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On this day, Ramsey Abbey Gatehouse was handed over to The National Trust, a fire broke out at a photography shop on Fitzroy Street, and the introduction of computers helped Cambridge journalists battle against deadlines.

Each day, Mike Petty and I look through the archives of the Cambridge News and recount some of the stories that occurred on this day in history.

Computers are the key weapon in the News battle against deadlines. Previously, crucial minutes were lost while journalists’ stories were re-set into type by other staff. Now, writing and typesetting can be done by one person. The process begins at 7.30am each day. The newsdesk, run by the news editor, the assistant news editor, the chief reporter, and an editorial assistant, decide on the best stories and brief the 15 reporters based in Newmarket Road and another eight in district offices.

Stories flood in from every source imaginable and more than 100 press releases and letters are received daily.

A move to put Cambridgeshire libraries under the control of the education committee was blocked by county councillors.

The Hay Report had suggested the library service should join with community education. But the education bureaucracy was already too large and needed trimming.

"We have one of the finest library services in the country and no-one with any common sense will see that destroyed", a Peterborough councillor said.

Ramsey Abbey Gatehouse has officially been handed over to The National Trust.

Major Broughton recalled that Ramsey Abbey was his wife’s childhood home and, after her death, he had restored the gatehouse as a memorial to her and presented it to the trust.

Of the abbey itself, there only remains the 13th-century Lady Chapel incorporated in Abbey Grammar School.

After the dissolution of the monastery in 1539, the buildings were used as a quarry, Gonville and Caius College being built from the stone.

Sir, What I would like to see in post-war Cambridge is the removal of the car park on Market Square and, in its place, a small restful garden, with the fountain cleaned and kept running with clear water as its centrepiece.

A few seats conveniently placed would add to its charm, for here grandpa could peacefully smoke his pipe whilst grandma did the shopping, and maybe a mother could keep one eye on her children left watching the fountain and feeding the pigeons, as she did the rounds of the market stalls. – Garden lover

Many of us have been on railway stations dimly lit and almost ghostly under wartime conditions when the sudden disappearance of even the subdued lighting warned us that raiders were in the neighbourhood.

But how many of us gave a thought to what was going on amongst railway workers behind the scenes?

The Cambridge district had, within its boundaries, over 30 different aerodromes and its closeness to the coast gave it more than a normal share of enemy activity.

Very often, the bombers had other targets but, since it was impossible to say that an extra glow of light will not attract bombs or that a train reflected in the moonlight would not call for a stick of high explosions, the presence of raiders had always to be treated with due precautions.

Engine drivers were warned through signal boxes of enemy activity and the rest was left to them. If the signalman suspected that his own section of the line had been damaged, it was his responsibility to stop all trains and notify the train control room.

This was the nerve centre of every line in the district. Operators with headphones clamped to their ears sat before maps of their areas in permanent touch with signalman.

In charge was the controller who was called on for instance decisions which may have a vital effect on the train load of important cargo or whether you catch that connection at Ely.

Into this control room came the ‘Reds’ and ‘Purples’ to be passed on by private line to key signal boxes and then relayed on to others. As the message was received, the signalman stopped and warned all trains in their section and every box knew the position within two minutes of the first message reaching control.

When damage was caused, the signalmen would report back. Control would divert trains by alternative routes and arrange for repair squads to get busy.

If a sudden blitz put telephones out of action, a shortwave radio transmitter was ready for instant use, meaning extra work in training men in coding and decoding messages.

Apart from staffing difficulties, there was the problem of rolling stock and fuel. The cuts in passenger trains had to be made if priority cargoes were to be moved.

The construction and later the ‘feeding’ of planes meant thousands of tons of rubble and cement, of bombs and fuel oil had to be bought in addition to trains moving similar supplies to other drones nearer the coast. The tonnage was colossal.

At Whitemoor goods yard as many as 120 freight trains were handled in a day. Petrol for planes put exceptional pressure on Cambridge and good yards had to be extended with a new auxiliary yard at Trumpington Ambulance trains were operated to five different places apart from Cambridge itself and, both before and after D-Day, many British and American wounded were brought back to hospitals in the district.

Now the return to peace brings its own problems.

The new Post Office sorting department at Petersfield has a vast and spacious garage complete with repair and painting shops for the upkeep of a fleet of vans.

Altogether, 50 vehicles are sent out and, should anything go wrong, a staff of mechanics can tackle the job at once. Even painting and complete overhauling is done.

The various sections in the sorting department now have plenty of room with the latest equipment including two electrical stamping machines which deal with the letters at an incredible speed.

"One noon, two hypochondriacs, Were strolling through the Cambridge Backs. Said one: It seems to me that I hear smacks, And slaps and thumps and bumps and hacks, Distinctive and nerve-racking thwacks, My ear drums' split, my limbs relax. It seems to me we’d best make tracks, Till carpet beating’s off the Backs."

A fire broke out at Thomas B. Hunt's photography shop on Fitzroy Street.

The fire was confined to an outhouse that was completely burnt out.

It was a brick building with a slate roof which Mr Hunt had used as a developing room.

It was connected with the main building by a wooden door that was badly charred and, had it not been for the prompt attention of the brigade, there is no doubt that the whole house would soon have been in flames.

The damage included cameras, plates and Mr Hunt’s complete developing set.

Cambridge market, as now conducted, is of no value to town. It is a waste of expensive shoe leather.

Previously, one could purchase a fowl or duck ready for table at a reasonable price, the famous Cambridge ‘yard’ of butter was available for sale, and eggs, fruit, meat, etc, were to be purchased at fair competitive prices which allowed reasonable profits to the vendors. Now, it is a dump where high prices rule.

Its principal patrons are those of fairly comfortable means who desire freshly-produced vegetables and fruit and are prepared to pay for them at prices dearer than in shops.

On Saturday, there was fairly brisk competition in fish, and meat stalls were doing good business, but fruit prices were almost identical to those in the shops.

An open market is wanted every day on Market Hill to bring down prices and dispose of tons of produce that will otherwise go rotten.

The Cambs Fruit and Vegetable Society in Bridge Street has organised an ‘open market’ with locally-grown produce at prices favourable both to grower and purchaser

In Cambridge, there are already hawkers of fruit and vegetables who sell produce at the door.

During trade depression, some traders had a hard struggle; their employees are now coming back but require more wages to meet the rising cost of living.

Fair competition does not cause anxiety but the open market is unfair. They buy wholesale, hire a stall for a negligible sum and sell at small margin of profit, market traders say.

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