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Holy Trinity, Meldreth: dating architectural features
In the absence of any documentary evidence relating to the building of the church in Meldreth, the dating of the phases of construction is dependent on architectural features. In a predominantly rubble building, the most useful diagnostic features are capital types, the profiles of arch mouldings and the forms of windows, all of which have typical forms in each century during the medieval period. The earliest original capital forms are the so-cal...
Gilly Gilham 1922 - 2010
The following obituary appeared in the June 2010 issue of Meldreth Matters. Below is a tribute to Gilly, written by June Comben following Gilly’s death on Saturday 17 April 2010. Following June’s article is an extract of a piece written by Gilly herself about her life when she moved to Meldreth. On meeting Gilly, the first thing anyone noticed was that she was a Lady. The next was her sense of humour; she saw the funny side of most things. Her na...
Funeral of Samuel Woods
The following report appeared in the Royston Crow in January 1922: FUNERAL-The funeral of the late Samuel Woods, of Bell House, took place on Thursday, January 12th, at Melbourn Cemetery, when the full service was taken by the Rev. P. Harvey (vicar of Meldreth), at the graveside. The remains were laid to rest beside those of his wife who predeceased him a few years back. The coffin was of plain elm with black fittings and on the breast plate was ...
The Signal Box
The signal box stood on the ‘Up’ side of the railway opposite the goods yard. There were a number of points both in the yard but also linking the two main railway lines to facilitate trains passing from either line in and out of the goods yard. These were all controlled from the signal box. From a plan drawing of the Goods Yard made by Meldreth signalman Sid Chamberlain sometime in the mid C20th, we know that the box had a 29 lever frame and that...
Heritage Lottery Funded Project, 2013
Meldreth Local History Group (MLHG) was one of the first groups in the UK to receive a Heritage Lottery Fund (HLF) All Our Stories grant. We were given £7,100 to fund the digging of test pits at different locations in Meldreth in order to explore how the village developed and evolved. All Our Stories, a new small grant programme, was launched in 2012 in support of BBC Two’s The Great British Story and was designed as an opportunity for everyone t...
Joy Gilbert
... Ann Handscombe Thank you Jane, for uploading the photo of the Brownie Pack. I remember you and your lovely mother, Joy, when you lived at The Grange and the sadness we all felt at her untimely death. I can also remember the WVS trolley at Meldreth Manor School which I took a turn with as well! Lovely to hear from you again. ...
Meldreth's First Car?
Meldreth’s first car is believed to have been owned by Hubert Ellis. It was a 1910 Straker-Squire 15hp ‘Windham’ Detachable Tourer, registered at Cambridge County Council as CE 3728. Straker-Squire commenced motor vehicle manufacture in around 1901, building steam wagons and later, petrol engined buses. The company was headed by Sidney Straker and L.R.L. Squire, trading as S. Straker & Squire Ltd. of Fishponds, Bristol from 1906-1918, moving to L...
Malton House
From a letter written by my great grandfather, Ralph Henry Flitton to his son in 1927: I remember my father speaking of his grandfather’s* house at Malton House, where the hall table was loaded with food & ale for all comers to partake if they liked. This occurred at all festive seasons, hunts and shoots and not alone at Xmas. They kept what was called “Open House”, all the neighbours and surrounding gentry welcome. The hall was a fine room about...
Flittons in Meldreth
My great grandfather Ralph Henry Flitton was born in Meldreth in 1846. He had three brothers and two sisters who were all born in the village between 1842 and 1857. Their father, William, was born in 1819 at Little Barford House which, I presume, is at or near Hail Weston, which has also been listed as his birthplace. He either inherited or purchased land near Meldreth and by the time of Ralph’s birth, was a successful farmer. At some point in th...
The Coprolite Industry in Meldreth
Introduction Between 1860 and 1890 there was a short boom industry in Cambridgeshire associated with the mining of coprolites (phosphatic nodules). These were mined along a broad swathe of Cambridgeshire stretching from near Royston in the southwest to Soham in the Northeast. Although little actual mining took place in Meldreth, it was a major location for the milling of coprolite and its transportation from the railway station to Ipswich for con...
Donkey Hall
Donkey Hall was the name given to a group of four cottages located near the corner of Kneesworth Road and Whaddon Road. They were clunch built one-up/one-down dwellings. The cottages were pulled down by Charlie Plumb after 1931 when West Way was built as most of the occupants of the cottages moved there. “Donkey Hall, for which two explanations are offered; one that the corner dwelling was occupied by a man who kept donkeys, the other and more lu...
Timetable of Events
Introduction Meldreth Local History Group received Heritage Lottery funding to finance the digging of 20-30 test pits in different locations in the village. Each test pit was one metre square and up to one metre deep. Our project was officially launched by Dr Carenza Lewis, a former Time Team presenter and head of the University of Cambridge’s Cambridge Community Heritage unit. When did the digs take place? The test pits were dug over three diffe...
The Meldreth Tramway
If you walk to the top of Chiswick End you may be surprised to see a pair of railway tracks set into the road. Perhaps you may have wondered what they are doing there? Well, they are all that remains of a light railway track that ran for 1.5 miles (2.5km) between what is now Etex (formerly Marley-Eternit) on the Meldreth Road to Whaddon and the Railway Goods Yard at Meldreth Station. Initially horses used to pull the trucks between the factory an...
Accidents to Mr Charles Ellis
... There is more information on Charles Ellis elsewhere on our website. ...
Hubert Ellis
Background Hubert Ellis was a local celebrity who played an active role in many local organisations. However, he did not shy away from conflict. This page describes just some examples of his causes and disputes. Hubert Oslar Shepherd Ellis, the eldest son of Charles and Maria (nee Oslar) Ellis was born in Meldreth on 27 June 1856. He was educated at Merchant Taylors’ School and Trinity Hall, Cambridge, where he read law. He became a member of the...
The History of Meldreth Lawn Tennis Club
The Tennis Lawn Club at Meldreth was founded in 1970. Previously, anyone wishing to play had to use the tennis courts provided at the Melbourn Village College Sports Ground. The possibility of a lawn tennis club in the village was discussed as early as 1926. At a meeting of the Meldreth Parochial Church Council (PCC) on 10th February 1926 the vicar, Rev. H H McNeice, said that he thought “we ought to do what we could for the young people and offe...
Memories of Meldreth School, 1958-1965
It is quite amazing how much you remember from your school days. My Teachers My memories start with Mrs Thompson, the infant teacher. She was really nice, with brown hair and glasses. She lived in a farm bungalow between Shepreth and Barrington. I remember she had a son who came in and played his electric guitar to us. We used to get small bottles of milk every day that we used to leave to warm up on the mantlepiece over the fire. We used to make...
Plans to Re-Open the Mettle Hill Travellers' Site
On 31st October, South Cambridgeshire District Council (SCDC) issued a press statement outlining plans to buy and re-open a former travellers’ site on Mettle Hill in Meldreth. The Background When the site was open, Meldreth’s residents were subjected to theft, vandalism, violence and other criminal behaviour. Villagers were warned not to travel along Mettle Hill and had to use other routes into and out of the village. The site’s facilities were f...
Eileen Jacklin 1923 -2013
The following obituary first appeared in the March 2013 issue of Meldreth Matters. Eileen, who was born in Litherland, Lancashire in 1923, passed away in Adenbrookes Hospital on 2nd February after a short illness. Eileen married Keith in 1947 at Holy Trinity Church, Meldreth. They lived in Shepreth for their first three years together, where their daughters Carol and Susan were born. In 1951 the family moved to Meldreth where Eileen and Keith liv...
The Story of Our Project
Introduction This page was created as an ongoing record of our test pitting project in 2013. The most recent entries are at the top, so if you would like to read it in chronological order, please start at the bottom of the page. Any images referred to in the text can be seen in the photo gallery at the bottom of the page. 2015 Almost two years after the first pit was dug, we decided it was time we tied up a few loose ends on our project! Two of t...
55-59 High Street
Introduction Numbers 55-57 High Street are located diagonally opposite the British Queen public house and originally comprised one property on the street plus a number of outbuildings. In the 1920s, the main property was divided into two dwelling houses and a shop. Number 55 High Street became known as ‘The Limes’ between 1950 and 1955 and is not to be confused with the house on the opposite side of the High Street which was called ‘The Limes’ at...
Alec Yates 1922-2012
The following obituary first appeared in the November 2012 issue of Meldreth Matters Alec and Joyce were married in 1944 and moved to Cam Cottages where they raised six children, five girls and a boy. Alec worked at the Whiting Company in Water Lane, Melbourn, before joining the Atlas Stone Company on the loading gang. He also drove a 10 ton Bedford lorry delivering asbestos all over the country, including many trips to Wales. Alex said the best ...
Joe Gelling 1943-2012
It is with great sadness that the Meldreth Matters team has learned of the passing of Joe Gelling. Joe passed away on 18th October 2012, following rapid deterioration of his health. Joe was born in the Isle of Man in 1943. After leaving school at the age of 15, he was an apprentice baker for five years before joining the Army. He served in the Royal Army Medical Corps as a nurse in various parts of the UK and the Far East for 22 years. In 1986 he...
Reg Hodder 1915-2012
... Sarah Fesco Sad news, he was a lovely and interesting man. ...
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