LDHS is pleased to announce that the British Library has accessioned all the material which Hilary Stroude recently sent to them.
This material included research booklets which Hilary and her researcher produced c 2005 onwards. It also included a large selection of the Longstanton Life magazines that related particularly to Northstowe. A full set of Northstowe News was donated (Editions 1-31) along with a Northstowe booklet supplied by Homes England. All being well, the Heritage Society will continue to archive copies of the Northstowe News and will send these periodically to the British Library to be added to the collection.
Other miscellaneous items included: A copy of the Longstanton Parish Plan (2005-2015); Hilary’s Brief Guide to Northstowe History and an OS map of Longstanton, Northstowe and the surrounding area which she had produced in 2021, to coincide with the new boundary and Town Council coming into force. Also included were copies of some of the Heritage Society’s old calendars, including the large limited edition one we produced showing images of the airfield prior to Northstowe being built. It is important to note that the Heritage Society retains originals of all the items donated to the British Library, so the LDHS Archives have not been depleted in order to make these donations. These deposits illustrate how the Heritage Society has every intention of honouring our commitment to protect and promote the heritage of Longstanton, Oakington and Northstowe, even if the Heritage Annex building project has collapsed.
We are currently in discussion with the Cambridgeshire Collection about donations to them, as they have some copies of Longstanton Life already. Once the Cambridgeshire Collection donation is complete, they will have a full set of both Northstowe News and Longstanton Life. This means if the LDHS Archives do not find a home within Northstowe, as required under the Phase 2 Section 106 agreement, and the collection has to be broken up the Heritage Society’s full set of LL and NN magazines can be donated to the Cambridge University Library, which is one of the 6 legal deposit centres in the country (of which the British Library is one).
Hopefully, this will not be necessary and we can reassure members at our AGM later in the year that a plan is being worked on to ensure that the LDHS Archives can be displayed and stored within Northstowe. It will certainly be a shame if residents of Northstowe and the surrounding villages have to go to Cambridge or Ely to access material collected by the Heritage Society. It will also be a massive loss of an important educational resource for our local children. When we started the LDHS Archive it was to ensure that our work and material would remain a local community owned asset for Northstowe and the surrounding villages and we still hope that this vision for the future is achievable.
LDHS hopes that everyone will be pleased to know that whatever happens in the future, the work of the Heritage Society has protected and promoted the heritage of Longstanton, Oakington and Northstowe as we promised we would do. Of course, we must thank all those members and supporters who have helped us over the last 15 + years. The fact that we have recorded the transition of Longstanton and Oakington from rural communities towards the birth of a new town could not have been done without each and everyone of you.
There is still a lot more to do and new members and Committee members are needed if the Heritage Society is to be able to safeguard the LDHS Archives long enough for them to be included within Northstowe Library. The new membership year begins on 1 April so now is the perfect time to join. Membership forms can be found at 2024 Membership Form or you can message with your contact details and we will send a form out to you. LDHS can only carry out our heritage protection work with your support so please do take this opportunity to join us
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