Meeting reports 2013 to 2015

Local resident Rob Needle gave us a talk on more recent history: policing since the 1980s, illustrated by experiences from his own career.

The July meeting of the History Society vividly brought to life Stapleford around the time of the Second World War. If you were not there, you missed an exhilarating session as Keith Dixon and Christine Ruse presented graphic recollections from that time and audience members joined in enthusiastically with their own!

Joan Barnes started by reminding us of the moment in 1989 when some visionary people came up with the idea of returning arable fields to chalk downland, with unique forms of wildlife, and at the same time providing an accessible area for everyone to enjoy. This is just the latest phase in a history stretching back over 5000 years.

Stapleford resident Jim Foreman began the evening by sharing with us his close family history: his mother and one of her brothers were the sole members of their family, who came from Bonn in Germany, to survive the Nazi era. Mike Levy then gave a presentation about the work of the Cambridge Refugee Committee, set up in 1939 as Britain became aware of the many refugees being created by Hitler’s actions.

Drawing on her practical knowledge as a taxi-driver, Marian French took us on a virtual tour of the parish workhouses of Cambridge and surrounding villages.

Dr Seán Lang used extracts from the Cambridge newspapers to convey the experiences of the long hot summer of 1914. It was a sobering and enlightening introduction to the centenary.

An enthralling talk by Mary Dicken, Chair of the Sawston Village History Society – and one-time guide privileged to show visitors around Stapleford’s nearest ‘stately home’, Elizabethan Sawston Hall.

Hilary Ritchie, the enthusiastic archivist at Addenbrooke’s, traced the history of the hospital from its origins to current projects that will make it the largest bio-medical campus in Europe.

Jon Gibbs, the Head Ranger at Cambridge Past Present and Future, outlined the organisation’s origins in the 1920s, driven by concern about encroaching suburbanisation around Cambridge.

Dr Carenza Lewis gave a fascinating talk about the results from the archaeological test-pits dug in Stapleford in April 2013.

A fascinating talk by Helen Harwood about the impact of the railway age on our villages. A historian in Great Shelford, Helen has published a book on the development of the railways and the changes they brought about in Shelford and surrounding villages.