Mill Road History Society

Our 2025 AGM is on Tuesday 13 May, here are the documents for that meeting:

We have added more videos to our YouTube channel recently, including our last three talks at Ross Street Community Centre, and some earlier talks that got overlooked.

• Secret’s Never Told
• Artistic Inventions
• A Cambridge Photographer

YouTube have also given us a new, easier to remember, URL to get to our channel. https://youtube.com/@millroadhistory. But remember you can always use the Recorded Talks entry on the Resources menu at the top of any page on the website.

And finally we’ve added a link under Resources to our old newsletters in case you should wish to browse them whilst considering whether to sign up to our mailing list.

We recorded our recent talk from Dr. Peter Cunningham and Dr. Melanie Keene on the history of education in Romsey and the video from this is now available on our YouTube channel at https://youtu.be/pGL-5mOUDOc

You can watch all of our videos on our channel at https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCcqjbs4-6aAyNrapPs0v3bA/videos

Since our memorial event to celebrate Allan’s life in March 2021, the committee of the Mill Road History Society have been thinking about and receiving ideas for a more lasting public statement of our affection for him. We want to honour Allan in a way which acknowledges his very significant role in the community, with his various hats on, and we have also received some generous donations to help us do something. 

We have been liaising closely with Janice Western, Allan’s widow, and can tell you about a couple of projects now.  

Allan’s Broom

In 2021 the MRHS Committee was approached by Clare Phillips, Curator of ‘Resonance-Cambridge’ the Public Art programme for the Cambridge Investment Partnerships (CIP) programme of new housing.

CIP is building the housing development called Ironworks on the former site of the City Council Depot where Allan worked. Clare spoke to us about a memorial piece,  supported by investment into the community engagement programme at Ironworks.

Together with Janice, we came up with the idea of creating a metal version of Allan’s famous City Council broom, to be fixed propped up against a wall in a public area on the development.  We wanted to commemorate the way Allan frequently leant his broom against a wall while he talked to people who passed by!  Caro Wilson was keen to explore whether Mackays on East Road would be able to make it, and, with Janice, they took the original broom to the shop to see what could be done. To cut a long story short, the Mackays team were excited by the idea, and delighted to be involved.  Tas Claydon volunteered to design and manufacture a copper-finished metal version, and he and his colleague Scott Bailey have created a brilliant artwork which will be fixed in a public space, up against a wall.

A plaque on the wall will have the following wording:

In memory of Allan Brigham, 1951-2020
Road sweeper for Cambridge City Council, trade unionist, historian, tour guide and community enthusiast.
Allan loved Mill Road and Mill Road loved him.
Broom designed and made by Scott Bailey and Tas Claydon of Mackays, Cambridge
Concept: Mill Road History Society

This is a really nice example of local organisations working together and we are extremely grateful to Cambridge Investment Partnership for supporting the project. 

Allan’s Bench

We would also like to place a memorial bench in a public area, and, again with Janice, we think the best position is the summit of Mill Road Bridge next to the bench dedicated to Suzy Oakes.  Suzy’s bench is well used and there is room for another alongside it.  This seems to be a good place for several reasons:  Allan and Suzy worked closely together over many pan Mill Road projects including, before she died, the early stages of the Mill Road History project. Like Suzy, Allan believed the bridge should be seen as uniting Romsey and Petersfield rather than dividing them. And, importantly, the site overlooks the Depot site where he worked, Mill Road which he loved and the Railway which featured heavily in most of his tours.  If you went on one you will remember that question, aimed directly at one of his punters, perhaps even you, to make sure we were all concentrating:  ‘When did the Railway come to Cambridge?’  We are delighted that City Councillor Richard Robertson has emailed us to say: I’m sure that Allan would very much approve of the idea of a second bench next to Suzy’s. Like her, he saw Mill Road as one community and this proposal will help endorse that.

Whilst this is still very much in the planning stage, we are pleased to say that officers at the City Council have confirmed that they are happy to work with us to achieve this. 

The heading for this post acknowledges the title of Allan’s last book, A Brush with the Past, Cambridge local history, edited by Becky Proctor, 2020. This is available at the Museum of Cambridge, the CUP bookshop, David’s and the bookstalls on the market. Waterstones also have copies (apparently in the UK travel section!) and it’s still available to order on line at –  https://hannahbrigham.wixsite.com/allanbrigham

We’ve now uploaded the video of Tuesday’s talk to YouTube and you can watch it at https://youtu.be/bn-SLoZgnuk

The Cambridgeshire Regiment recruited local men from all walks of life, and many served side by side on the field of battle. John Mansfield, and George Bowes were two such men, from different walks of life but both from the Mill Road area. John, decorated for gallantry, was Elsie Palmer’s father and thus connected to David Parr House, and George was a member of the Bowes family who owned the historic publishing company and bookshop now owned by the Cambridge University Press.

On Tuesday 8 March 2022 Robin James gave this talk to the Mill Road History Society to introduce you to both men and tell you a little bit more about their interesting lives.

A reminder that you can watch recordings of most of our online talks in our channel at https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCcqjbs4-6aAyNrapPs0v3bA/videos

We’ve sent out our March Newsletter to our mailing list with details of our upcoming talks.

On Christmas Day Leigh Chambers of Cambridge 105 Radio presented a tribute to Allan Brigham including memories and reflections from those who knew him best. Contributors include his brothers Robert and Nigel, his niece and nephew, those who worked with him at the Cambridge Folk Museum and the Mill Road History Project, friends from the Cambridge Labour Party and others whose lives he touched.