Wilbrahams' and Six Mile Bottom's Photo Archive - The Wilbrahams, Great Wilbraham, Little Wilbraham and Six Mile Bottom

Older time street scenes in Great Wilbraham

Image of a postcard, circa 1958, depicting Pond Corner at the junction of Church Street and High Street, Great Wilbraham. The pond is no longer evident. — A view of Pond Corner, Great Wilbraham circa 1958

A view of Pond Corner, Great Wilbraham looking towards the High Street and Walnut Cottage. The postmark on this card is 1958, by which time the pond has gone and there is a pavement and kerb and the fence looks the same as the one today. At a guess, the pond was drained after the war, probably as a result of tarmac and the number of motor vehicles increasing.

Photograph of the old Village pond in Great Wilbraham — A view of the old pond, Great Wilbraham

This photo of the old village pond in Great Wilbraham was taken from the High Street looking down Church Street.

A photo of the village pond in Great Wilbraham taken looking towards the High Street — The old village pond in Great Wilbraham, viewed from Church Street towards the High Street

The old village pond in Great Wilbraham was at the corner of Church Street and High Street, formerly known as Pond Corner. The postcard has a postmark of September 1923. You will see that the road in both photos is still unmade. There is evidence on the road of horses having passed by.

Old postcard of Great Wilbraham. The photo is taken from The Lanes and shows the Lime trees which are pollarded. — An old view of St Nicholas’ Church from The Lanes; note the lime trees.

Pollarding the limes has been carried out for decades. Here is an old view of St Nicholas’ Church from The Lanes. Judging from the size of the trees in the churchyard – and by the nature of the roads – the photo dates from before the Second World War, probably the 1920s or ’30s. That would make the churchyard limes some 90 years old. Their regular shape shows that they were being pollarded from a young age.

High Street and the Triangle, Great Wilbraham — A view of the High Street and Triangle, Great Wilbraham.

It looks to be a photograph of the triangle and High Street taken from Kennels Farmhouse. A lot has changed. Just look at the old car in the distance and the state of the road which appears to be used more by horses then by cars.
Another striking feature is the presence of two pubs. The one on the right was called The Tallyho and the one on the left was The Kings Head. You can just see Toft Way beyond the Kings Head. There used to be five pubs in Great Wilbraham. The fingerpost directs traffic to London Road and Six Mile Bottom.

A street in the 30s — Church Street about 1930. The church is missing one of its pinnacles!

Image of the Chapel, Great Wilbraham in c1912 — Chapel, Great Wilbraham circa 1912

The Baptist Chapel was built in about 1833 to seat between 60 and 80, although in 1851 the congregation was down to between 30 and 50, and had fallen again to about 12 by 1885. The Chapel closed briefly in 1894 but was revived by the Baptist Cambridge Village Preachers Association and formed part of the Cherry Hinton group in the early 20th century. Older residents may be able to confirm that there was still a Baptist Sunday school in 1970 when the congregation was up to 45. The Chapel closed in about 1990. Read more about the postcard here.