The Gazetteer
Cambridgeshire
Cambridge - Midsummer Fair, in the week after Midsummer's day, June. Granted by charter of King John in 1211 to the manor of Barnwell, this fair still takes place on its original site, Midsummer Common, a tree-lined open space just a few minutes' walk from the city centre. With the River Cam forming one of the boundaries of the common, this is one of the most beautiful fairgrounds in England. It is the largest fair in East Anglia.
The Fens - World Fen Skating Championships, in January : "Fenland skating is one of the last great hidden subcultures in our land, and it goes back well beyond the Middle Ages. It is hidden because the conditions for its open expression only occur from time to time, but across the fens pairs of cobwebbed skates still hang in sheds and attics waiting for the next big freeze..." Roger Deakin, 2001. Contact Guy Warrington at the Norris Museum, The Broadway, St Ives, Cambs PE27 5BX +44(0)1480 497314.
Helpston - Midsummer Cushions. Celebrating the Birthday of poet, John Clare in July. Because of his love of local wild flowers, nearly 100 trays of turf studded with flowers are placed around his grave. At 2.30pm local children process from the John Clare School to the churchyard, circle the grave and lay the trays. The John Clare Festival is held around John Clare's Birthday, 13 July, with lectures, exhibitons and tours. In Clare's day, midsummer cushions were molehills or clumps of grass which had set seed and were scooped up and laid on window ledges as an ingenious sort of window box. Contact Mr Moyse, Hon. Sec. of the John Clare Society, +44 (0)1733 252678, e-mail moyse.helpston [at] talk21.com.
Lode - Snowdrops at Anglesey Abbey, in February - a winter walk amongst snowdrops mixed with shrubs chosen because they change their appearance in winter. Contact +44(0)1223 811200.
Deeping St James, Dry Drayton, Ely, Kings Hedges, Landbeach, Toft.
Whittlesey - Straw Bear Festival in January. Contact the Straw Bear Society, Society Secretary, 5 Hammerley Drive, Whittlesey PE7 1NE +44(0)1733 208245.
Wisbech - Wisbech Mart in early March .
Apple Day, October 21st
Find events in Cambridgeshire and across the country on the APPLE DAY EVENTS LIST
or read about Cambridgeshire Orchards and Orchard Produce
TELL US about an event you are holding : email info [at] commonground.org.uk
