| Fen Time Tunnel TAKING A LOCAL STEP BACK IN TIME…
BIKE CRASH An undergraduate motor cyclist going down Fore Hill, Ely at a terrific rate, with a college friend on the carrier, rode straight ahead in the direction of the river and did not realise the danger until it was too late. Within a few yards of the Quay, the friend threw himself off the carrier, escaping with a few bruises,
can obtain equal return for his labour combined with far greater home comforts and educational advantages for his children. For men prepared to work, the old country is by no means played out yet. 11 12 15c
Cambridgeshire, 1911
WHEEL UPGRADE Littleport Parish Council considered fitting their fire engine with pneumatic tyres. The wheels had been on the engine for 70 years and might have dry rot, all the wheels creaked and might break at any
Above: Quay Side Ely, 1910’s Abo Above:Quay Side Ely 1910’s
but the rider was unable to save himself. The weighty cycle fell over the Quay wall and sank immediately. The motorist, turning a somersault and struck the water about midstream. Mr Merry’s boat was moored at the spot and the machine was hauled up thanks to workers from the nearby brewery. Mr Philip Cutlack kindly supplied the dripping cyclist with a dry suit of clothes and he proceeded to Cambridge by train. Ely, 1911
RURAL HOUSING The problem of rural housing means that it is not only to the towns our youths are flowing, but in ever-growing volume to the colonies. Most villages have given up some of its most promising young men to these dominions beyond the seas. It is not the idlers and the wastrels who are leaving, it is the independent men of spirit who should be the backbone of life in England. Yet a small- holder here, working equally as hard as a Canadian emigrant,
SCHOOLS IN JEOPARDY
The County Development Plan provided for new schools but it would be some years before these could be erected. They considered temporary hutments in place of the present schools but this would be dearer than putting the present buildings in reasonable order.
Repairs would cost £845 for Adelaide, £560 at Stuntney and these should be carried out. Ely High School need prefabricated buildings on
Above: Littleport fire engine pumping floods 1912
time. The men were afraid of them. In any case they would be compelled to have rubber tyres in 1939. The fire box was only seven inches from the ground and it would be no good on some of the fen roads. They could ask the Ely Fire Brigade how much they would charge to attend the fen fires, and scrap the engine. Littleport, 1934
THE OLD WEST The Old West River is very narrow and in normal conditions appears slow, lazy and far from dangerous. But now it has risen above its low banks, covering the washes and lapping against sandbags placed along the A10 road near Stretham Ferry Bridge. Four barges are tethered to willow trees, loaded with gault to
mend the banks. It is a scene reminiscent of what happened here in 1937 when water ran across the main road to the low-lying fields beyond. A little more snow or rain will cause flooding. Stretham Ferry Bridge, 1939
PRAYING FOR JOBS Many people believe that the future prosperity of Ely will depend on the introduction of light industry. Now Father Guy Pritchard of the Catholic Church of St Etheldreda has
Above: Industry- Appleyard Lincoln boats, 1960
Above: Ind st Apple a dLncoln Linco n
inaugurated a campaign of prayer seeking God’s help to attract firms. Other churches will join in and Ely Chamber of Trade is also keen. Ely, 1960
Above: Stuntney SchooL, pictured in the 1940’s
the Downham Road site for practical subjects.
Queen Adelaide and Stuntney, 1950
Mike Petty
TALKING BOOKS The Isle of Ely County Library already pays the postage cost for ‘talking books’ for registered blind people. Now it is adding specially printed books with large clear type. They will be kept together and a collection and taken round by travelling libraries to enable readers with imperfect vision to read books which they cannot currently enjoy. The cost is no greater than for ordinary editions and the books are equally suitable for people with normal sight. Ely, 1964
Mike Petty indexing newspapers, 2012
For more than 20 years, Cambridgeshire historian, Mike Petty, has been compiling A Cambridgeshire Scrapbook 1897 to 1990. It comprises over 3,000 pages and more than 20,000 fascinating facts, features and (occasional) fallacies reported in Cambridge newspapers. It is arranged week by week putting local events in the context. It is free to read, free to download, free to use. Just search ‘Cambridgeshire Scrapbook’ on your computer or tablet.
http://archive.org/details/ CambridgeshireScrapbook18971990
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