The Rubik's Cube was Lord of the Manor in 1981. I'm adapting the 1986 song  Snooker Loopy  for the blog post title here, and Rubik's Loopy  was certainly very descriptive of the Manor, the forerunner of the North Cambridge Academy, in 1981. The Rubik's Cube was quite an amazing thing in those days. It penetrated the Iron Curtain and made its way into the Western World - and that was really something! It was in January/February 1980 that Erno Rubik demonstrated his invention at toy trade fairs in London, Paris, Nuremberg and New York. This was the original 'Buvos Kocka' - 'Magic Cube'. The first test batches of the Magic Cube had been released in its native Hungary just before Christmas 1977, and there had been a small seepage across Hungarian borders in 1978, 1979 and early 1980, including a few into the UK. But the Magic Cube existed in only very small numbers and there were nowhere near enough to break the major pop culture barrier in the UK or the re...

We had cloud! We had sun! But most of all at the 2026 Arbury Carnival we had FUN! WONDERFUL! That's our verdict on the latest Arbury Carnival, marking forty-nine years since the very first! Take a look at the pics above for glimpses of just a few of the highlights. Many thanks, as always, to the organisers, helpers, participants and anybody else involved in bringing us our 'once a year day'. We've always loved the Carnival (our oldest Archivist was at the very first in 1977!) and we love the way the name connects us to the oldest known human habitation in the area - Arbury Camp, and the Arbury fields adjacent, north of Arbury Road. Our vibrant, modern community carries a prehistoric link with that association - over 2,000 years old! The procession began for a long time from the Nuns Way playing field, site of the Arbury Adventure Playground for over twenty-five years (more about the playground here ), but has had a different route for the past couple of years, up Campki...

The official 2026 Arbury Carnival poster, all the work of Shruti, a student at North Cambridge Academy. Well, this year marks forty-nine years since the first Arbury Carnival. It's concrete proof of the area's great community spirit - which also went a long way to providing us with the Arbury Town Park, Arbury Community Centre and the Arbury Adventure Playground on the Nuns Way Playing Field.  From Councillor Janet Jones threatening to cut down the very tall weeds on the Arbury Town Park site herself if the council didn't (those were hard-pressed times financially), to the social club formed by residents at the Kingsway Flats in the early 1970s, from fund raising for community facilities, to the Arbury 1980 primary schools' project and the 1981 Arbury is where we live! book, and much, much more, the district is a place we love! From the 'Cambridge Evening News', August, 1972. Our annual Arbury Carnival whip-round this year raised far more than we expected - a t...

Arbury Carnival 2026 CORRECTED INFORMATION  A social media post was circulated with incorrect information stating that there would be a charge for attending the Arbury Carnival.  The Carnival has FREE ENTRANCE as usual.  Sorry for the confusion. Please share this correction and let people know about our amazing local Carnival, which has been going for 49 years.  We’re so excited about this year’s event. We have the largest procession for years, a packed arena with diverse music and dance acts, along with our fair and stalls. We look forward to seeing you on 13th June and celebrating our wonderful local community.  Arbury Carnival Organisers

This year's official Arbury Carnival poster. Read on for the details! The poster for the 2026 Arbury Carnival has been chosen. It's been a marvellous time, with entries from young people at the North Cambridge Academy, The Castle School, Cambridge Regional College and Chesterton Community College. We were very happy to see so many local educational establishments involved, and that the Cambridge Regional College hosted the exhibition of Carnival posters.  Best Poster Awards:  North Cambridge Academy – Shruti  Cambridge Regional College – Arina  Chesterton Community College – Yoav  Castle School - Dale  Highly Commended:  North Cambridge Academy – Natalia, Sofia  Cambridge Regional College – Cedrich, Chloe, Dana, Daniel, Larissa  The artwork chosen as the official 2026 Arbury Carnival poster is by Shruti, of North Cambridge Academy. Congratulations to her!  We join the Arbury Carnival Committee in thanking the Pipasha Restaurant for spons...

Two topics today, firstly the Arbury Carnival Poster Exhibition, secondly Albrach - did it actually exist?  First and foremost, the Arbury Carnival Poster Exhibition is at CRC, on King's Hedges Road, on 11 March! There will be music, and the winning poster art will be chosen! With entries from CRC, North Cambridge Academy, Castle School and Chesterton.  This is the 49th anniversary of the Arbury Carnival, with its debut now wreathed in the mists of time (1977).  'Doesn't seem that long ago to me,' says Andy, who is a bit sensitive about the passage of years as he marches into his sixties. But the origins of the Arbury name are wreathed in much more mist - prehistoric times!  Thanks to the Arbury Carnival Committee and all helpers and contributors, as always! There is a lot that goes into preparing our yearly day and we are very grateful to all those involved in the task.  The Arbury Town Park in Campkin Road is, as always, the location. Take a look at our maps f...

Manor Girls' School foreign holiday, 1960: the first Manor girls to go on a joint foreign holiday with Manor boys: G. Anderson, J. Barnes, C. Blackwell, H. Brown, S. Budd, L. Carter, A. Clarke, L. Doggett, C. Doughty, P. Drake, S. Hardy, E. Harradine, B. Kaspar, D. Miller, J. Parker, L. Phillips, J. Reeves, J. Spencer, J. Symonds, with headmistress Mrs Firman. Note the Manor Schools' caretaker's house can be seen in the background, and the trees of the old Manor Farm orchard. Lots of great emails and comments - all of which will be answered personally, or on here. Thanks very much indeed to everybody for taking the trouble to get in touch. The Arbury Blog has proved far more popular than we ever envisaged, and we are delighted. Thank you all to our visitors.  We've aimed to present a history of the historic Arbury district from the prehistoric, pre-Chesterton days of Arbury Camp, to the 21st Century, including Arbury Camp; the Roman developments and other finds on the ...

                Hooray - hot off the Press, the latest news from the Arbury Carnival organisers! The 2026 Carnival will be on Saturday, 13th June - at the Arbury Town Park in Campkin Road. It was nearly half a century ago that the very first Arbury Carnival was held at the Park in 1977... Our wonderful Carnival organisers are seeking a theme for 2026, and we can all be involved. The suggested themes are Colours of the World, Follow Your Dreams or Music Legends. You can vote HERE .  The Arbury Carnival theme for 2025 was circus - 'The Greatest Show'. The procession was photographed from a bus!  A wonderful time was had by all. Andy, who attended the first Arbury Carnival in 1977, often wonders what he would have made of a glimpse of the 21st Century future way back then. MOBILE phones?! And people using them to make videos and take photographs? Good grief! The first hand-held mobiles arrived in the UK in 1985 - they were far more basic, n...

THIS IS THE GREATEST SHOW! The 2025 Arbury Carnival has a circus theme and will take place at Arbury Town Park, Campkin Road, on 14 June. For this spring edition of Arbury Snippets , we focus on the approaching Arbury Carnival, the return of our Arbury Guru, a winged 1970s visitor at the Arbury Adventure Playground, an early 1980s visit to King's Hedges School, and insights into local life from other long ago Arbury children. We also answer a question and feature a little brain teaser... Lovely account of a feathered visitor to the Arbury Adventure Playground on the Nun's Way recreation ground from August 1974 . The Arbury Adventure Playground, which opened in 1973 on the Nuns Way Recreation Ground, was a much appreciated feature of local life for many years. Schoolboy Nicky Wright gave his views on the playground in 1980 for the 'Arbury 1980' project of the district's schools - Arbury, King's Hedges, St Laurence's and the Grove: I like it because you can pl...