Chesterton Local History Group Journal, 1986.

'Chesterton', the journal of the Chesterton Local History Group, 1986. St Andrew's School is pictured on the cover. The Manor Farm children attended there, and were allowed to leave ten minutes early in the winter months so they could complete their journey home before it got dark.

It was in late 1985 that Andy gave a talk to Chesterton Local Group at St Andrew's School in the village entitled 'Rural Arbury - 1840 to 1960'.

This covered the period from the Chesterton Enclosures to the building of the North Arbury Estate, and centred heavily on the Manor Farm on Arbury Road. Derek Stubbings headed the group, and was very dedicated. 'A great local history enthusiast and thoroughly nice bloke,' says Andy today.

In early 1986, Andy wrote an article for Chesterton, the group's journal, about Manor Farm.

We believe it was Derek's son who did the illustrations for the journal. It was not easy to get photographs clearly and affordably reproduced for printed matter back then, and the drawings were a great way round that problem.

Andy's great-great grandparents moved from the original King's Hedges, the small farm north of the railway/guided busway (see map), in 1886 (Andy has managed to firm up the 'around 1885' information since the 1980s), and the article he wrote for the journal centred squarely on Manor Farm.

Have a read. 

Chesterton Local History Group Programme, autumn 1985 and winter/spring 1986. Derek Stubbings headed the group and was fascinated by Arbury history. The programme includes talks by Tom Doig, curator of what was then the Cambridge & County Folk Museum, and Sara Payne, local journalist, who wrote the highly popular 'Down Your Street' articles for the 'Cambridge Weekly News'.

Arbury, around 1900. Andrew's grandmother laughed at the council's 'King's Hedges Estate/King's Hedges Ward' notions. 'King's Hedges is at King's Hedges!' she said. 'Honestly, what are these people thinking of?'

Note the excellent sketch of the Manor Farmhouse in the 'Chesterton' journal in 1986, and (below) the original photograph, donated to the Arbury Archive by Dr John Bennett, son of Colonel Charles Bennett, in 1983.

The original photograph, which features a young Dr John Bennett and his father, Colonel Charles Bennett.

Richard Brett looked forward to his 'docky'. This was a traditional midday meal for farm labourers and was eaten out in the fields. During the summer, Richard often worked from dawn until it got too dark to see, with a brief break for an evening meal. Housework was a very different matter for Amelia from our push-button world of today. 'Mod cons' were non-existent, with washing done in a large copper heated by a wood fire, a mangle in the outhouse and 'hoovering' being hand sweeping with a broom. Richard would take care of the heavier aspects of the work, including emptying the 'privy' once a week.