Last night I joined Cambridge’s popular historian and the city’s best known road sweeper, Allan Brigham, for a guided tour of Chesterton – old and new. He’s a bit like the Pied Piper and attracts hordes of enthusiastic followers who lap up his every word. Last night was no exception, and a score of disappointed folk had to be turned away as they had not booked in advance. He decided that a group of 50, including my blogging mentor Geoff Jones, a new Chesterton resident who was nursing a bruised rib after falling off his bike during a cycle ride through the Rhine, and his girlfriend Sally, was more than enough.
These numbers are a testament to the success of his illuminating tours. We soaked up endless little known historical facts as we snaked our way through the streets, including an ancient footpath once walked by diarist Samuel Pepys, comparing the sturdy and thoughtful designs of Victorian and Edwardian properties, to the cramped new modern styles of homes built to meet local needs rather than being aesthetically pleasing.
Our walk took us to Chesterton Tower – the second oldest building in Cambridge, and now used an office block. I asked Allan why this wonderful medieval monument, which must surely be a listed building and is owned by Trinity, is allowed to have horrid and unsightly white PVC windows. For once, he had no answer.
As Allan amused us with tales about the raucous goings-on in Roebuck House, the owner stepped out, Donald Mackay, who confirmed there had been naked frolicking in the garden with an academic and young women, and kindly invited us to tour the gardens. Sadly, there was no time, but the offer added to the infectious high spirits of the group, many of us ashamed by our lack of local historical knowledge.
We also saw a special monument at St Andrew’s Church for the four-year-old daughter of black slave Olaudah Equiano, who had married a local girl in Soham after buying his freedom. He actively campaigned with the anti-slavery movement being led by Thomas Clarkson and William Wilberforce. And many thanks Allan for the book you gave me about Olaudah’s daughter Joanna which I thoroughly enjoyed reading this morning.
There is so much more I could say. If you want to learn more about Chesterton and other parts of Cambridge, then here is the link to Allan’s inspiring Town Not Gown tours. You can see a video of him being interviewed about his well deserved honorary degree from Cambridge University for his services to the community as a tour guide. I couldn’t resist taking these pics during the walk and using EveryTrail on my iPhone to record it:
Allan Brigham’s tour of Chesterton
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Hi Allan, thanks for a really informative and fun evening. I will have to visit the School of Pythagoras one day this summer, I have a good idea where it is.
That tour looks really interesting.
it was a very interesting evening … thanks for making sure we knew about it 🙂 great to catch up with you again too x
That sounds a great tour – I never knew that Olaudah Equiano had local connections!
If you visit the Cambridgeshire Archives and Loval Studies at the County Record Office in Cambridge you can view the original marriage register containing the entry for Olaudah Equiano and wife Susannah.
How very cool!
Sounds a most interesting outing Ellee.
Oludah Equiano’s book when published became a best seller and was only second to the top best selling book Robinson Crusoe.
I hope you all watched Domesday on Tuesday 10.8.2010 when Stephen Baxter talked about the meeting in the Roundhouse where the Normans established themselves as the legal landlords of Cambridge, anyone who had supported Harold were disposessed.
Stephen,it sounds like an amazing book. Here are the details about it for those who are interested:
In 1789 he published his autobiography, ‘The Interesting Narrative of the Life of Olaudah Equiano or Gustavus Vassa, the African’. He travelled widely promoting the book, which became immensely popular, helped the abolitionist cause, and made Equiano a wealthy man. It is one of the earliest books published by a black African writer.
Unfortunately, I missed Domesday, but I will try and catch up with it on iPlayer.