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.