Hemingford Grey Playgoup

A Memory of Hemingford Grey.

We moved in to Apple Orchard Lane in 1963. There were only 4 houses in the road and after quite a short time it was decreed that we should become part of The Apple Orchard and so we were numbered on and became 15.
I wanted to stay with my young children but we were short of money so I needed to earn some, so I turned to child minding. At first I looked after one or two children but this slowly grew into a small playgroup. Then, instead of it being my playgroup it changed from to one run by an elected committee of parents. Then it became too difficult to keep running at home and we raised money and finally managed to buy a mobile classroom. One of the members of the committee was the wife of the primary school headmaster, and after some negotiation with the Education dept we were given permission to site the new playgroup building in the school grounds. All the parents of the children who came to playgroup worked hard and eventually raised the money to buy a mobile classroom from Elliots. The fathers worked hard and prepared the site and one day we welcomed our new building. The classroom was just for us, so we were able to arrange the groups as we wished. We kept Wednesday afternoons as a pre-school session for children starting at school the next term.
I went on to work for the Pre School Playgroups Association and then for Huntingdon Social Services working with playgoups and childminders and moved away from Hemingford. We visited Hemingford about a year ago and found that the playgroup is no more but there is now a nursery class at the primary school.
Pam Finn

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