Spaldwick
Spaldwick maps (2 available)
Map of Cambridgeshire
Beautifully hand-drawn and coloured, dating from around 1840
See this old map of Cambridgeshire
Personalised maps
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Spaldwick books (14 available)
Wisbech Town and City Memories
Paperback
Ely and the Fens Photographic Memories
Paperback
- 2 photos on Spaldwick appear in 2 Frith books - View photos of Spaldwick
- Read extracts and see photos from these books on Spaldwick and Cambridgeshire
Spaldwick memories
Read and share memories of Spaldwick and Cambridgeshire inspired by Frith photos
Spaldwick Windmill & The Belton Family
The Belton family has a long association with Spaldwick as millers, witnessed by a hill being in the family name, (O.S. map 153), just north of the village.
My mother's sister Violet Bass, from nearby Kimbolton, was married to John Belton.
John, my uncle, inherited the windmill as well as a further windmill at Alconbury and a *water driven mill at Houghton, now owned by the National Trust. The Belton family had a very healthy corn milling business in this area of Huntingdonshire, (sad that it had to be gobbled up by Cambs.). I have documents associated with the business as well as John's 'verge' pocket watch, which formerly belonged to a "Charles" Belton, (father?). I have also, letters written ...read more here
Contributed by Paul Digby
Cambridgeshire memories
Spaldwick Windmill & The Belton Family
The Belton family has a long association with Spaldwick as millers, witnessed by a hill being in the family name, (O.S. map 153), just north of the village.
My mother's sister Violet Bass, from nearby Kimbolton, was married to John Belton.
John, my uncle, inherited the windmill as well as a further windmill at Alconbury and a *water driven mill at Houghton, now owned by the National Trust. The Belton family had a very healthy corn milling business in this area of Huntingdonshire, (sad that it had to be gobbled up by Cambs.). I have documents associated with the business as well as John's 'verge' pocket watch, which formerly belonged to a "Charles" Belton, (father?). I have also, letters written ...read more here
A memory of Spaldwick contributed by Paul Digby
Staty Fair.
The Staty Fair is really called 'The Statute Fair' as it is held one night only but the high street is actually blocked off for 48 hours.
My family have lived in Kimbolton for over 500 years, my grandad had the butchers shop in the high street 'Whitemans', and my nan had the 'Saddle' public house. During the war they lived at number 40 and had doctors and nurses staying with them.
All my family return to Kimbolton and are buried in the cemetery.
A memory of Kimbolton contributed by Lisa Wright
The Swan
I became landlady of The White Swan as it was then, with my husband Gordon, who has since died. It had previously been run as an up market restaurant, but had not been successful. We concentrated on the village life, bringing the community together. Introduced bar skittles, darts, and instead of the restaurant, kept to plain English home-made cooking. We always had a themed New Year party, and people would be queueing outside on a Saturday night. The hardest three years work of my life, and while there were many happy memories, there were more unhappy ones. I was so glad to leave it. I have visited only once since, in the mid 90s. ...read more here
A memory of Old Weston contributed by Angela Cain
Extracts From Spaldwick & Cambridgeshire books
The village of Spaldwick lies at the centre of a medieval estate which included most of the neighbouring settlements. The church in the background is known as ‘the cathedral of the valley’.
An extract from from"Cambridgeshire Photographic Memories".
The parish church of St James stands inside a banked enclosure that was once the Bishop of Lincoln’s manor. From here his estate of four nearby parishes was managed for more than five hundred years. Spaldwick became part of the Duke of Manchester’s Kimbolton estate in the 17th century. The church has been altered in nearly every century. It has a fine mid 14th-century tower and spire 152 feet high.
An extract from from"Cambridgeshire Villages Photographic Memories".
Built around 1130, the Manor
is supposed to be the oldest
continuously inhabited house
in Britain. Lucy Maria Wood
Boston, born in December 1892,
bought the building in 1939
and spent two years restoring
it. During the Second World
War she kept open house for
the RAF officers stationed at the
nearby airfield at Wyton, and
arranged musical and literary
evenings. She used the Manor
as an inspiration for her series
of six children`s stories known
as the Green Knowe books.
An extract from from"Huntingdon, St Neots and St Ives Photographic Memories".
On non-market days, the centre
of St Ives was a quiet and
unhurried place. There are few
cars other than those parked
between the Cromwell statue and
the war memorial, and people
are able to pass the time of day
in the middle of the road. J W
Angood, the cycle and motor-
cycle repairer (right), seems to
have been busy: seven or eight of
his customer`s machines await
collection. Before he took over,
the shop had been owned by
Rowell & Sons, tailors. Next door
is Senescall`s animal and petfood
store - today the site is occupied
by a Help the Aged shop.
An extract from from"Huntingdon, St Neots and St Ives Photographic Memories".
Shortly before this
photograph was taken, the
Town Council approved
an expenditure of £850
to be paid to Frederick
Pomeroy RA for the design
and execution of a statue
of the Lord Protector.
It had originally been
envisaged that it should
stand in Huntingdon, but
the town had always had
Royalist inclinations and
there was little interest
from the people. Cromwell
had lived at St Ives from
1631 to 1635, and the
townsfolk took the project
to heart. The globes in the
photograph were made of
copper, and were part of
the original design. They
were removed in the 1970s
and never replaced.
An extract from from"Huntingdon, St Neots and St Ives Photographic Memories".