Cambridge Edition October 2021 - Web

LOCAL L I FE

FRANCES MCNAUGHTON MEETS THE COMMUNITY HISTORIANS CHRONICLING HISTON ROAD’S RICH PAST MAKING HISTORY Memories on the Map

IMAGES BY FARUK KARA

One of these contributors, Anna Crutchley, was very much involved in the process of extracting resonant stories. “I really loved listening to a number of different Cambridge voices,” says Anna. “Many of our interviewees had been born and brought up in Cambridge – some living in houses left to them by their parents, where they had spent happy childhoods. Those were memories of the everyday; not kings, queens and politicians. And they were lovely.” As they also live locally, the committee were occasionally surprised to come across their own relatives in the narratives. Anna continues: “I met a lovely woman (Ann Whitmore, née Free), who lived on Histon Road and had been given a bunch of flowers by my mother in 1941. Ann was only about five years old then, and she’s now 85 or 86. My parents’ house was on Huntingdon Road and had been bombed during the war. Ann and her brothers

nbeknown to the city, a team of enthusiastic locals has been hard at work for the past few years,

with the aim of commemorating close to a century of Cambridge-centred history. Their collective efforts have culminated in A Community Remembers: Histon Road ; a new book that celebrates the area’s unique heritage through photographs, stories and recorded memories. Lilian Rundblad led the oral history project, managing to secure a Co-op Local Community Fund grant, which allowed the team to print and publish the book. “During the first consultation meetings, it was heartbreaking to hear residents describing the loss of community,” Lilian recalls. “So, I applied for a grant that would unite the people. I was happy that the selection committee believed in me. We were also lucky to find professional writers and a photographer locally, becoming friends as we worked together.”

rushed around and my mother gave Ann the flowers to take home, since she no longer had a vase for them. Can you imagine that coincidence? Ann and I had never met before.” Collating the stories involved hours of thorough research. This careful work has been accompanied by similarly considered pictures, taken by local photographer Faruk Kara. The images capture personal memories included in the book, offering a glimpse into lives that the community has built around itself. “When seeing my pictures, I want people to look closely; they are snapshots in time,” says Faruk. “In the portraits, the people are the subjects, but they are very deliberately placed in familiar locations that most of us do not see when passing by.” One particular address turned out to be one of these places for Faruk: “I have walked past ten Canterbury Street just about every day for the last 22 years, and it has always held a fascination. The floor- to-ceiling bookshelves, the stacks of books and CDs growing up from the carpet, pools THE PEOPLE OF HISTON ROAD ARE AT THE HEART OF THE PROJECT

A DAY IN THE LIFE Lilian Rundblad leads Anna Crutchley, Alison Wilson and Faruk Kara across Histon Road

30 OCTOBER 2021 CAMBSEDITION.CO.UK

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