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...

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 ...

A frozen Manor Farm Drive in 1956. The photographer was looking towards Arbury Road, and standing opposite what is now the Arbury Town Park. The Manor Farmhouse was empty at this point. Photo: Cambridgeshire Collection. The original Arbury district has a long history of mud. From the iron age Arbury Camp, wreathed in the mists of prehistory and, no doubt, quite squidgy in the old soil department at times, to the Roman habitations built in the Arbury Meadows beside the earthwork north of Arbury Road, and on through the centuries to the Manor and Hall Farms, north and south of Arbury Road, mud was always a fact of life. As it was in rural districts across the country. On the subject of Arbury mud, Mrs Osland wrote about the Manor Farm Drive (now Campkin Road) and having to ride her bike down there to visit her aunt:  We used to hear all sorts of things about Arbury being haunted by Romans and the part we called the 'Roman Arbury' was over by Chivers at Arbury Camp Farm and along ...