6:00pm-7:00pm on Wednesday 27 March
Times shown are in GMT (UTC +0) up to the 26th March. For events on or after 27th March times are in BST (UTC +1).
Bath House PlayPark, Hector Pieterson memorial play area, 192 Gwydir Street , CB1 2LW
Explore the story of Gwydir Street from the Victorian era to today on a walking tour. Led by local historian Helen Weinstein of Historyworks in collaboration with community members, the tour brings to life the findings of local community history research. The tour starts at the top of Gwydir Street by the Bath House, and ends at the Alexandra Arms pub.
Once an unfashionable area, Gwydir Street, which backs onto Mill Road Cemetery, was becoming ‘the Soho of Cambridge’ by the 1960s, as young families moved away to be replaced with immigrants from Italy, Jamaica, Poland, former Yugoslavia and other countries. It remains home to many notable buildings, such as the Bath House, Dales Brewery and the former Pye Telecom’s site, and has also been home to notable artisans, such as harpsichord maker Trevor Beckerleg and decorative artist David Parr, whose house has been conserved as a public museum.
The tour highlights key people and places on the street. It accompanies a pop-up exhibition and programme at Mill Road Community Centre, during the Cambridge Festival family weekend, to celebrate the culmination of This Is Our Street! and the Blue Plaque projects. These projects were led by Historyworks and Gwydir Street Friends in collaboration with local resident groups, schools businesses, and organisations involved in local history research, such as Cambridgeshire and Huntingdonshire Family History Society, the Cambridgeshire Collection at Cambridge Central Library, Mill Road History Society, Capturing Cambridge and Mill Road Cemetery. More details at gwydirstreet.co.uk/history/festival.
As we walk around the Petersfield area previously known as ‘Sturton Town’, you will see part of the related street exhibition that features blue plaques, artworks made by the local school children at St Matthew’s and St Paul’s primary schools, and related research material displayed in the windows of houses on Gwydir Street.
The tour will end at the Alexandra Arms pub, and participants are welcome to stay for conversation and Q&A in the Garden Room.
Booking is required for this event as places will be limited. If places are fully booked, please register on the waiting list, and we will offer you a place if there are any cancellations.
Please arrive 10 minutes before the start time. Late arrival will result in a missed tour. Please dress appropriately with comfy shoes and bring an umbrella if necessary.
