http://www.cambridge-news.co.uk/Home/Its-Cherry-Hinton-without-the-cherries.htm
I was pleased to lend my support to the plight of the Cherry Trees which were cut down recently at Rectory Terrace in Cherry Hinton. Especially as they are part of our WWII memorial.

THE CHERRY HINTON CHERRY TREES

Name:

Cherry Hinton gets its name from the abundance of Cherry trees which used to grow here. Particularly from the large cherry orchards which use to populate the village from at least the mid 1500’s. Cherry Hinton could almost have been called Saffron Hinton as saffron was also widely grown but Walden had the biggest trade of saffron crop and claimed the name Saffron Walden. In the Domesday book Cherry Hinton is recorded as ‘Hinton’ only. The ‘Cherry’ prefix is first recorded in the mid 1500’s, so Cherry Hinton is actually spelt as two separate words rather than the sometimes mistaken Cherryhinton.

In Church End the is a clue to the Cherry trade with one of the large old houses having the name Cherry Lodge. It was at Cherry Lodge orchards that students from Peterhouse would make their way across the fields to gather and eat the ripe cherries in the late summer months.

War Memorial Cherry Trees:

1st WW Memorial

Cherry Hinton Recreation ground is the village war memorial for all fifty four village servicemen killed during the first world war. Mr E Pamplin, member of the famous Pamplin Steam Engine family and who owned the land in 1927, conveyed the land to five trustees to use as a recreation ground. This conveyance sets out details of the trust and records the fact that the land was acquired by public subscription as a war memorial.

2nd WW Memorial

The ornamental cherry trees along each side of Cherry Hinton High Street, from Mill End road right up to the Church, represent one tree for each of the thirty four village service men who lost their lives fighting for their country in the second world war. They were paid by and planted for the Cherry Hinton Women’s Institute in January 1949. This is why Cherry Hinton has no stone war memorial.

Around 2001 the City Council fell some of these trees which caused an uproar from many in the village and after a small campaign the Council replanted those trees it had cut down. So this is not the first time something like this has happened.

For other articles about the War Memorial and for pictures from the last time some of the Cherry Hinton War Memorial Trees were felled you can visit the Cherry Hinton Group on www.ccan.co.uk and go to pages 21-23.

A New Start 2011

It’s a new year now and for many of us this brings the joy of a new start. We can think back on all the lovely happy things that have happened and all we have achieved over the last year and we can also put behind us the negative experiences and people who do not deserve to be part of our lives. I am so grateful to have such amazing friends, family and colleagues who have helped me and stood by me through everything over the past year. You have all been brilliant and I am very lucky to have you all in my life.

Now to look forward and see what wonderful things 2011 has in store for us.

Most people make some kind of New Years resolutions and I suppose mine aren’t that different to many peoples. I am definitely going to try and completely give us smoking though and instead of worrying and focusing on weight and body image I just want to get more fit and healthy – by focusing on that the other will follow :)

I made a good start by taking Charlotte Ice-skating on Parker’s Piece, Cambridge on new Years Day – blimey those skates don’t half make your feet ache! We usually have to go up to Peterbourgh to the ice-rink there and we only manage that about once a year but the temporary rink at Parker’s Piece was ok – I really hope they do get a permanent one for Cambridge sometime soon though.

Lot’s of exciting things planned for this year already and which I’ll post news and more details of soon but include:

Cambridgeshire Association for Local History’s Diamond Jubilee Year for which we’ll be hosting many various events and celebrations. (www.calh.org.uk)

Cambridgeshire Community Archives growing and new groups joining, new FREE events which include training and oral history recording, video, pod casts and much, much more (www.ccan.co.uk)

Mobile Makeup Artist – I am now looking to recruit several new people to my team and will be growing my business across East Anglia, if you’re feeling the squeeze of January and would like to earn some extra cash, learn a new skill and have amazing fun then please do get in touch and I will give you more info – also please do check out my career opportunities page on here :)

And watch this space for news of my new publications along with the launch of the Cambridge Local History Book Shop!

Michelle xxx