hanley grange - a fifth anniversary

Five years ago - in the early summer of 2008 - people living in the villages of this part of Cambridgeshire mobilised in their hundreds to "stop Hanley Grange" and oppose the proposals for a 10,000 house development.
People believed that the planned new-town, put forward under the eco-town initiative of the then government, would have swamped Hinxton, Pampisford and the villages of Great and Little Abington, put Sawston High Street out of busines, and made the A505 even more of a gridlock than it is already.
Over the last few weeks I have been reminded of that effort by local people in the faded car bumper sticker I saw at Pampisford last Thursday and the odd poster on a playground fence. Now the local housing plan has been published, showing that most of the new houses over the next 20 years will be built at Northstowe, Bourn Airfield, Waterbeach and on the outskirts of Cambridge at Trumpington.
But there is always the chance that the people who own the land on which Hanley Grange would have been built will argue that allowing such a settlement would - mirroring Northstowe - meet the housing demand south of the City.
So as always, the price of freedom is eternal vigilance.

Up Chalky Road to the asparagus fields of Great Abington

Talking to people at the top end of North Road in Great Abington this afternoon - the views are amazing, and it really is a very different world, with most people having a landrover or equivalent to get up the narrow paths, and big oil tanks.
It seems a a long way from shops, schools, and even the village itself. But good quality asparagus!
So a sense of self-reliance, plus some interesting animals, like this pony in a front garden, grazing quietly.

Local enterprise

The village shop at the Abingtons must be one of the best stocked around. Up there this afternoon and the battery in my car key failed. Did they sell a replacement - of course they did!.
Later I was in Thriplow where it was good to see the newly re-opened Green Man doing brisk businesss.
This morning I was hearing from a young couple in Ickleton who had gone into the micro-brewing business, using local produce.
Not every business has to be mega to be successful.   

Mea culpa, Little Abington!

It was pointed out to me this afternoon by an eagle-eyed reader in Abington that I wrongly assigned the Bourn Bridge Road junction to Great Abington, rather than recognise its rightful place within the bounds of Little Abington.
Its still a busy junction, and you need to be doubly eagle-eyed when pulling out!