From Show Home to Public Home
A Farewell from the Residents in Residence
Trumpington- the blueprint for an award winning community?
A Visitor's Reflection by Cecilie Sachs Olsen
As a place to live, this has everything
Carol Holloway
Lives inSefton Close (off Scotsdowne Road)
Moved to Trumpington in1990
Type of housing4-bedroom detached house, built in the 1960s
Current market valuearound £420,000 (according to Zoopla)
Favourite place in Trumpington“Byron’s Pool is my number one spot. I like the wildlife and the peace and the water and the trees, and all that stuff, which is wonderful.I also have also a fondness for the railway crossing that goes across the fields to Addenbrooke’s Hospital. My husband Jimmy (then my boyfriend) and I walked down there one evening when we were commuting between London and Cambridge and had a conversation about our future. We decided there that we were going to stay together long term. A month later I was pregnant. It feels like that spot has a force field under the ground! There’s a bridge there now. I know this isn’t going to be everyone’s cup of tea but I love seeing Addenbrooke’s Hospital on the horizon. Partly because I worked there and partly because we had our wedding reception there, at the Frank Lee Centre.”
It's Like Being in Heaven
Tatenda Mukumbira
Lives inSpring Drive, Trumpington Meadows
Moved to Trumpington inDecember 2012
Type of housing3-bedroom terraced house, finished in the 2012, rented from housing association
Current market value2, 3 & 4 bedroom houses on the Trumpington Meadows are being advertised from £429,995 to £649,995 on Barratt’s website
Current council rent£165 per week
Favourite place in Trumpington"I love the parks because I love the fresh air I get when I’m out. The atmosphere helps me think up great ideas and I love playing with the kids or watching them play when I take my brother and sister out. It’s always full of excitement and laughter. Even in the horrible winter weather, it never loses its warmth – and I think there’s some beauty in that."
Location, location, location
Sam Cooke
Lives inBishops Road
Moved to Trumpington in2008
Type of housing3-bedroom semi-detached house, built in 1937
Current market valueHouses on Bishops Road have a current average value of £432,257, according to Zoopla
Favourite place in Trumpington"My favourite place in Trumpington is the Cooke Curtis & Co office. Obviously. The reason we liked this location on Trumpington High Street was because everyone knew where the Hobby Shop was. It’s a bit of a shame it closed down, because it was such a landmark, which is why we’ve kept the sign… But we didn’t feel like we were taking away a valuable village resource that could have been something great for the community."
One year in Trumpington: Living the eco dream
Lorna & Dave Rayner
Lives inLingrey Court, behind Anstey Way
Moved to Trumpington inJanuary 2015 (left in January 2016)
Type of housingFour-bedroom, semi-detached eco-home, newly built
Current market valueAround £550,000
Favourite place in Trumpington“Our favourite place in Trumpington is the park and field in the Foster Road estate – the children also love it too!”
Trumpington Through Time
Stephen & Shirley Brown
Lives inBishops Road
Moved to Trumpington in1974
Type of housing2-bedroom detached house, built in 2013
Current market valueHouses on Bishops Road have a current average value of £432,257, according to Zoopla
Favourite place in Trumpington"Shirley’s favourite place is her own garden, while Stephen’s is away from the city in the countryside."
Please note: some of the images included with this article were supplied by Stephen Brown. The image of the Plant Breeding Institute is supplied courtesy of the PBI. The black and white image is courtesy of Maurice Rayner.
This is our “forever home”
Catherine Wallace
Lives inConsort Avenue, Trumpington Meadows with her husband Derek, 48, and three children (Charlotte, 13; Alice, 10; James, 5)
Moved to Trumpington inOctober 2013
Type of housing4-bedroom terraced house, built in the 2013, rented from housing association
Current market value2, 3 & 4 bedroom houses on the Trumpington Meadows are being advertised from £429,995 to £649,995 on Barratt’s website
Current council rent£168 per week
Favourite place in Trumpington"Some of my fondest memories are of taking the children over to the park near the Pavilion. The children were relaxed and we’d pop into the Bun Shop [on Anstey Way] and get some treats.”
Trumpington Treasures
Sam & Steve Harris
Lives inShelford Road
Moved to Trumpington inSteve and his wife Dee moved to Trumpington in 1972; they share their house with their youngest son Sam, his wife Fran and their two young daughters, Katie and Amy
Type of housing3-bedroom terraced house, built in 1902
Current market valueSimilar houses on Shelford Road have a current value of around £455,000, according to Zoopla
Favourite place in TrumpingtonSteve loves going along to the car boot sale at the Trumpington Park and Ride on Sunday mornings to pick up a bargain. Sam’s favourite spot is the newly named local pub, the Hudson’s Ale House.
The Best of All Worlds
David Plank & Jen Runham
Lives inCedar Road, Novo development
Moved to Trumpington inAugust 2013
Type of housing4-bedroom detached house, built in 2013
Current market valueCurrent value of around £583,000, according to Zoopla (the house cost £490,000 in 2013)
Favourite place in TrumpingtonJen: “My house. I love the sun rises and the sunset. It’s just different every day. It’s fantastic.”
David: “I love the house but I also particularly like the walk down by the River Cam. It’s beautiful down there, it really is."
Is this Trumpington’s Time?
A writer's afterthought - by Vicky Anning
On our daily walk to the guided busway we come across a hoarding that says: 'Proposed Community Gardens'. We wondered about what that might be. Who is proposing? How big is the plot of land this is referring to? Is there already someone plotting a future for that land? And what exactly is a 'community garden'. We teamed up with Lorelei Lodestar who over the summer became the Showground Gardener and changed the show home garden to a real living one with lots of beautiful plants and seedlings, a green house and even chickens and who had run a plant swap and skill sharing sessions for neighbours. We went on our usual rounds, talking to Countryside first. There we found out that the 'Proposed Community Graden' is a large piece of land that streches over both sides of the path way and that in a way is up for development by the community with the support of their landscape architect. From Lorelei we learned that planned community gardens are quite an unusual thing, often community gardens are developed on a piece of wasteland or as a meanwhile use project to maybe try and claim land for a community. They take all different shapes and forms, from quite anarchic 'everybody can plant, everybody can pick' approaches to incredibly organized and even commercially viable community endeavours or places where people also come together to celebrate or learn or take care of their health. We were immediately hooked! What an amazing opportunity.
And we thought why not do another event. This time we invited Lorelei to take the lead. She is an artist and gardener who has lived in Trumpington for many years and she immediately decided to involve other amazing Trumpington organizations such as the Community Orchard, the Trumpington Alotment Society and some specialist beekeepers and great hobby gardeners. We decided we wanted to do a tour of Trumpington gardens for people to watch and learn and then break in the ground of our new piece of land the 'proposed community gardens'. And why not just start using it properly? We contacted Countryside to see if we could do an event on the ground and then went on a journey finding out, if they had leftover materials we could use. The guys on the ground were super helpful and with the help of our friend Alex and lots of community volunteers we built a large table for a community feast. Then we asked the amazing Jenny Bright, if she could imagine to cook a meal for 80 people. And she actually said yes! It was a memorable day with lots of wonderful little moments. We think the best thing about it is that lots of people just joined in and added their ideas, their expertise and lots of enthusiasm.
Since the event Lorelei has started a series of Hibernation meetings with people from the communities of Trumpington to plan and build the gardens and make it into a great public place. If you would like to join, just e-mail us on hello@habitorials.org.uk. No need to know anything about gardening. We are complete novices ourselves.
And we thought why not do another event. This time we invited Lorelei to take the lead. She is an artist and gardener who has lived in Trumpington for many years and she immediately decided to involve other amazing Trumpington organizations such as the Community Orchard, the Trumpington Alotment Society and some specialist beekeepers and great hobby gardeners. We decided we wanted to do a tour of Trumpington gardens for people to watch and learn and then break in the ground of our new piece of land the 'proposed community gardens'. And why not just start using it properly? We contacted Countryside to see if we could do an event on the ground and then went on a journey finding out, if they had leftover materials we could use. The guys on the ground were super helpful and with the help of our friend Alex and lots of community volunteers we built a large table for a community feast. Then we asked the amazing Jenny Bright, if she could imagine to cook a meal for 80 people. And she actually said yes! It was a memorable day with lots of wonderful little moments. We think the best thing about it is that lots of people just joined in and added their ideas, their expertise and lots of enthusiasm.
Since the event Lorelei has started a series of Hibernation meetings with people from the communities of Trumpington to plan and build the gardens and make it into a great public place. If you would like to join, just e-mail us on hello@habitorials.org.uk. No need to know anything about gardening. We are complete novices ourselves.
Showground of REAL LIVING
An introduction by Aislinn White
Field of Dreams
Joan Haylock
Age81
Lives inByron Square
Moved to Trumpington in1966
Type of housingThree-bedroom, end of terrace council house, built in 1947
Current market valueCurrent market value of around £260,000 (according to Zoopla)
Current council rentApprox £120 per week
Favourite place in TrumpingtonSitting on a chair in her dining room looking out over the recreation ground
We’re community builders
Jens Kirschner
Age36
Lives inChaplen Street
Moved to Trumpington inMarch 2013
Type of housingFour-bedroom, three storey, private house, built in 2013
Current market valueCurrent value Around £534,000 (according to Zoopla)
A Countryside Property
Antony Pemberton
Age72
Lives inTrumpington Hall
Moved to Trumpington inThe Pemberton family have been resident in Trumpington since 1715. They originally came from Pemberton in Lancashire.
Type of housingManor house first built circa 1600, with 600 acres of land
Current market valueundisclosed
Favourite place in TrumpingtonTrumpington Hall
Everyone’s a newbie here
Georgie Morrill & David Willsher
Age31/ 46
Lives inChaplen Street
Moved to Trumpington inMay 2013
Type of housingTwo-bedroom apartment rented from housing association
Current market valueAround £299,000
Current council rent£150 per week
Favourite place in TrumpingtonApart from their home, their favourite place in Trumpington is the beer garden at the Lord Byron, where they like to stop off for a refreshing pint after a Sunday walk to Grantchester.
I feel grief for the loss of place
Ceri Galloway
Age63
Lives inFoster Road
Moved to Trumpington in2003
Type of housingThree-bedroom terraced former council house, built in 1947
Current market valueAround £310,000 (according to Zoopla)
Favourite place in TrumpingtonNine Wells – a nature reserve with several chalk springs that form the source of Hobson’s Conduit, which carries water along Hobson’s Brook into the heart of Cambridge.
My friends’ nickname for Trumpington is ‘Trampington’
Tom Warburton
Age18
Lives inPaget Road
Moved to Trumpington in2003
Type of housingThree-bedroom terraced council house, built in 1946
Current market valueAround £250,000 (according to Zoopla)
Favourite place in TrumpingtonCommunity Orchard
I get on with all my neighbours
Tanya Jolley
Age41
Lives inPartridge Close
Moved to Trumpington inJuly 2013
Type of housingThree-bedroom end of terrace house, rented from housing association
Current council rentAround £154 per week
Favourite place in Trumpington“I love my house”