VILLAGE EVENTS

 

Chesterfords Afternoon Tea every Wednesday from 2 till 4 at the Community Centre from January onwards. Run by the Parish Council with councillors available for questions. Excellent home baking at very reasonable prices. Usually attracts 15 – 20 people every week. Raffle money is given to charity.

13 February – Granta Chorale Heartsong concert in All Saints Church Gt Chesterford in aid of Hope and Homes for Children. Musical director Janet Wheeler.

16 February – Great Chesterford Skatepark Opening.

 

14 April – Birds of Prey and Korean Martial Arts Display at the Community Centre.

24 April – Masked Ball, The Grand Marquee, Great Chesterford (on the Recreation Ground) in aid of Help for Heroes.

30 April onwards – Chesterford Youth Club started up at the Community Centre every Friday night.

9 May – Roman Day – while some intrepid Chesterfordians were canoeing to Cambridge on the River Cam, Anne Taylor, Asst. Curator of the Cambridge Museum of Archaeology and Anthropology brought a selection of Roman artifacts, found at the site of the Chesterford Roman town, to the school to be displayed for the day. Teas were provided by Friends of the School and people were encouraged to bring along their own finds to be examined. Children were dressed in Roman costume, and at 2pm they processed to the river to give a ‘libation to the river gods’ for the safe passage of the canoeists who eventually made it to Cambridge at 5 o’clock after an exhausting 8 hour journey.

  

6 June – Tea and Music in the Vicarage Garden – music provided by the Nightingale Trio with Jeffrey Dyball on harp. All proceeds to the Musicians’ Benevolent Fund, All Saints, Gt Chesterford and St Mary’s, Lt Chesterford.

25 June – Chesterford’s Got Talent – held at the Community Centre with a live band and refreshments.

27 June – Open Gardens in Gt and Lt Chesterford with cream teas and local history exhibition in the Chapel, Carmel St.

 

3 July – Barbecue Supper at Mill House, Gt Chesterford. Proceeds to Church funds.

7 July – Mini Flower Show held at the Chapel, Carmel St.

2 October – 19th Gt Chesterford Steam-Up – the usual highly successful event.

    

27 November – All Saints Christmas Fair held at the Community Centre with children’s puppet show, gift stalls, Father Christmas, lunch and tea and a Grand Draw.

LOCAL HISTORY SOCIETY

Thurs 21 January – AGM followed by a showing of The Jubilee Film (Great Chesterford in the 1970s).

Thurs 4 March – Archaeological Finds from Great Chesterford by Anne Taylor.

Thurs 25 March - Saxon Hadstock by Pat Croxton-Smith.

Wed 22 September – The Fen Worker-Peasant by Nicholas James.

Wed 24 November – Cambridge – 'Insiders & Outsiders' by Nicholas Chrimes.

The History Society was saddened to learn of the death of one of its founder members, Ken Kilford. He wrote several of the Interim Reports (A Village on Fire; Little Chesterford in 1801; Great Chesterford in 1801; Great Chesterford Park), and a history of the LHS and was a very active member for many years.

NEW ACQUISITIONS

CHE 571-576 – various Ration Books and School Reports belonging to John Miller of Great Chesterford covering the years 1939-1954.

CHE 584 – oral history recording of John Miller with transcript. Remarkably well-remembered details of life in Chesterford from the 1930s, with descriptions of farming and blacksmithing practices. He wound up the church clock for many years.

CHE 583 – photograph of the Chesterford train crash of 1963 when a car transporter train ran into the back of an engine at the station.

CHE 591 – Photos of the Blue Star Garage on London Rd from 1958-67. The Monks family were the owners.

CHE 592 – photos of Mill Farm and the fields with Mr Dyball.

CHE 595 – Mr C. E. Dyball’s farm diaries – Mill Farm in the 50s and 60s. They are an excellent record of farming life and work of the time.

CHE 599 – original Times newspaper from 8 April 1914 containing a report of the Little Chesterford fire.

CHE 603 – Great Chesterford Station Lamp Repair Book 1922-1960 – contains the names of all the stationmasters.

CHE 607 – photos of Albert Bradford of Gt Chesterford in his uniform, and internet printout of a report written about his death. He was shot during an IRA ambush at Sinnott’s Cross, in Northern Ireland where he was a member of the RUC. A memorial is being erected in his honour, and when contacted I was able to put them in touch with his uncle in Duxford.

KATE MCMANUS
CHESTERFORDS LOCAL HISTORY RECORDER