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...

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 ...

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 ...

Thank you, thank you, thank you from the Arbury Archivists to all who visit the Blog here. We've had some wonderful comments and emails - and many, many visits. We've got a bumper blog post for you here, covering an array of things - hence the long title! We hope you enjoy it. Please contact us via the comments facility or at arburyestate@btinternet.com if you'd like to add any of your recollections to the Arbury Archive or have any enquiries. We were delighted to be contacted by the family of Mr Brian Downham, who lived at the Manor Farm. Mr Downham lived at No 2, Manor Farm Cottages, which stood in what is now the roadway by the junction of the Arbury and Campkin Roads. Traffic now passes over the spot where Mr Downham's semi-detached cottage once stood. Mr Downham made a photographic record of his old home's demolition, and you can see one of his photos above. And if you take a close look in the bottom left corner you will get a glimpse of Arbury Court. The house...