A Cambridgeshire Scrapbook
compiled by
Mike Petty
A compendium of cuttings relating to
Cambridge, Ely, Huntingdon, Newmarket, Royston
and the surrounding villages
Thousands of Fascinating Snippets of Cambridgeshire Life
featured in my Cambridge News
‘Looking Back’ columns
Published online 25 March 2015
Snippets relating to Welney
www.mikepetty.org.uk
mikepetty13a@gmail.com
01353 648106
MIKE PETTY.
Looking Back – a Cambridgeshire scrapbook 1897-1989
revised 2015 08 05
Introduction
For the last 50 years I have helped thousands of people research Cambridge and its county.
This index is my way of saying ‘Thank You’ for all they have taught me
Each evening from March 1997 to April 2015 I compiled a ‘Looking Back’ column in the
Cambridge News in which I featured snippets from issues of 100, 75, 50 and 25 years ago. I
sought out unusual items relating to villages and areas of Cambridge not usually featured
These stories are from issues of the Cambridge Daily/Evening/Weekly News or Cambridge
Independent Press between March 1897 and December 1989
There are some gaps: the years 1915-1921, 1940 to 1946 and 1965 to 1971 have yet to be
scanned.
But it includes the ‘Cambridge Independent Press ‘From Our Old Files’ stories 1915-1920,
1940-45
Many entries include the date of the original story in the form YY/MM/DD - thus 33 01 29
means 29th January 1933. Other dates are those on which the article appeared in my columns.
I have notes of the precise dates and pages in which the original appeared
I can supply actual copies of many of these articles and have ‘Looking Back’ compilations for
a number of topics as listed below. If you would like any of these please let me know.
The newspapers are held in the Cambridgeshire Collection together with other Cambridge
titles back to 1762. They have newspaper cuttings files on 750 topics from 1958 to date
together with a variety of indexes including a record of stories for every village in
Cambridgeshire between 1770-1900.
I initiated much of the indexing and have many indexes of my own. Please feel free to contact
me for advice and assistance.
For more details of newspapers and other sources for Cambridgeshire history see my website
www.mikepetty.org.uk
This index was produced as a working part of my personal research resources and would
benefit by editing. If you can make any of it work for you I am delighted. But remember
you should always check everything!
Please make what use of it you may. Please remember who it came from
Mike Petty, 13a Reads Street, Stretham, Cambs CB6 3JT
01353 648106
mikepetty13a@gmail.com
www.mikepetty.org.uk
Welney Looking Back
1900
For the first time the British Amateur Skating Championship has been decided at Littleport.
At no venue in Great Britain are the arrangements so to up-to-date. All Cambridge sportsmen
will welcome Albert Tebbit’s success. He has had to wait five years to have his third race for
the championship which has always been held by a man from Welney – the little hamlet
known as the metropolis of speed skating # c.38 : skating
1909 10 27
George ‘Fish’ Smart, the prettiest and fastest skater Britain has ever produced, has from
injuries sustained in an accident at the new dock which is being constructed at Hull. He was
the most famous of the three famous ‘Welney Division’ of fen skaters founded by the
renowned ‘Turkey’ Smart. He started skating as a boy and beat his all-conquering cousin,
George See in 1878. But he retired when beaten by his younger brother James. ‘Fish’, who
was 51, had been completely lost sight of in sporting circles in recent years.
1911 02 17
The great scientist Alfred Russell Watson once accepted a challenge to prove that the earth
was round and, after consultation with Prof Newton, selected six miles of the Old Bedford
Canal as the scene of his experiment. But he did not satisfy all the parties concerned in the
challenge. So H. Yule Oldham carried out a similar experiment by placing a mark 15 foot
above the water between two bridges between Denver and Welney. A long-distance
photograph showed it to be considerably above the line of sight. But an elderly lock-keeper
who appeared in the photograph shown at New Chesterton Institute was still firmly convinced
that the earth was flat 11 02 17c
1924 11 25 c
The Isle of Ely County Council had been in communication with Norfolk in regard to the
reconstruction, repair and maintenance of Welney suspension bridge, which was in a very bad
state. Councillor Peake said “I always fell the bally bridge will go down when I am going
over it”. The bridge belonged to the Ouse Drainage Board and if nothing were down they
would do temporary repairs and make the bridge fit for traffic for 600 years and the tolls
would remain.
1939 12 20
Three men were sent for trial charged with stealing a wooden tool box containing various
tools, a grease gun, a copper funnel, a crowbar, two tins of grease, a pair of gauntlet gloves
and a five gallon drum of paraffin oil, the property of Messes Masters & Co at Upwell. The
box was found in long grass down the embankment near the Suspension Bridge on the
Littleport-Welney Road. They were further charged with stealing seven bags of potatoes, the
property of Levi Goose 39 12 20
1939 01 13
Floods.—Ouse Catchment Board men have (in view of the existing floods) reinforced the
bank running alongside the road on the Cambridge side of the bridge over the Old West River
(at Stretham). When a Pressman visited the district, he saw flood water lapping menacingly
against the sandbags. The Old West River, which runs from Earith to just below Ely, is at this
point narrow but now it has risen above its low banks, and is covering the washes which
extend from the normal water's edge to higher banks running parallel. Willow trees alongside
the normal river, which in summer time afford adequate protection from the sun to the many
anglers who sit along the banks, are now half under water. Four large barges are tethered to
these trees. They were brought up from Ely loaded with gault to mend the banks in the
vicinity. With the continuance of fine weather, the flood water should soon be drained off.
A little more snow or rain, however, would bring it over the main Ely to Cambridge Road,
and many adjoining fields would be flooded. The Ouse at Holywell is over its banks, and
water is within six feet of the Ferry public house. But it has to rise several more inches before
it reaches the level of the house. . . . The flood position at Welney yesterday showed little
improvement, for there is still 3ft. 6in of water over the road across the wash between
Welney and the Suspension Bridge at Oxlode. The flood waters from the Old Bedford River
have risen slightly at Earith but there is at present no anxiety. Flooding is most severe at
Brandon Creek and in the Hilgay area. # c.29
1979 02 02 c
The National Skating Association commemorated a hundred years of organised speed skating
with a professional match at Bury Fen, Earith watched by 300 people. It was a Cambridge
journalist, James Drake Digby, who set up the Association after he had covered the skating at
Mepal during the great frost of 1878. He was so impressed by the achievements of the
champion of the day, ‘Fish’ Smart of Welney that he determined to get rid of the cheating
caused by heavy betting. He arranged a meeting in Cambridge Guildhall which led to the
formation of the NSA with the Mayor as chairman and himself as secretary
1983 11 10
Josh Scott, one of the last marsh shepherds, has hung up his gun and binoculars and said
goodbye to the life-style that has supported his family for more than 100 years. It was Josh
who first introduced the practice of rounding up cattle on a scrambler motorcycle and
jumping the ditches in the fen area around Welney. In 1967 his life changed dramatically
when instead of shooting for a living he joined forces with Sir Peter Scott and set up the Wild
Fowl Trust Refuge in Welney where he has been warden 83 11 10 p21
1986 02 26
Josh Scott was the most successful predator of wild birds on the Welney Washes, killing 25
wigeon at one time with his punt gun. The birds were bagged in a potato sack and put on the
train to London markets. If he could not find an injured duck he called at local pensioners’
houses and told them where they might find it for their own pot. But in 1967 when Sir Peter
Scott set up his bird sanctuary Josh accepted the job of warden and has become a legendary
figure, feeding thousands of rare swans and geese in the evening shadows of deepest winter
86 02 26b & c
1986 04 04
Ernie James is a real fen tiger and a marvellous storyteller. His remarkable memory is capable
of making any fireside chat an enthralling yarn. Now he has set down his “Memoirs of a Fen
Tiger”. The book describes his varied life as ferryman, mole catcher, wildfowler, eel catcher
and ice skater in the tiny village of Welney where he lives with his wife in a little whitewashed cottage overlooking the Ouse washes. He’s in demand by film makers and people
who want to know about country crafts 86 04 04b
1987 01 12
It was pitch dark at 3am one Sunday morning as a Newmarket lorry driver was making his
way north of Littleport towards Welney. He was talking to his wife on CD radio when
suddenly a bright green light appeared in the sky. It was heading down to earth at tremendous
speed, then changed direction and zipped across the road before disappearing. His
experiences follow that of two Burwell women who saw huge orange lights above the fields
near Swaffham Prior. These are the first unidentified flying objects reported locally for six
years. 87 01 12