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Balsham
Balsham maps
Historic maps of Balsham and the local area, hand-drawn by Ordnance Survey and Samuel Lewis. View all Balsham maps
Balsham area books
Displaying 1 of 10 books about Balsham and the local area. View all books for this area
You can read extracts and browse photos from these books.
Memories of Balsham
Displaying a selection of personal
memories of Balsham.
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Doctor's Cottage on Church Lane
This lovely cottage looks like the one which was located near where I used to live and go to school back in the 1960s. If I am right then the curved space in the bottom right of this picture was the boundary of a school playground. The village primary school was directly across the road on Church Lane before it moved to it's new location. My family lived at 4 Church Lane between 1964 and 1969, before we emigrated to Toronto, Canada. I would walk past this cottage everyday on my way to school and stop to look at the beautiful garden. The man who lived there then was an elderly doctor. I would see him sometimes tending to his flowers. He had a lot of pink roses. I always thought that Church Lane was one of the nicest roads in Balsham located between the Holy Trinity Church and the bandshell on the village green. I haven't been back to Balsham since 1976 but would love to visit some day.... Read more
A Claim to Fame!
My paternal grandparents, by the name of Goodliffe, lived in a house called The Robins, on Old House Road, Balsham. (Both of which are still there, although the house has been extended somewhat and modernised. Mind you, it certainly needed modernising. Even as late as the early 1960s, when my widowed grandmother eventually died, it still had an earth closet for a toilet - outside in an unlit little shed! With its permanent nauseous stench, and supply of cut-up newspaper for you-know-what: as a child I used to dread using it, even in daylight hours, and would insist on my mum or dad standing outside, whilst I did what I had to do inside!
They also owned a collection of (by my times there) ramshackle farm buildings opposite the house, and some surrounding land.
With no other means of income, my grandmother gradually had to sell off plots of the land to the Council, but was forced to sell it at low value... Read more
Uncle Arthur
I remember visiting my great aunt Alice and her husband Arthur as a child. I lived in Gloucester and visited with my parents and brother Richard. My great grandmother Emily Wilkins (Alice's mother) was still alive. I remember vividly the house martins nesting in the eaves of the thatched roof. I remember uncle Arthur with severe arthritis and being able to do little for himself. I have a tablecloth that belonged to great aunt Alice when she was a cook at Eton College. I also have memories of my father going to Balsham for the funeral of great grandmother Emily. Snowdrops were placed in her coffin from my brother and myself. My mother says it is the only time she saw my father cry was when Emily died.
I intend to visit Balsham in May 2008 that will be the first time since the early 50'5.
Cambridgeshire memories
The Norden Family of West Wratting And Weston Colville.
I have been researching the Norden Family History for my husband's uncle. His mother was born in London and he wondered why she came to live in Weston Colville with relatives. James Norden was living and working in West Wratting, according to the 1881 Census. His grandparents were living at The Chestnut Tree in West Wratting and James's grandfather was also a blacksmith. James was learning the trade at the age of 15. He went to London, where he met and married his first wife in the 1890's. Sadly the first wife died in 1900, leaving four children. The children were sent to live with various relatives, and this is why my husband's uncle's mum came to be living in Cambridgeshire. James was one of a large number of children that his parents had, and I was wondering if any of the family read this, would they like to get in touch? Also, would anyone have any photos of The Chestnut Tree pub, possibly with members of the Norden Family on? I have made... Read more
Building History.
The photograph shows a shop and house which my grandmother ran between 1931 and 1952. It was then run by my uncle until it was sold as a house in 1979. My grandmother's name was Colville and she ran the shop as a general stores. Before the building was a shop it was a public house called the Axe and Compass and part of the building was a cobblers shop. The building itself goes back to 1599.
The Grip
I moved into this cottage in 1953 with my parents and older sister. I remember very clearly looking out of the large window in the centre of the cottage wishing I was old enough to go to school with my sister. I was also very envious as she came home from school with a Coronation mug of the Queen and Prince Philip. When we first moved in, there was no inside bathroom or toilet and we got our water from a pump in the garden. I always loved that house even though I am convinced I saw a ghost there when I was about 8 years old ! The house number was 28, our phone number was Linton 558 and my father's car reg no. was BLP 911. Isn't it strange what we remember!
My Mother's Memories
My mother who is Dorothy Tofts (now Dorothy Rouse) was at the college when it opened in 1937. Mr. Tomlinson was Head Master. Mr. Swannel was her music teacher and drama teacher. Her sister Marjorie Tofts got married in 1938 and was the first bride to have her reception held at the college.
