I had a brilliant time at Ramsey 1940's Weekend again this year. I went for the first time last year and can't wait until it's on again next year. It is such a great event with loads of people in costume and loads to see and do. I was there doing 1940's makeovers for the weekend. I took my dad along for the Saturday and we stayed there all day and for the big Hanger Dance in the evening. Russell's dad and his partner teach Lindy Hop so we nearly always bump into each other at these period events. Russ and I gave the Lambeth Walk a go on the Saturday night and when I told Charlotte (8yrs) about that she surprised me by signing the whole Lambeth Walk song to me - apparently they had learnt it at school when they studied World War II last term!

mThe other night we went for a walk up at Wimpole Folly. I love it up there, I have done a good bit of archaeology research and landscape history around Wimpole Hall itself and have loads of great memories of past field trips with people like Twigs Way and Alison Taylor doing things like surveying and working out where the old villages used to be. The Folly is part of the landscape of Wimpole Hall and if you park up the little side road near the folly there is a public footpath and gate so that you can go for a nice walk. I took Russ up there to show him the site as he hadn't been before and for the first time ever I saw cows in the field we needed to walk to. We made our way across the field up to the folly almost going from tree to tree incase the cows were bulls! The folly looks like a kind of castle ruin but that is exactly how it was designed to look. Once you get up close you can see the red brick work faced by limestone which creates this illusion. It was built as a feature in the grounds of Wimpole Hall, Cambridgeshire. Phillip Yorke (1st Earl of Hardwick), was the owner of Wimpole Hall in the mid-late 1700's and he commissioned Mr. Sanderson Miller  to design the folly in 1751, it was later re-built by 'Capability' Brown in 1769. Most of the folly is set out as ruins but the Gothic tower was designed to be used. The tower is a four story structure and was a great place for the gentlemen to go off to play cards and get up to other 'activities'. Wimpole Hall itself is now a National Trust property. I love old parks and gardens and especially all of the garden features like follies and grottos :)

We went to Newmarket races and saw Madness as part of the fantastic 'Newmarket Nights'. I love going there, it's always such a lovely atmosphere, everyone gets all dressed up and the surroundings are lovely. The architecture is amazing and when you're standing in the stands at the Rowley Race Course you can see the lenght of the Devils Dyke running along the north side of the course. It has become one of my summer things to do now, last year I went with my sisters to Newmarket Nights and we saw Boyzone (not in the slightest embarrassed about that!). This time I made 2 little bets and lost a fiver lol! But made up for it by drinking lovely Pimms and being all posh in the Premier Enclosures ;) Madness were great to see and there was such a massive crowd....wonder what I'll go and see next year :)

Poor granny has been back in hospital but she should be out today. She's amazing, she just keeps fighting and is made of strong stuff! Along with my sisters new little baby, granny now has yet another great great grandchild as my 2nd cousin Liam Toller has just had a baby. It's amazing how many peoples lives granny has affected and help make :)
I am still juggling being a mum and working, summer holidays are always a challenge! I have been teaching Charlotte (my 8yr old) to knit, we can only do little stright lines but it is a bit of fun. Sophie (my 17yr old) moved back home last week which is great but poor thing, she can't unpack properly yet as the bedroom she is going to have, the plaster fell off of the walls! the council should be coming to fix it on the 31st and then she can get sorted. In the mean time the house has been a muddle what with the old fireplace and boiler being taken out and a new combi boiler being fitted in our bedroom, the phone and internet wire coming off the wall outside - which has just been fixed today and Iain (my 16yr old) due homw next week!!! Life can certainly be interesting! Little puppy Willow is doing great, she had her micro-chip put in yesterday and we are taking her to puppy training classes at the weekend :) In between all that I have finished off my War Ditches work, done several wedding makeup jobs and been busy with other work. More updates will follow later so keep an eye out!

Whooppee! War Ditches is done and dusted :)

War Ditches is being printed off as I write! The background research of this Iron Age Hillfort site has taken me about a year to do, as with any research I feel there is still lots and lots more that can be done but alas, time and money have long since run out and above all that my family would like their home back and their mum! The house has truely turned into a tip over this last week of finishing off the writing, editing and proof reading - this is due partly to it being summer holidays and the need to try and amuse my 8 year old in a way that meant I could still get the work done, I simply adopted a policy of 'sod the housework' and I will be dealing with the consequences of that in the morning!!!
However, I am very pleased with the work I have done and will be opening a little bottle of champagne when I get home from handing it in :)
I will continue the remaining research in my own time and hope to have the book about the site out by next summer but the pressure will now be off and I can relax to some degree. We have lots of fantastic plans coming up over the next few months and you'll see a great deal added to both CCAN and to History Pin, so watch out for news here!

I am on my last edit of War Ditch research and will have handed that in to Oxford Archaeology for the Wildlife Trust by next week :) I can't wait to share the news about it and get the book published, I'll keep you posted!
I have done a couple of wedding makeovers this weekend and in between that we got to go to the amazing annual Cambridge Folk Festival. We had a stall there to promote The Friends of Cherry Hinton Hall. As the festival is held within the Hall grounds and so many people come form all over the world to the Folk Festival it was a great chance to share with them information about the site they use :) It was really good fun and I'll get some more of the pics uploaded on to our Cherry Hinton CCAN site for you to have a look at shortly...

Last Monday I paid another visit to Netherhall School to take some more photos and retreive any items of use before the old lower school is pulled down in the next few weeks. I was accomapnied by Jon & Nic Phillips, Sandra Day and Liz Brown. We managed to takes lots of great archives pics which will soon be added to Cherry Hinton CCAN and we got some great archive pieces, like the old classroom signs and wing signs :)

I've had a very busy couple of weeks and haven't had the chance to get on here to do my blog ! Summer holidays have started and Charlotte went along to the Holiday Club run by the Churches in Cherry Hinton last week, in the mornings. She had a great time and we got to go to a lovely fun fair, parents show on evening :) Poor granny is still very ill and the family are having to do shifts looking after her, it has been really really hard, especially seeing her when she isn't thinking clearly, it can be very distressing, I hope she gets more better days and things sort out a more :(
Well, one week of summer holidays done only 5 more to go! Will have to go for more picnics and walks, which will be easier now that little puppy has had her injections and can go out as of Friday and I've almost finished writing up War Ditches research :)
So, what else has been happening....
On Saturday 24th July we had the Cherry Hinton Community Groups Fair which was hosted by The Friends of Cherry Hinton Hall and showcased all different kinds of groups and clubs in the local area. It was a great chance to meet each other and find out what things are going on in and around Cherry Hinton.
We had a packed afternoon of displays and demos by some of the groups and then The Friends of Cherry Hinton Hall had its new logo unveiled by the Mayor. We had got local school children to enter a competition to design the logo and had choosen a winner at our last meeting. There was a lovely bit in the paper about it last week and the Mayor spent some time with me finding out all about CCAN and looking at the Cherry Hinton CCAN :)