Let’s go fly The Kite!

Posted byCambridge Town OwlPosted inUncategorized

The launch of a new project by Together Culture supported by the Heritage Fund with Cambridge MP Daniel Zeichner the keynote speaker

What will one of the most historic and vibrant parts of Cambridge town be like in ten years time? And how can its history be celebrated and become a core part of that future? That’s what this project is all about. See more at https://www.togetherculture.com/lets-go-fly-the-kite – and see them on IG here or pop in at Fitzroy Street opposite Waitrose – opening times are here.

Above – Heather Stewart of Together Cambridge speaking to a standing-room-only crowd – Cambridge MP Daniel Zeichner can be spotted in the background

Above – Daniel Zeichner MP (Cambridge – Labour), also Minister of State for Agriculture, Food, and Fisheries at the Department for Environment, Food, & Rural Affairs

Just before his speech, two senior academics from Anglia Ruskin University who are also co-sponsoring the project gave brief speeches. I ambushed them asking if they could consider bringing back some of the old civics, politics, and social studies courses that their predecessor institution CCAT used to run for local residents. Watch this space!

I’m not entirely sure where I found the spoons from to ask those questions – I was in an utterly zombified state, going through one of those CFS/ME troughs when I wanted to be sociable and productive – struggling to keep my eyes open.

Above – me being a zombie with some of th Georgian town houses on Maids Causeway that local historian Mike Levy spoke about in his crash course on the history of The Kite.

Such is the depth of history of The Kite that Mr Levy covered a number of things that I was unfamiliar with – in particular the early days of The Kite. Much of what I’ve covered is of the later era – something that another local historian, Mike Petty MBE summarised here on its post-war 20th Century History here. As I sometimes say to audiences, such is the volume of interesting town history in Cambridge that there’s more than enough for everyone – hence wanting to get more people involved not just in the research, but as Mr Levy said, turning the stories into plays – especially for children and young people. (One of my ambitions for our city is to have a musical about the town history created for secondary school drama groups to put on as large performances so they can familiarise themselves with the story of our city while at the same time having lots of fun and making new friends in the process.)

Mr Levy’s history covered a number of the women who were active social reformers in Cambridge at the time – including the little-known Ellice Hopkins who was hugely influential and whose legacy is still with us. It’s always nice to see fellow local historians picking up on figures that I have blogged about, and then adding their own new/re-found pieces of information that I had been unaware of. Mr Levy also picked up on Lella Secor Florence who founded the first municipal birth control clinic in the country. He managed to locate the exact location of where it was – something that had eluded me before! Both Ellice and Lella would make for splendid extended project subjects for any further education college student.

On Together Culture

See https://www.togetherculture.com/story-of-us – It’s much more than a drop-in workspace or ‘desk space for hire’. As Heather, the co-founder said to the audience, diversity is its strength, informing people that members include those of us on social security support (myself included) to those people running successful independent businesses with turnover in six figures. It’s only when we really live that ‘co-operative diversity’ that we find out what the individual and collective benefits are.

Above – Together Culture

Flying The Kite on a walking history tour

Dr Sean Lang, historian and playwright and I ran a local history session on a cold dark evening earlier this year, and the video commissioned from it formed part of the introduction sessions for new members and people interested in learning more about the history and future of The Kite – mindful of the redevelopment of The Grafton Centre.

Above – me with Britney microphone on a walking tour that I could have gone on and on for – such is the depth of history

One of the ambitions of Together Culture is to move into the old Laurie and McConnal department store building

Above – the LEGO version of one of Cambridge’s most iconic town buildings (I think Bhaveet made this one, but it’s worth popping into see it – especially if you’re an architect!)

In the meantime, we’re waiting for The Cambridge Room to open in The Grafton Centre to debate all things built environment under the auspices of the University of Cambridge’s Department of Architecture. This will be an important development because of the issues raised by the Grenfell Tower Report and the criticism not just of the architects involved, but of the role of the profession in the construction industry as picked up on by The Guardian’s Architectural Correspondent Olly Wainwright.

“Many of the report’s insights and recommendations, particularly on the role and responsibilities of an architect, have great relevance for our members. We will take time to study them in detail, update our members, and continue to play an active role in the creation of a safer built environment.”  

RIBA – Response to the Grenfell Tower Report, 04 Sept 2024

If you are interested in the longer term future of Cambridge, and on what happens at the local democracy meetings where decisions are made, feel free to:

Below – have a look at the wider cultural strategy for Cambridge by the city council