It all happened in 1983, when Andy was busy setting up the Arbury Archive. He heard that Mrs McCulloch, mother of Andrew McCulloch, who owned the TV shop in Arbury Court, might have some memories of the area in years gone by. He went to the shop and spoke to her. Mrs McCulloch was very helpful. Yes, she did know the Arbury well, but she had a friend who knew much more and would speak to her and find out if she could help. Andy left his address. He wasn't 'on the phone' at the time, and even basic analogue (and hugely expensive) mobiles ('yuppie toys'!) were still two years away. He hoped for a letter from Mrs McCulloch's friend. It was a week or so later that an elderly lady cycled up to Andy's front door.  'I do hope this will be of some help,' she said, handing over a small white envelope. This was Mrs Osland. She explained that she lived in Cockerell Road, and was delighted at the interest in Arbury history which had resulted from the 'Arbury ...

David Cardinal, Gordon's father, who was the milk roundsman for his brother and sister in law's business - seen here at the back of No 3, Manor Farm Cottages, in the 1930s. The final part of Mr Gordon Cardinal's The Arbury ends with his best wishes to the (then) modern day Arbury children of 1983, and his hope that they will derive as much fun and enjoyment from living in the district as he did when it was farmland. The Arbury was written two years after the publication of Arbury Is Where We Live! - the book based on the 'Arbury 1980' primary schools' project. It was a source of great pleasure to Mr Cardinal that modern children felt a sense of community and belonging to the Arbury Estate - and that 'The Arbury', although vastly changed since his childhood, lived on. THE ARBURY  By Gordon Cardinal PART SIX When we closed the nursery each day, we just pulled the five bar across the drive. No locks needed then. Just a notice saying 'CLOSED' on t...

Manor Nurseries, Arbury Road, Cambridge, in the late 1950s.  The fifth part of Mr Gordon Cardinal's memories of old Arbury, written in 1983 for the Arbury Archive.  Young Gordon has begun work for his aunt's brother, Ernest Sale, at the Manor Nurseries on Arbury Road... 'The Arbury' Part 5 By Gordon Cardinal Mr Eaton would be away from the nursery doing garden contracts except for the rough weather at winter times. Then he would come back to the nursery and spend his time making garden seats and rustic arches, etc. From Charlie Eaton I learned the art of creating a garden. From Sidney Arbor I learned the knowledge of propagation and from both Sidney and Ernie Sale the art of floral work. Mr Sidney Arbor at work at the Manor Nurseries in the 1950s. Manor Nurseries tried to be self supporting. The perimeter was planted with various evergreen trees and shrubs, which were used in floral work. Most of the basic flowers used were grown on the nursery. On Fridays, any surplus ...

Manor Nurseries staff c. mid-1940s - Gordon Cardinal, centre. Mr Cardinal's memories of Arbury in the 1930s and '40s continue. He was a charming man with an amazing memory. He worked tirelessly to record his memories for the Arbury Archive in the early 1980s, inspired by Arbury Is We Live!  His memories paint a wonderful picture of Arbury seventy+ years ago.. The Arbury By Gordon Cardinal Part 4 Along with the autumn came 'Sugar Beet' time. The beet would be ploughed out, and the beet would then have to be pulled out and knocked together, to clean off the soil, then thrown in a neat row down the field. That was 'Beet Knocking' - worth up to 1/- a day for a boy (5p). The men would follow on with a 'beet hook' to chop off the tops of the beet. The 'hook' was like an old sickle blade - cut down with the tip turned up at an angle - that was used to lift the beet off the ground, catch it with the free hand, and cut off the top. A good man could do tha...

Back to the Arbury 1930s/40s harvest... The Arbury Part Three By Gordon Cardinal The carts used were the two wheeled tumbrel carts. The sheaves would be pitched onto the cart with a long handled pitching fork as the cart moved from one 'stook' to the next. Whoever was leading the horse had to call to the man on the cart 'HOLD TIGHT!' as the cart began to move to the next stook - so the cry of 'HOLD TIGHT!' could be heard all around the Arbury fields. After carting the corn, some fields would be gleaned with a spring tied horse rake and gathered up for the farm chickens. Gleanings were the ears of corn not picked up by the binder. If you didn't want anyone to glean your field, two sheaves of corn were left standing in the field.  That was the sign for 'No Gleaning'. Some of the Manor Farm corn was stacked in a field along Arbury Road, but most of the small holdings stacked their corn in the Rick Yard. All the stacks were built square. One man would be...

The second part of Mr Cardinal's memories finds the harvest beginning on the Arbury fields... 'The Arbury' By Gordon Cardinal Part Two As my brother Bert was the eldest, he started to help my father on the milk round before me. That would be before he went to school in the morning (6am start), Saturdays and Sundays, and school holidays (our schools were then first to Milton Road Juniors then on to Chesterton Senior School in Gilbert Road). The early round was for customers who liked their milk on the doorstep before they got up - mostly half pints. When that round was finished, Father would load up the milk float and set off on the main round. The 'extra' items carried in those days would be eggs and cardboard pots of cream at weekends. As I got older, so it became my turn to help as well, but my interests were always elsewhere! Sometimes I would go and help Grandfather Cardinal, who lived in Victoria Road. I would go with him to his 'allotment', which was a...

After the publication of Arbury Is Where We Live! in 1981, Sallie Purkis wrote in History Today (1983): 'The establishment of an Arbury archive has scarcely begun'. Several local people were working to address the issue. Mr Gordon Cardinal wrote to the Cambridge Weekly News in 1982, inspired by the book and a feature on Arbury Road - part of the paper's local history series. The Arbury Archive contacted Mr Cardinal, who was a very helpful gentleman, and he happily agreed to write about his memories of Arbury life in the 1930s, 1940s and 1950s for us. Mr Cardinal died in the 1990s. He was very keen to deposit his memories somewhere so that they may benefit future generations, and his enthusiasm and fondness for Arbury shone through on each page of his manuscript. Now, for the first time, via the miracle of the World Wide Web, we would like to share extracts from his work, which he called The Arbury .  The memories begin about ten years after the ending of the Arbury Story ...