cambridge Academy and even they're interested in the Manor. Ta.

Lots more Manor School/Community College material in the pipeline, Crissie - we promise!

We've had several questions regarding Mrs Hinchcliffe's memories and the 'King Street Tragedy' of 1921 - the murder of Miss Alice Maud Lawn at her shop in King Street, Cambridge.

We have replied to all questions personally, but here is one of the most frequently asked:

Do you have more details about the murder and Miss Lawn?

Andy first heard of the tragedy via his grandmother, Mrs Hinchcliffe, when he was a child in the 1970s. Mrs Hinchcliffe mentioned no details regarding Miss Lawn other than those included in the transcript, apart from the fact that the Lawn family was known to her mother to a small degree. Mrs Hinchcliffe's only contact with Miss Lawn was through childhood visits to the shop with her father.

It was what we call an 'off Arbury' event, but simply included as Arbury did not (and does not) exist in a vacuum and the wider world of Cambridge did (and does) feature in people's lives.

Andy was surprised to discover the 'two hooligans apprehended by the police/Miss Lawn pushed down stairs' inaccuracies: 'I'd grown up with knowledge of the King Street Tragedy and my grandmother's memory was second to none, so it startled me to discover the truth.'

The full facts of the case as it unfolded are available in the newspaper archive at the Cambridgeshire Collection at Cambridge Central Library, and we think there is also a book on Cambridge area murders that covers the case, which is also at the Collection.

More Ask Arbury soon!

Comments

A Tribute To Debbie - Much Loved Arbury Archivist

The death of Debbie Brett on Sunday has saddened us all deeply. Debbie was very much an 'outdoors person', she loved the countryside. She painted and drew in her spare time, and liked nothing better than being on a train going somewhere! She was always deeply moved by the beauties of nature and, sitting in her hospital bed at home a few days before she died, watching the sky deepen from light to dark blue as the evening set in and the lights appeared in the windows opposite, exclaimed: 'Isn't it beautiful?!' 'I wouldn't have noticed,' said her husband Andy. 'But when I looked, it was. She took great pleasure out of looking out of the window, noting all the flora and fauna. I'm so glad the NHS supplied a hospital bed and she was able to stay at home until the end.' Debbie was a very loyal and active member of the Arbury Archivists - as she said, she 'married an Arbury man' - hubby Andy has family links here back to the old farm days in

Manor School Memories Part 1

The Manor School on Arbury Road was one of the main focuses of life for North and South Arbury for decades. With its evening classes and youth centre, and various community activities - like the annual Christmas party for the elderly and the annual school play in the 1980s ( Annie Get Your Gun and Dracula Spectacular spring to mind) - the Manor opened as separate boys' and girls' schools in 1959 (the girls had to share the boys' buildings at first as their own were still under construction). The school later became co-ed. An aerial view of t he Manor Schools - Boys' and Girls', around 1960, with a section of Arbury Road and Arbury Court. Note Arbury Court was yet to gain its library and large supermarket building, and Campkin Road was still the Manor Farm Drive. The lay of the land, complete with field names, at the Manor Farm in 1900. The Park Meadow contains the Manor School/Community College and North Cambridge Academy sites. The Manor Farm was established

Exploring The REAL King's Hedges...

The Cambridge and St Ives Branch railway line is now the Guided Busway. Where was King's Hedges historically? How did the name come about? Why is the majority of King's Hedges Road no more historic than late 1970s - and nothing to do with the course of the original road? What have council planners of the 1960s and 1970s and the needs of motorists got to do with the King's Hedges presence in the historic Arbury district? All will be revealed... We're going to leave Arbury briefly and go to King's Hedges. No, not King's Hedges Ward/King's Hedges Estate (AKA North Arbury) - that area is, in reality, one of the most Arbury of Arbury areas in Cambridge historically, but the REAL King's Hedges. North of the Guided Busway. You see, the land north of Arbury Road is the site of the Arbury Camp, the Arbury/Harborough (a variation on the Arbury name) Meadows and Furlongs and the Arbury fields of Manor Farm. It has absolutely nothing to do with King's Hedges at

What Did The Romans Ever Do for Arbury? Jim Smith

Our trusty old Arbury map showing location details before the Manor Farm was established. The red line, inspired by Jim Smith's Roman Arbury map, indicates the course of the Roman road - Akeman Street or the Mere Way. The land north of Arbury Road was the Arbury or Harborough Meadows, Arbury/Harborough furlongs and Arbury Camp, King's Hedges was in its original position, north of the railway (now guided busway) and Arbury Road ran from the Ely/Milton Road to the Histon/Cambridge Road - as it did until the late 1970s. Introduction - by the Arbury Archivists Jim Smith is a local history researcher and a good friend of the Arbury Cambridge Blog. He has been researching Roman finds in the historic Arbury area and has written this article for us. We are most grateful! He follows the adventures of those who scraped away centuries of soil to reveal ancient findings beneath. Of course, as always, we deal with historic Arbury here, not council planners' estates or electoral wards,

Arbury Court - Part Of The 'Centre' Of The Original Arbury Estate...

A view across Arbury Court, looking towards Arbury Road, in 1976. Arbury Court is part of the 'centre' of the original Arbury Estate in Cambridge. The Court, with its pub, supermarket, hardware store and post office, chip shop, newsagent, TV shop, greengrocer, hairdresser, chemist, supermarket and branch library, is part of the 'hub' of the estate. The historic Arbury district. The Arbury or Harborough (the names were variations on each other and interchangeable) Meadows and Furlongs covered land north of Arbury Road, and included a swathe of land south of the road. Arbury Road ran from Milton Road to the Histon/Cambridge Road until the late 1970s. The Manor Farm was formed in the years following the 1840 Chesterton Enclosures. Orchard Park (originally Arbury Park and, before that, Arbury Camp Farm) features the outline of part of the Arbury prehistoric settlement at Ring Fort Road. We've inserted the sites of Arbury Court, Arbury Town Park, the Guided Busway, and t

Manor School Memories - Part 2

Lads from the Manor Boys' School in 1960. D. Claton, M. Farrow, R. Mitchell, C. Peck, I. Skeels, R. Potter and G. Paine are present. Do any readers remember who is who? School's back in - Manor School/Community College on Arbury Road that is (now North Cambridge Academy). Here is the second part of our series on Manor Memories - Part 1 is here . Pupils' foreign holiday, 1960: the first Manor girls to go on a joint foreign holiday with Manor boys: G. Anderson, J. Barnes, C. Blackwell, H. Brown, S. Budd, L. Carter, A. Clarke, L. Doggett, C. Doughty, P. Drake, S. Hardy, E. Harradine, B. Kaspar, D. Miller, J. Parker, L. Phillips, J. Reeves, J. Spencer, J. Symonds, with headmistress Mrs Firman. Note the Manor Schools' caretaker's house can be seen in the background, and the trees of the old Manor Farm orchard. October 1960, and here is a view of the Manor Boys' and Girls' schools from the car park at the Snow Cat public house (now the Cambridge Gurdwara). A view

Main Streets of Arbury: Campkin Road - Part 1

Left: work begins on Campkin Road in 1961. Numbers 1 and 2 Manor Farm Cottages have been demolished, but the intention is to preserve the old trees lining the old Manor Farm Drive. Right: a similar view in more modern times, with the Arbury Town Park and Campkin Road. In 1982, Campkin Road was described as the 'Hauptstrasse of North Arbury' by local journalist Sara Payne. Ms Payne's local history articles in the Cambridge Weekly News were hugely popular and, for each one, Ms Payne visited a street in Cambridge and talked to the residents, collecting their memories for publication and producing a fascinating series of 'Then and Now' style articles. 'Cambridge Weekly News', 1982. Down Your Street followed in the footsteps of a similar series in the local press in the early 1960s - by Erica Dimmock - and both now make fascinating reading. We're starting our look at Campkin Road with material from the 'Arbury 1980' project and accounts from locals

Ask Arbury: The Roman Villa in Arbury

E-mail to Arbury Cambridge blog: Was a Roman villa found at King's Hedges? I recently saw an outside display in North Arbury/King's Hedges Ward called 'The Roman Landscape in King's Hedges' which claims there was one. And is King's Hedges Road Roman? We've seen that display. Electoral wards are not historic areas and local historians really do need to be mindful of that fact. The answer to your questions regarding the Roman villa and King's Hedges Road is no. The Roman villa was found on the site of King's Hedges School, which is not part of the historic King's Hedges acres. Historically, King's Hedges was simply a named property, a farm, of fifty eight acres, and is now north of the guided busway. It was never a district. King's Hedges School is dearly loved by many of us and we treasure it, but those in the know accept it's not actually in any historically meaningful King's Hedges district, and the site it was built on ha

Things Called Arbury In Cambridge...

How many things that are, or have been, called 'Arbury' in Cambridge and its immediate environs can you think of over the years? Most 'Arbury' things are clustered north of Arbury Road - one of the most historic Arbury areas in Cambridge, although, nonsensically, part of the "King's Hedges" electoral ward. Check out King's Hedges on the map. That's right. It's north of the guided busway/railway line and was a fifty eight acre farm. A lot of the land north of Arbury Road, and a swathe of land to the south, were known as the Arbury or Harborough Meadows, North Arbury/Harborough Furlong, etc. Harborough is a variation on the Arbury name. We put our thinking caps on, and came up with: 1) Arbury Road: This road connected the Milton/Ely Road with the Histon/Cambridge Road until the late 1970s when a new road was built across the Arbury Meadows/Manor Farm by the iron age Arbury Camp at the time of the A14 development. The new road connected Arbury Ro

Arbury Archaeology and History: Part 1

Imagine an iron age settlement. It is surrounded by a circular earthwork. People live here. There are houses, and pens for animals within the enclosure. Until recent years, it was not believed to be a fort. The settlement is larger than some, but believed to be very much the equivalent of what we now call a village - the earthwork simply to defend it from wolves and animal thieves. The earthwork is filled with water, and reeds and rushes grow there. Despite the naming of the Arbury earthwork as 'Ring Fort Road' in the Arbury Camp Farm Arbury/Orchard Park development, the original height of the earthwork and its enclosed area were not believed to indicate that Arbury was a fort (compare to Wandlebury), and the findings of archaeologists from Cambridge and London from the early 1960s to 1970 discounted the notion. Comment from Arbury Camp, Cambridge, A Preliminary Report on Excavations - by John Alexander and David Trump, 1970: The excavations therefore tend to confirm earlier s

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