Cambridge per diem: a daily chronicle of Cambridge connections

What’s special about the 11th March? Come along to Mill Road History Society’s special pre-Festival talk from Rosie Zanders and discover the unexpected connections between Cambridge events on that date.

Rosie Zanders, a local Blue Badge tourist guide for many years, takes a quirky look into Cambridge time and some of the remarkable characters who have travelled through it. She will be focusing specifically on 11th March, uncovering some unexpected connections between today’s anniversaries, blurring, intertwining and sometimes sharpening boundaries between workers and academics, town and gown. The catalyst for the talk was Rosie’s 2021 book ‘Cambridge per diem’, which contains a collection of Cambridge-related anniversaries, at least one for every day of the calendar year.

Rosie has spent over 40 years working in the tourist industry, most of the time as a Blue Badge guide in Cambridge, holding various roles within the Society of Cambridge Tourist Guides whilst co-running a small business called Cambridge Tailor-Made Tours. When tourism ground to a halt in 2020 she decided to revamp and rewrite her 2011 book Cambridge Book of Days, adding 300 photographs and an extensive index. She now enjoys giving regular talks based on the book, along with volunteer work at the Museum of Cambridge and as much travelling as she can fit in between!

This take takes place at Ross Street Community Centre, a fully accessible venue, and is open to all. Doors open at 7pm and the talk starts at 7:30pm.