Rebecca Downham with her step-father Brian in Carlton Way. Rebecca Downham, step-daughter of Brian Downham, who was born at the Manor Farm in 1943 and lived there until its demolition, got in touch with us just before Christmas last year. It was a marvellous surprise for Andy, who had interviewed Brian several times in the very early days of the Arbury Archive.  'I was very nervous about starting the Archive,' he says. 'It was a big undertaking, but Sallie Purkis was very encouraging. She had been a great power behind the 'Arbury 1980' project and the 1981 book, Arbury is where we live! , knew a tremendous amount about the district as a teacher, historian and author, and she was very keen for an Arbury Archive to be established. She was very kind. Brian at work - sheep shearing time. A relative of Brian had contributed to the  Arbury 1980  project and the 1981  Arbury is where we live!  book and Andy was eager to hear Brian's memories. Andy recalls: 'When I ...

      The Cambridge and St Ives Branch railway line is now the Cambridgeshire Guided Busway. Where was King's Hedges historically? How did the name come about? Why is the majority of King's Hedges Road no more historic than late 1970s - and nothing to do with the course of the original road? What have council planners of the 1960s and 1970s and the needs of motorists got to do with the King's Hedges presence in the historic Arbury district? All will be revealed... We're going to leave Arbury briefly and go to King's Hedges. No, not King's Hedges Ward/King's Hedges Estate (AKA North Arbury) - that area is, in reality, one of the most Arbury of Arbury areas in Cambridge historically, but the REAL King's Hedges. North of the Guided Busway. You see, the land north of Arbury Road is the site of the Arbury Camp, the Arbury/Harborough (a variation on the Arbury name) Meadows and Furlongs and the Arbury fields of Manor Farm.  It has absolutely nothing to do with...

With the summer holidays beginning, what could you do as an Arbury child in the 1970s, 1980s and 1990s? Well, the Arbury Adventure Playground, off Wagstaff Close on the Nun's Way playing field, was a bit of a wow. And you could think yourself lucky you lived in Arbury - it was the only Cambridge City housing estate to have an adventure playground - and all provided by local residents' fund raising and campaigning and council grants to keep it going! Graham Odd, of the Cambridge Evening News , popped in on 23 July, 1979: It is the start of an intensive six-week season at the Arbury Adventure Playground. Between 150 and 300 children will daily pour into the 1.25 acre enclosure off Wagstaff Close. The sound of a bell rose above the bleating of goats and the crowing of cockerels in North Arbury this morning, and a crowd of children gathered to plan their summer adventures. In itself, the idea of an adventure playground is no longer startling. They are dotted all over the country a...

Roll out the pillar box! 'New Post Office for Arbury Estate', 'Cambridge Evening News', September, 1971. Thanks to Paul who recently sent us some pics of the sadly departed North Arbury Post Office, in Cameron Road. The North Arbury Post Office and Stores opened in September, 1971 - in a building which was intended to be temporary. It was there for around three decades! By 1981, the Stores were part of the Spar chain (remember the slogan, 'So near, so Spar'?) and also supplying hairdressing services for North Arbury! The North Arbury Stores and Post Office, Cameron Road, in the 1990s. Note the high tec 'Phonecards' phone box to the right! The first phone card boxes had arrived in the 1980s. The National Lottery - a 1990s innovation - had also arrived by the time this photograph was taken. Thanks again to Paul. Photographs like these are just what we're looking for - they help the Archive tremendously. We'll trawl the 'CEN' archive for mor...

Ah, the days of fund raising for the Arbury Adventure Playground on the Nun's Way playing field! Having somewhere safe and supervised for the many children of the district to play was a very high priority. In 1970, 'Arbury's marathon singer' Tony Coleno of Cameron Road, made a record-breaking contribution to the funds... Arbury's marathon singer, Tony Coleno, slept for 18 hours last night after breaking the world record for solo non-stop singing by 12 minutes. He sang from 8 am on Saturday until 11.15 am on Sunday. Mr Coleno, of 46 Cameron Road, survived on a diet of soft drinks and beverages, chewing gum, indigestion tablets and throat spray, and raised almost £100 for the Arbury Adventure Playground Association. The marathon took place at the Jenny Wren public house, Campkin Road. The landlady, Mrs Valerie McCord, said today: 'He was really marvellous, fresh as a daisy even at the end. 'On Saturday night, when he'd been singing for 13 hours, he got up ...