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Chatteris
Chatteris maps
Historic maps of Chatteris and the local area, hand-drawn by Ordnance Survey and Samuel Lewis. View all Chatteris maps
Chatteris area books
Displaying 1 of 10 books about Chatteris and the local area. View all books for this area
You can read extracts and browse photos from these books.
Memories of Chatteris
Displaying a selection of personal
memories of Chatteris.
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Graham & Fishers
The building nearest the camera on the right is (was) Graham and Fishers - founded by my great-grandfather Tom. His sons Alg (my grandfather) and Spencer worked in the business all their lives, and my father Douglas worked there until 1966. His cousin Richard also spent some time in 'the Shop' before setting up his own business further along the High Street.
The scene in the photo is actually very much as I remember it in my early childhood in the fifties, but it changed a good deal in the next 10 or fifteen years.
My parents and I had some rooms in the building, courtesy of my gt grandmother, Isabel (Bel), about 1948 - 50, and the window over the front door was that to my bedroom.
Later we lived in the cottage at the bottom of the yard, on Railway Lane. The main building had originally been one of the town's two coaching inns, and our cottage was then the pub or tap for the ostlers etc. In... Read more
Cambridgeshire memories
Growing up in Somersham
I was born in Somersham in 1940, in my grandmother's house, which was 1 West End.
My own house was known then as 6 Trinity Terrace, since changed to 90 High Street. Until the mid 1950s a lot of the houses were quite primitive, no indoor sanitation, the Terrace had a pump for the 6 houses. The only heating was a fire in the living room, the bedrooms were always freezing. My memories are of a friendly village although as youngsters, our only plan was to get out. I started infant school in what is now the library, and the junior school was closer to 'The Cross'. Life, in retrospect, was simple and fun, we, as children, could be absent from home all day and no one would worry, knowing that we would turn up when hungry. I do not get back to the village much now, having no immediate family left there.
Kirton/Graham Ancestry
This is a message for Ian Graham:
Dear Ian, Hope all is well with you? We are fine, having just become grandparents, we are being kept pretty busy!
I have lost your email address but found you here.
I have been contacted by an American lady who descends from one of your grandmother’s brothers.
Do you want her contact details?
Best wishes, Lin
Holiday Visits
In the early to mid 1950s I spent holiday time in Somersham - it was fascinating for a child from London, especially the little ditches and the wildflowers. I stayed with "auntie" (Emma Goodchild), a relative of some kind through my maternal grandmother's family (surnames Duller and Dellow). Auntie lived in the last house in Somersham High Street, it was amazing - no electricity and a pump for water in the kitchen (I especially liked taking a candle to bed). Not so pleasant were the sanitary arrangements. The name of the butcher also interested me and of course as a small child the sweet shop was a favourite. In my memories the sun always shone and visiting auntie Gwen and auntie Joan was also special as they had children around my own age. I think there was a playground somewhere. I remember too listening to older relatives talking about the Drove House, a pub run by my grandfather's sister (Emma) and earlier by her father. These were good times and... Read more
Holidays With Grandad
Thank you for showing the photo of Bank Houses, the house on the right was where my grandad lived and I spent a lot of very happy holidays there. His garden was aways full of lovely things to eat and as I lived in an industrial part of North Yorkshire with only a small back yard this was like heaven. Grandad would take me to the pub over the road for his lunchtime pint and everyone would make a fuss of me. Mr Chriswell down the road made sure I didn't go short on strawberries and Mr Cox (in the big house) would give me rides in his wheelbarrow and call me his little Yorkshire Pudding. I used to go to Sunday School in the parish church and still have the stamps I collected and if I really timed it right there would be the Sunday School trip, usually to Huntstanton.
My evenings in Somersham were also memorable. Mum, Dad and myself would walk up to my uncle's (he had... Read more
My Childhood
I lived in Somersham until I was 14 years old. We lived in Park Hall Road, and played in the fields opposite where we could climb the trees and see into the garden of the Manor House. The owner of the house at that time had 2 or 3 English Bull Terriers and they barked a lot at us safe in the chestnut trees. Sometimes in the evenings we would go to Manley's fish and chip shop for 2 pennyworth of chips and go and sit on the wall of the bowls club which was nearly opposite to eat our chips and watch the people playing bowls. What a treat that was, best chips in the world. In the summer my 2 friends and I would go to pick soft fruits from the smallholding owned by the father of one of them, and we would play "adventure"games in the old gravel pit, My uncles who were in the Merchant Navy during the Second World War used to... Read more
Going to School in The Abbey
I was lucky enough to pass the 11+ and attend the Ramsey Abbey Grammar School,
What a picturesque place to be educated, although 11 year old children did not necessarily appreciate it. Going into the main building always seemed to make one stand up straighter and keep voices quieter (oh for such an atmosphere in modern schools!!). All teachers wore their black gowns and on speech days and other special days most wore their graduation gowns, often trimmed with fur.
