Buckden - a Huntingdonshire Village

49 Memorial Playing Fields, Burberry Road. The land which forms Buckden’s main recreation area was at one time owned by the Church of England; in the middle ages it was part of the bishop’s vineyards (q.v.). Methodist chapel: see Wesleyan Methodist Church and Gospel Hall Midnight Butcher, the, was the nickname of Mr Sydney William Peck, who had his shop on the corner of Church Street and Silver Street for over twenty years. He worked long hours and his customers received some surprisingly late deliveries– sometimes via the bedroom window. Mill Road runs between Hunts End and Station Lane (which starts just before Offord Mill Bridge). In the 19thC, the stretch between Hunts End and White House Farm (which marked the edge of the built-up part of the village) was usually referred to as Mill Street . To make matters more confusing, Mill Road was also called the Offord Road or Mill Lane – and sometimes still is. Millennium Community Centre, Burberry Road [MapRef 1]. In 1997 the Parish Council and the Village Hall Trust agreed that the 1970s village hall was reaching the end of its useful life. With the help of the Lottery Millennium Fund, grants, donations and a loan of £110,000 repaid through the parish precept, they realised an ambitious project for a large building that has provided new and improved facilities for village organisations, an extension for the village club, accommodation for the branch library and room for the village nursery school. Together with the adjacent recreation ground, tennis club, bowls club, valley conservation area, new sports pavilion and new children’s play area, the Centre has become a focal point for village activities, as well as being a popular venue for wedding receptions, antique fairs, dog shows, visiting theatre companies, conferences and other events. Millennium Record. No-one who has seen this photographic record of the village at the turn of the millennium could fail to be impressed by the quality of the pictures and their presentation. Buckden will always be in debt to those responsible: Celia (Ce) Walker, her husband Tim, her sister Judith and Judith’s husband Michael Alban. How it all happened follows in their own words: Ce Walker, née Celia Gale, a native of Buckden, felt strongly that there should be something permanent to mark the millennium. She hit on the idea of a photographic record of all the village’s inhabitants. The project went ahead with the support of the Parish Council and with part-funding of £500 from the Huntingdonshire Local History Society’s Goodliff Fund. Ce, Judith, Michael and Tim (who was to be the photographer) set about the daunting task of carrying the project through. This began with finding volunteers in each street – or section of a long street – who could persuade their neighbours to pose as a group. In addition, the staff of each shop and members of many of the village clubs and societies were asked to pose in further groups. The organisation required was very great and took the whole year to complete – but thanks to the weather not one session was hindered by rain. Having arrived on the day and time arranged, Ce, Judith and Michael would marshal the group while Tim mounted his steps to obtain the necessary elevation. Curtains would move, doors would open and out would come a whole street of residents. Everyone posed, smiling: adults, children, babies (some newly born) - even pets had to be in on the photograph. Once the photographs had been taken, there was the further task of adding the names of everyone in each picture. This was the particular responsibility of Michael. The completion of the work was marked by a hugely popular exhibition at the village hall of all the photographs. The data was stored on computer and the Walkers demonstrated its use to all who asked and took orders for prints, which were duly fulfilled. Also on exhibition were some photographs of Buckden from the early 1900s. Visitors found it fascinating to compare the two sets of pictures and to see the people who had once lived where they now lived. Perhaps someone in 2099 will make a similar record to allow future generations to enjoy the same experience Copies of the photographs are in albums in Buckden Library. The negatives have been deposited with the County Record Office in Huntingdon. Buckden Parish Council holds the picture files on CD. Milne, Miss D. M. was the Principal of the Buckden Palace School and Kindergarten for a period between the two world wars. mineral extraction. Construction whether of buildings, roads, water works or other uses requires concrete, mortar or asphalt. These require aggregates, i.e. sand and stone in a range of sizes. Aggregates must be clean, that is free of organic material and dust, and so water is needed. In turn the washings have to be disposed of into a temporary pond until a worked-out pit can be used. The all but filled pit dug for the purpose behind Bishops Way and Aragon Close is being steadily colonised by scrub willow and other vegetation. One can obtain aggregates by blasting and crushing rock, but in the Buckden area the source is the river gravels at various levels along the Ouse laid down as the ice retreated 10,000 years ago. On the 1813 enclosure map there is a gravel pit, half a hectare in area, east of what is now Silver Street, but there is no sign of it on aerial photographs of 1948. There is another on an OS plan of 1926, 300m north of Mill Road. The aerial photograph shows that in 1948 it was overgrown. Who worked it and when is not known The area bounded by the Scout Hut, the cemetery and Mayfield was a gravel pit, its product being stored along the verges of Lucks Lane until required. The empty pit, which was said to be 5-6 metres deep, was purchased from the Brown family for £143 in 1943, used for the disposal of household refuse and then grassed over. The resulting field was used for some years by the Scout Group. For pioneering exercises the scouts wished to dig holes but when, almost immediately, glass and other items began to appear the holes were filled in and other methods had to be