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 :)

We had a lovely group meeting last week for Cherry Hinton Community Archives and I am pleased to announce that Cherry Hinton Archives will be working in association with History Pin with archived material being uploaded over the next couple of months. This will mean you can benefit from seeing many of our pictures in Google Street View and you'll be able to add comments to our various archive pictures and stories. If you have anything you wish to add to either Cherry Hinton Community Archives or History Pin and would like some help, please feel free to get in touch with us or use the 'contact me' page of this website :)
I am also pleased to formally announce our association with the Cambridgeshire Collection, who have been involved with the CCAN project from the start. All of our pictures, stories, audio, video etc. will be shared with the Cambridgeshire Collection as a long term archive availble to the public.

It's been a busy week so far. I've been busy working on History Pin, promotion and the amazing plans we have for Cambridgeshire and History Pin. I will keep you posted here on developments. Monday kids went back to school after the half term break, so I have been using most of the time during the day to write up the background history for the War Ditches (Iron Age Hillfort site), still a bit more to do but I'm almost done, there be a good bit about that project on here when I've finished the write up. Monday night I had the Cambridge Antiquarian Council meeting to go to, which was at the Sedgewick site at the Backs in Cambridge. Closely followed by the lecture there on 'War Ditches' given by my collegues Richard Mortimer & Alex Pickstone. Then I went for a nice drink with Proff. Nick James at The Granta by the Cambridge mill pond.
Tuesday morning I chaired the Cherry Hinton Local History Society committee meeting, we got lots of great stuff sorted out. Again a lovely committee to work with and all so supportive and friendly which always makes the difference because I hear some dreadful tales about some committees! One of my friends says she will write a book on committee's one day!
In between that I have popped up to see my granny in the hospital - she's getting along ok and may well be out of hospital today x
Tuesday night it was the Cherry Hinton Community Archives group meeting at Jon's house - another lovely set of people - Jon always produces a cake he has made! We had a lot to discuss as we are now all working in conjunction with History Pin and there's a lot in the pipeline.
Yesterday I went to a lovely village near Huntingdon called Hilton to do a  bridal makeup trial. This morning I am going to get on with finishing War Ditches and I am really looking forward to tomorrow as it's my birthday :) I haven't any plans yet, my son is coming down from Shrewsbury for the weekend and my sister is coming over in the afternoon, I'm just gonna chill out and not work for a day! ;)  m x

NEWS FLASH!!! NEWS FLASH!!!

I am pleased to announce that I am now working in co-ordination with We Are What We Do & Google on a fantastic new project called 'HISTORY PIN'. I am so pleased I have been one of the first people in Cambridgeshire to trial this project and have already added history photos and stories to Google Maps via HISTORY PIN. See below for the OFFICIAL PRESS RELEASE!

I will be working with the project both as an individual and in co-operation with Cambridge Community Archives Network (CCAN). The official launch of the project is next week - I will keep you posted on how that goes, how you can be involved and how you can help record Cambridgeshire's past on this world wide platform :)

Social movement WE ARE WHAT WE DO has joined forces with Google to create Historypin – a digital time machine that creates a new way for the world to see and share history.

Using Google Maps and Streetview technology, Historypin aims to become the largest user-generated archive of the world’s historical images and stories. Its growth relies on archives and the public to dig out, upload and place their old photos onto the site. Uniquely, Historypin allows users to layer their old images onto modern Street View scenes, creating a series of windows into the past.

Working together to develop and deliver Historypin, WE ARE WHAT WE DO and Google have shared a commitment to digital inclusion and finding innovative ways of bringing generations together around online tools. As part of WE ARE WHAT WE DO’s current campaign to get different generations talking more, Historypin was conceived as a fun and easy way for old & young to come together to share their history.

WE ARE WHAT WE DO are inviting the archivist community to participate in growing Historypin. Contributers to date include Mirrorpix, London Transport Museum, London Metropolitan Archives, Cambridge Community Archives Network & many more.