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Burwell
Burwell maps
Historic maps of Burwell and the local area, hand-drawn by Ordnance Survey and Samuel Lewis. View all Burwell maps
Burwell area books
Displaying 1 of 10 books about Burwell and the local area. View all books for this area
You can read extracts and browse photos from these books.
Memories of Burwell
Displaying a selection of personal
memories of Burwell.
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My First Experience of England
When my family arrived in England from the US we went straight to our home which was located in Burwell. While my parents went to buy groceries for the kids we were able to start meeting our new playmates in the area. This was my first expereince with the difference in our english language. To this day I still get a laugh remembering when a young girl was leaving she said "Cheerio" and I thought to my self why is she talking about a cereal.
Cambridgeshire memories
The Moon & Sixpence
When my mother first bought the 'Pink' cottage, at the edge of the fen, it was very dilapidated, the barn in the back was almost gone, we had no electricity, no running water, the ceilings were too low, the stairs were falling down. My first memory of the place was my mother gardening, I would 'line up' worms in a row, of course they wriggled away. My fifth birthday party was held at the hall, just up the road. We kept horses in Mr Wells's field at the end of the village (Burwell Road side), we would ride on Devil's Dyke, or out on the fens, sometimes to the village shop, (run by Mr Seargent I think?). The dairy farmer used to drive his cows on to the green and down to the field by the dyke, then home again every day. The Lord Mayor used to come yearly and throw new pennies about for the children. I have recently returned to see the cottage, it is very grand now,... Read more
Playing in The Corn Fields
I lived in the cottage next to the Chapel, and played with Wendy, we used to cycle to Upware and Wicken fen. At one point we would sit on the haystacks after the farmers had finished them. I would go horse riding in the corn cut fields, wonderful thing to do.
One good memory was when it snowed, Mrs Dowdswell used to pour water on the playground so we could all slide on it. Not allowed to do that sort of thing for the children today, Health & safety and all that! The village used to have a few shops, which sold more or less anything you wanted, and two pubs. We had lots of places to play, cadnam, down the fen, up heath road. It was a happy time. Children now adays do not know how to play with each other.
Elephants in Waterbeach
I am assured that my memory is not playing tricks on me when I recall elephants living in the large garden close to Dr Pritchard's old surgery. The nuns at the convent off the A 10 road used to terrify my sister and I. They were all partially visible behind a decorative gridded screen to the side of their chapel, black-clad and mumbling.
The parcel people would pass through Waterbeach regularly. A woman who turned naked cartwheels through The Fen was a popular sight.
A Stream Clean Enough to Eat From
My grandfather's family, the Barbers, who were farmers, lived in Alton House at one end of the village until my grandmother died. My mother remembered the tension on butter-churning days when the milk wouldn't 'turn.' I believe my maternal grandmother, Ethel Kitchener, was born in Soham but I am not sure where. Her sister, when married, lived at the other end from Alton House in a small semi-detached cottage close to the stream, from which I well remember getting watercress to eat in sandwiches for tea. When I visited a couple of years ago the houses were both looking well-kept and prosperous and ponies were grazing on what must be common land near my great-aunts' house.
GEORGE AND TAVERN..HIGH STREET
I AM TRACING RELATIVES ON MY FATHERS SIDE...RELATIVES I NEVER GOT TO KNOW. IN DOING MY RESEARCH, I HAVE DISCOVERED THAT MY FATHERS PARENTS (MY GRANDPARENTS) WERE PUBLICANS OF THE GEORGE AND TAVERN WHICH AT THAT TIME 1900 WAS IN SOHAM HIGH STREET. I WOULD LOVE TO BE ABLE TO GET HOLD OF ANY REFERNCE TO GEORGE AND TAVERN AROUND 1900...AND IF POSSIBLE GET HOLD OF ANY PHOTOGRAPHS OF THE GEORGE AND TAVERN..IF ANY EXHIST. MY GRANDPARENTS WHO WERE PUBLICANS AT THE GEORGE AND TAVERN WERE ..FREDERICK TURNER LAVENDER AND HIS WIFE SARAH. I HOPE TO VISIT SOHAM VERY SHORTLY..AS WELL AS THE VILLAGES OF WELNEY..UPWELL AND DOWNHAM. WHERE MOST OF MY FATHERS RELATIVES LIVED IIN THE 18/19 CENTURIES.
Bott5isham Village College
I attended the college from 1959 to 1963, it really was a wonderful time and set me up well for life.
