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.

We had a fantastic CCAN (Cambs Community Archives) AGM this year. Held in the conference room, in Cambridge Central Library, right next to the Cambridgeshire Collection. So many people turned up we were in danger of spilling out in to the main library! It was brilliant to see so many of you there and we all felt very proud to be part of such a great and worthwhile project. Well done to everyone involved in CCAN for making it such a strong and inspiring group. We look forward to welcoming along more groups and people and I can’t wait to see what archives and tales you all add over the next year! Many thanks too for Chris Jakes who gave us an excellent talk on the work and use of the Cambridgeshire Collection, we are very pleased to work in partnership with such a great resource.

We have been donated some amazing old photos of the village and members of the Cherry Hinton Archives group have been busy getting them scanned in and uploaded to our CCAN site. We have also got a brilliant set of cine films which show various parts of Cambridge and Cherry Hinton in the 1960’s which we are having transferred to DVD. More news on that as we progress.

Here's just a couple of those pictures:

We, like many of the counties CCAN groups still have lots and lots of photos and stories to upload and continue to build a fantastic community record of life and history in our villages. If you have any memories, stories, pictures, photos and/or ephemera to share we’d love to hear from you. We don’t just want old photos though, all CCAN groups are also a ‘living memory’ and we record current history too. Things like changes to buildings, local events, news and updates on our areas. We also carry out voice recordings, oral history, make pod-casts, videos, DVD’s, books and much more!

Most CCAN groups have regular open meetings that you can attend and bring along your contributions. You don’t have to part with your pictures if you don’t want to either as all groups will scan in you items and give them back to you if you wish. To find out more or to get involved Contact Me or visit www.ccan.co.uk

We have now confirmed that the amazing Cherry Hinton Festival is going ahead this year and the main event will take place on Saturday 17th September on the recreation ground just off Cherry Hinton High Street – to see more details of this and of the festival events that are taking place on the run up to the big day just check out the festival website www.cherryhintonfestival.co.uk

The other great news is, as the festival is going ahead, so too is the 2nd Cambridgeshire History Fair, which is run in conjunction with the Cherry Hinton Festival on the same day and on the same site. Again you can check out the main festival website for more details.

How about booking a pitch and joining us for the day? We welcome any History Societies, groups, museums, hands on history, re-enactors etc. Click here for a list of the people we had attend the 1st Cambs History Fair in 2009.

If you would like to book a place at the history fair, just use the Contact Me form on my website or you can email me at michelle.bullivant@talk21.com with your contact details and what group or organisation you represent and I will send you a booking form. We also welcome individuals who wish to showcase their history based interests. Alternatively you can download the History Fair booking form below, print off and fill in and post back to me - instruction on the form :)

FANTASTIC NEWS!!!! The amazing Cherry Hinton Festival is back this year and is joined by the 2nd Cambridgeshire Open Air History Festival !!!!
The event will be held on Saturday 17th September 2011, so get it in your diaries and watch this space as I will post further details of the event and how to book a pitch if you have a history related stall etc. :)
In the mean time why not check out the festival website, which is just being updated.
http://www.cherryhintonfestival.co.uk/

The Beechwoods

We took Willow for a lovely walk to the Beechwoods the other day. I have gone to the Beechwoods since I was little girl, I once found a butterfly brooch in there! It’s a lovely place and well worth a visit especially if you haven’t been before. Cambridge has some wonderful places to go for picnics, walks and to take the kids and dogs and even better most of them are free.

Just over halfway into the Beechwoods is a hollowed out area in the natural chalk, which we used to aim for as kids - many kids called it 'the skull' due to it's rounded shape. We would run up and down the sides of it.

The Beechwoods is on the Gog Magog Hills in Cambridge. Take a look at the Wildlife Trust’s website page about the Beechwoods where you’ll find a map and directions along with information on the history and info about the nature and wildlife you can find there.

 Wildlife Trust - Beechwoods

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

Cherry Hinton Local History Society had a great start back to our meetings after the summer break on Monday night. Our speaker was Barbara Megson who gave us a really interesting talk about the Harveys of Ickworth. We had some more new members join us and I was also handed some more great old pictures of Cherry Hinton to go onto CCAN (Cambridgeshire Community Archives Network). A great night :)

Our next meeting is on Monday 25th October at the Church Centre at the back of St Andrews Church on the High Street in Cherry Hinton, Cambridge. Visitors are welcome, so why not come along! Our speaker for that night is the fab Lacy Anderson who will be taking all about 'The Cam', we also have a raffle and refreshments :)

As always I am getting busier and busier! I have now just started my teacher training at Hills Road College, Cambridge.
I'll be doing this every Monday night for the next 9 weeks and have homework to do and everything! All good though as I need to get this one under my belt to keep my options open and the group seem nice - people all teaching or preparing to teach in different subjects and areas :)