What Happened to HUNTINGDONSHIRE?

[@davidpollard4051]

A thousand years of existence wiped away by the stroke of a pen in 1974. Great video - thanks for posting. Vivid reminders of when I was living in St Ives from 1970-73 as a small boy until we've moved back to Cheshire.

[@pedanticradiator1491]

Actually it was 1965 when the county councils of Huntingdonshire and the Soke of Peterborough merged

[@tobeytransport2802]

Counties can exist as cultural entities even when it is no longer viable to have them as administrative units.

[@tobeytransport2802]

Counties can live on as cultural entities even when it is no longer viable to have them as administrative units.

[@ts6070]

Born in Buckinghamshire but within months they moved the ancient Thames River borders to suit modern geographical conditions that have caused decades of decline of towns moved borders without logical reasons in the name of ‘modernism’ progress a total reversal our ancestral British heritage leading to carnage for decades ahead to this very day.

[@tobeytransport2802]

@@ts6070 Logically I can't see why moving the boundaries to suit modern criteria would cause carnage. The only downside is the cultural aspect, but culture doesn't live in an Act of Parliament, it lives in the hearts and minds of the people.

[@tonywise198]

What a brilliant You Tube Video. This sort of local history always needs to be recorded for posterity. Thank you so much for uploading this.

[@AlexinGreatBritain]

That's kind of you to say, thanks!

[@frogandspanner]

4:31 That was my daily entry to school. The school buses dropped off on the drive up to the old abbey gatehouse. The posh bit of the school was built over the _lady chapel_ of the Abbey, and once a year we were allowed to visit the plastered painted chamber. I was there for the millennium of the foundation of Ramsey Abbey, when I was introduced to the Archbishop of Canterbury. 4:50 The school bus, which picked me up near home in Hemingford Grey, passed through St Ives ("sənoives"). In those days there were sheep and cattle stalls and a weekly livestock market. There was an abbattoir in Meadow Lane, where I spent a few weeks during a University vac job. I also had a trip on the train from Longstanton to St Ives with my Lambretta in the guards van. 7:22 Many is the time I have staggered home across that bridge after spending a few hours in the _Royal Oak_ with the boxer Joe Bugner who lived first on Needingworth Road, then near Wyton. He and his trainer, Andy Smith, would pop in for a jar or two on a Saturday. Later our allegiance shifted to the _Oliver Cromwell_ which had better lockins. I also drifted down the river unconscious - but not because of alcohol. I was sculling (St Ives Rowing Club) and a poorly coxed four in the opposite direction (towards Hemingford lock) was on the wrong side, raised blades, and hit me and the back of the head. I came to in the river. 7:57 The Great Whyte. As a sixth former chums and I would pop into pubs along there. We moved to Hemingford Grey in 1968 from Yorkshire, and I was deeply saddened when the historic county was obliterated a few years later.

[@diannewheatleygiliotti8513]

Alex, you have outdone yourself. So much new information for me. And, delightful views Terrific .

[@williamturner6366]

alex that was brilliant thanks for your hard work totally enjoyable.

[@AlexinGreatBritain]

Thanks for the kind words!

[@clivewilliams3661]

A good video, I was dragged up from an early age in Huntingdonshire and then moved to Peterborough, where I eventually worked for the New Town Development Corporation. My endearing memories of the county were not the towns but the villages that were mostly cohesive communities and not like the dormitory blocks they have become. There was a very strange county geography around the west side of the county, where the Northamptonshire was a prominent feature. Its a shame that Huntingdonshire can't resurrect itself in the way the Rutland did, which is close by but then you would be left with what would be a Cambridgeshire 'doughnut'.

[@brusselssprouts560]

Kent where I live was a Kingdom, and there was apparently even a Queen of Canterbury who helped St. Augustine to bring Protestant Christian churches to Britain.

[@clivewilliams3661]

@@brusselssprouts560 I think that you have completely mixed up your dates here. Kent was a one time kingdom post-Roman Britain with its centre at Canterbury but by the time of the Norman invasion in 1066, 600 years later was firmly part of England. The current Canterbury Cathedral post dates that Norman invasion. Protestant religion did not come to Britain until essentially 1533, when Henry VIII made himself the first head of the Church of England, nearly a full 1000 years after Canterbury Cathedral was created by St Augustine.

[@pedanticradiator1491]

​@@brusselssprouts560 St Augustine was certainly not a protestant that term did not exist until the 16th century

[@sarahwinfield3989]

I was born in Peterborough and still have friends locally. I learned more about the surrounding area than I had known previously. Many thanks for posting.

[@johnjephcote7636]

I still think of Peterborough as being in Northants. What happened to the Soke of Peterborough (no, it was not a local drunkard)?

[@speedbird2166]

Fantastic little history lesson there! Amazing work!

[@AlexinGreatBritain]

Thank you!

[@philiptaylor7902]

Lovely video Alex, lots of interesting content there.

[@AlexinGreatBritain]

Thanks, I appreciate it!

[@Eurobrasil550]

Another interesting video, Thanks, I wonder if any original 'Huntingdonshire' roadside county boundary signs survive in a museum or privately?

[@AlexinGreatBritain]

A good question! The one that appears at the end of the video was between Ramsey and Chatteris, the latter being in the Fenland district of Cambridgeshire, but as for original signage of the historic counties, that would be quite a find.

[@GingerLBC]

The oldest one I know of is the three counties boundary stone near hargrave on the B645

[@puddinggeek4623]

Excellent video as always. Interesting and informative, keep up the good work.

[@AlexinGreatBritain]

Thanks for the kind words!

[@diannewheatleygiliotti8513]

Thanks!

[@AlexinGreatBritain]

Thanks Dianne, always appreciated! :)

[@dizwell]

Lovely video! Thank you.

[@Redbird4912]

I enjoyed your video. Very informative. I have lived in St Ives all my life and observed the town grow in size and population each year, but still retain its charm. St Ives was originally called "Slepe". The bridge at St Ives was one of the few river crossings in Huntingdonshire, as you mentioned. Many travellers crossing over the bridge, into St Ives, would either be heading for Ramsey Abbey or turn right for the Priory. Those same travellers had to pass through local traders, set-up either side, to reach the Priory.

[@AlexinGreatBritain]

Thank you! Yeah, it's humbling to think of all the centuries of people who've called it (and other towns) home before us.

[@frogandspanner]

Our first 'phone number was Slepe 683 .

[@manojsinha5488]

I was looking to get some places of interest in and around Cambridge and landed on to this video. It is really well documented with facts and background for anyone interested in exploring this region. Worth a watch. Thanks

[@AlexinGreatBritain]

Thanks for the kind words!

[@TheSonsofFalstaff]

Excellent . Informative and enjoyable. Thank you.

[@AlexinGreatBritain]

Thanks for the kind words!

[@macdodd]

I remember Huntingdonshire, Godmancester & several other places as I visited it back in the 60's. When I was on a Summer Camp with the Air Training Corps. I was then posted to Oakington In Cambridgeshire in 1973 & we often drove through the county. Great memories.

[@Al-iv3mb]

I've no idea why this appeared on my pages but thank you for an interesting and well filmed video of a part of England which I've never visited. The one thing i seem to remember abiut the location is that former PM, John Major was the Member of Parliament

[@Penny-z9b]

Lived in Godmanchester from 1991 - 2006. Children went to St Anne’s C of E Primary School which kept up the roman connection by naming its four school houses after roman roads ie. Foss, Devana, Watling and Ermine.

[@AlexinGreatBritain]

Ah, that's a nice touch!

[@elsey6]

You were looking at Ramsey Abbey Gatehouse of which not much remains, all the abbey itself remains just beyond. Would have been a nice building to have been included. A short walk down hollow lane and left at the old m&b castle site would have revealed all.

[@RUBYLUD]

Thank you so much for this video. I have always been interested in St Ives and Huntingdonshire since in my young days I had a crush on a young lady from St Ives, who worked down in Bournemouth with me.

[@AlexinGreatBritain]

No problem, thanks for the kind words!

[@Birtybirchover]

Very interesting. I grew up in the village of Great Gransden and still like to visit to see how it has changed since my time in the 50s.

[@DorotheaAntonio]

I used to lived in Kettering. I visited Godmanchester and Huntington! Great places!

[@hamzah6251]

fantastic video!

[@markalton2809]

A very interesting and informative video.

[@AlexinGreatBritain]

Thank you!

[@asheland_numismatics]

Very interesting video!

[@ddahodd7856]

Superb work Mr. Video Maker, my first sight of your work; many thanks, I have subscribed and I look forward to viewing more; I'll gladly chip a few bob.

[@ghosthorse77]

What a great video. Very interesting, and informative. My ancestors came from Huntingdonshire, which until I started researching my ancestral tree had no idea. I visited there once, and this is a true fact, I never felt more at home than I did there. Goes to prove something, I guess.

[@AlexinGreatBritain]

Thanks, and yeah some places can have that effect!

[@ianhelps3749]

Very interesting film. The towns look beautiful , but maybe the good weather helps.

[@AlexinGreatBritain]

Well, good weather certainly doesn't hurt! And thanks.

[@shirleymilton5178]

We had a boat on the River Great Ouse and love the towns on the River especially St Ives and Ely .

[@NMiller80666]

Wowww brilliant! Very informative, I have always been fascinated with British history as a kid growing up in the Caribbean. British history was part of my school curriculum and I was exposed to lots of British literature. Plenty pleasant childhood memories and my imagination reading books by the Bronte Sisters, Charles Dickens etc was magical. I plan to visit 'Huntingdonshire', haha Huntingdon, soon to just visit Oliver Cromwell Museum.

[@AlexinGreatBritain]

Ah nice, thanks for the kind words! And if you get the chance, consider walking to Godmanchester from Huntingdon as it's just across the river. :)

[@knightsatin]

Great video, according to a government spokesman who was asked in 1974 why some historical counties 'disappeared' answered that the new counties formed were for government administration only to 'tidy things up'. He said also that the historical counties still existed as such and had not been abolished. And would not be. In 1989 a book entitled 'The real counties of Britain' was written by Russell Grant on this very topic.

[@Sam_Green____4114]

Is the Welcome to Huntingdonshire sign at the end just outside Chatteris ?

[@AlexinGreatBritain]

It is indeed!

[@Sam_Green____4114]

@@AlexinGreatBritain I thought I recognised it ! As you leave Chatteris on the Huntingdon Road ?There used to be a sharp corner there in the 70s ,but then the road was diverted to give the smooth curve we see here, in your video ( the old curve has been left as a lay by /park up /Burger van truckers stop !) . Also in the early 70s ,here ,where the Welcome To Huntingdonshire sign is , but on the opposite side going the other way ,heading into Chatteris was an old sign saying " Welcome to the Isle of Ely " (A bit bent and battered it was .as I remember ! Like a truck had hit it and it had been but back after being repaired !)

[@Sam_Green____4114]

This road also in the 70s also , starting from where you were filming , and behind you, was also know for a long line of trees down each side of the road as you head into Chatteris . There was a long straight section of road just before Chatteris ,and each side was line with many trees . I think Popular trees ? Very tall and thin .It was a local landmark ! Until cut down in the 80s /90s ? The excuse was the road need widening !

[@mancroft]

Very interesting. Thank you.

[@AlexinGreatBritain]

Cheers, I appreciate it!

[@AmethystInSpace]

Do you have anymore history knowledge as to ww1 Huntingdonshire, Ramsey and ww2 Yaxley, Cambridgeshire? I'm very interested as I'm building my familytree and would like more insight of life for my relatives during these times. I loved this video, you're very smart and it was good to actually find something as there's not much that I can find on the history of these places.

[@AlexinGreatBritain]

I can't answer that myself I'm afraid, but thanks for the kind words, I appreciate it!

[@jamesecroucher]

Huntingdonshire District Council is still the Local Authority. I should know, I work there 😂

[@blueshield11754]

Very interesting video. One thing to add is that when you got to Ramsay I'd consider that to be a Scottish name and then further on there was the part about William the Lion. The origins of names and places are always interesting. On the wider topic of the loss of heritage mentioned by others, I couldn't agree more. SC

[@AlexinGreatBritain]

Hmm, I always assumed the Ramsay clan was unrelated due to the different spellings, but you may be onto something there!

[@DadgeCity]

Apparently Ramsey means "garlic island".

[@tommunyon2874]

Interesting connection here in that my grandmother's birthplace was Huntingdon Furnace, Pennsylvania. There is a place called Huntingdon about 7 miles south of State College, which I presume might be the former Huntingdon Furnace. I wonder if the place was named for a person or the location in England?

[@andykilvington1651]

excellent

[@markegerton7764]

Huntingdonshire was absorbed into Cambridgeshire in 1974 and it then became a District. However, it was decided that the Huntingdonshire name must be retained and this was largely due to its importance in English history. Although only 35 miles by 25 miles across Huntingdonshire is where Oliver Cromwell was born. It’s the place where Queen Katherine of Aragon died and also the place where the famous Diarist Samuel Pepys lived (at Brampton), was educated (Huntingdon Grammar School), and also worked (Hinchingbrooke House). Although now just a District of Cambridgeshire the Huntingdonshire name had to be preserved on account of its history. 😊 In 2017 I wrote ‘The Haunted History of Huntingdonshire’. Primarily a book about Huntingdonshire’s Ghosts, Myths and Legends. However, my research turned up so much fascinating history I decided to include some of the local history too!

[@AlexinGreatBritain]

Ah very interesting, thanks. And I see you've got some good reviews on Amazon!

[@markegerton7764]

Thanks Alex, you’d be surprised how many people think that Huntingdonshire doesn’t exist. @@AlexinGreatBritain

[@J85323]

Great work Alex, many happy memories there, not forgetting the Cromwell Museum, celebrating God's Englishman

[@AlexinGreatBritain]

Thank you!

[@JangianTV]

Superb! Would love to visit the birthplace of the Lord Protector. Godmanchester looks like an idyllic place too. 😊

[@AlexinGreatBritain]

Thanks! For me, Godmanchester's prettier than Huntingdon, but they're within walking distance of each other, so possible to kill two birds with one stone there.

[@0utcastAussie]

Expecting "Big Nibbles" to rock up with "I'm making a Sandwich from lost counties of the UK" anytime now !

[@TheWorldservice]

Some great footage in your video, of a part of the country I know/knew so little about. Just one thing I would say though. Our historic counties are NOT extinct. They were never abolished, only the local authorities that took their names vanished or were re-organised.

[@davidsedlickas8222]

Being in the RAF at Brampton and Wyton I know well the county of Huntingdonshire. Rowing on the great Ouse in st Ives on many occasions. A beautiful area to live and work in. I can only assume that it's abolition was done for political reasons and or county council financial considerations. Never the less I appreciate your time and efforts to produce your vlog on this matter. Thank you Alex.

[@AlexinGreatBritain]

Thanks for the kind words! And yeah, I guess we might never know the true motivations of the bureaucrats.

[@MrMomo182]

Didn't know there are two different St Ives. We've got one in Sydney too, but not sure which one.

[@pedanticradiator1491]

There's a place called St Ives in West Yorkshire too.

[@rossilett4284]

Interesting, will watch again, my family ILETT came to Australia from Huntingdonshire in the 1840s. Names I can remember being talked about were Bluntingdon, Sumersham (I think) We had a farm there somewhere.

[@Derek_S]

Bluntisham and Somersham, both villages near to St Ives.

[@robrees8207]

Didn't Huntingdonshire last until the 1974 Local Government Act? Why do you think that, unlike Herefordshire and Rutland, it wasn't restored in the 1998 changes?

[@AlexinGreatBritain]

Hard to say. Herefordshire's home to an ancient cathedral city, so it follows that it shouldn't have to share with Worcestershire, as it were. Rutland becoming a ceremonial county was certainly an interesting decision, especially as it's a good deal smaller than Huntingdonshire in both size and population.

[@IndigoJo]

No, Huntingdonshire merged with the Soke of Peterborough in 1965 to form Huntingdon & Peterborough which survived until 1974. Possibly the reason it has not been reformed as a unitary authority is lack of any demand for it, and perhaps lack of viability, as it is a small rural district with only small towns.

[@1258-Eckhart]

You made a really excellent video, congratulations. A very good intro to the county. I'm a Rutlander and I put our strong sense of identity down to the extensive local nobility. Rutland was a gift to Edward the Confessor's Queen, Edith, introducing a royal connection which distinguished it from the rest of Northamptonshire. The Norman Oakham Castle was a major Plantagenet demesne, upkeeping this royal connection. Leighfield Forest was a royal hunt. Rutland contained lands belonging to the Earls of Gainsborough at Exton, the Marquesses of Exeter (Burghley House, Stamford), the Earls of Ancaster (Normanton Hall), the Earl of Winchilsea (Burley on the Hill) and the Earls of Lonsdale (Barleythorpe). All this nobility gave the county a royal hunt (the Cottesmore) and two well endowed grammar schools (Uppingham and Oakham). The county motto is "Multum in Parvo" - lots of knobs in high concentration. By contrast, Huntingdonshire's Scottish connection probably made it suspect - just a theory. @@AlexinGreatBritain

[@AlexinGreatBritain]

@@1258-Eckhart Thanks for the kind words! I may well do a video about Rutland at some point down the line as it's also a fascinating place.

[@minui8758]

@@AlexinGreatBritainI seem to vaguely recall from the stories of now dead elders that it was just something people really wanted so they battled hard. I’m not sure why apart from the general stubborn refusal to accept any change present in the very high church high Tory richer county set… can’t help but suspect someone who once had a posh chain and a special procession with a mace every now and then no longer got to have it and their long and hard brooding fed a campaign. Growing up there the county town defo feels like Leicester because that’s where lots go to do A Levels and where you go for a night out

[@daviddearden6372]

Henry VIII not only dissolved Ramsey Abbey, he pinched all the stone and used it to build Kings College Cambridge.

[@neiloflongbeck5705]

The northern boundary of the Danelaw was the River Tees. North of there, the Anglo-Saxon kingdom of Northumbria remained. You can tell this by the lack of Viking place names.

[@AlexinGreatBritain]

I did wonder about this. No two Danelaw maps appear to be the same, so I used Britannica's version as the source as it seems to adhere to Watling Street the closest.

[@neiloflongbeck5705]

@AlexinGreatBritain yes, south-western boundary is fairly consistent across all sources. It's just the northern boundary that gets messed up.

[@chrisnorton4382]

The name stress is Godman-chester, not God-manchester. One historic fact is that the high tide of the Peasants Revolt in 1381 in East Anglia reached Godmanchester heading west, but the rebels were prevented from crossing the Ouse bridge (still extant) to the Huntingdon side of the river.

[@Nyctophora]

My mum refused to put Cambridgeshire on her letters for many years!

[@thejibberjabberwookiee8604]

Was Godmanchester once also pronounced "Gumster"?

[@AlexinGreatBritain]

I think that may be an old-school way of saying it, but they might have since given up on trying to outdo Leominster on the ridiculous pronunciation front! But if anyone's local, correct me if I'm wrong.

[@Joe-eg7im]

I think historically yes it's pronounced "Gumster", but I've lived there my whole life and no-one ever calls it that now!

[@PhilCadey]

What happened to Lindsey ?

[@neilmcdonald9164]

Married their partner😂🎩

[@ic3358]

Is there a Huntingdon council watch group??????

[@carbugnov1952]

Also Westmoreland used to be a county before it was merged with Cumberland under the name of Cumbria.

[@helenshimell3343]

Will Cheshire be next? Part of the west has gone to Liverpool (Merseyside) and part of the east has gone to Manchester ( Greater Manchester)..

[@DadgeCity]

Cheshire county council was abolished a few years ago - the Conservative government seemed much more interested in saving money than in actually being conservative.

[@helenshimell3343]

Did nobody want the middle bit?@@DadgeCity

[@ITFNBiteBayKon]

Listen to The Howl And The Hum - Godmanchester Chinese Bridge, and thank me later :) I've never been to Godmanchester, but I knew from the thumbnail that it was Godmanchester Chinese bridge.

[@zzyya]

Nobody on here can cite ANY law which "abolished" Huntingdonshire. Or any other traditional county.

[@knightsatin]

Very true .. there isn't one

[@djmikeyc]

What are you taking about

[@tobeytransport2802]

Could you cite a law that created it?

[@zzyya]

Don't need to. You'll have heard of "time immemorial" a legal concept used to define that which has existed seemingly "forever" and therefore is accepted as being an extant, legal entity. Time immemorial is fixed at 1189 AD. Huntingdonshire was extant before then.

[@djmikeyc]

Ok but what are you talking about

[@antonypowell5712]

Anyone with a deep interest in the history of Huntingdonshire should not neglect the seminal “Anthology of Huntingdonshire Cabmen” . . .

[@jal8195]

Huntingdonshire is still a county

[@ellismeah8110]

Looks like one of the few areas left in the country, that still pass's as being English

[@Abionytrl]

People say that Cambridgeshire (what it is now) doesnt exist and it should be still Huntingdonshire

[@anthonydavis5779]

....and The Soke of Peterborough.

[@Neil-yh8uu]

In the 9th century I think Constantinople was the center of christianity rome was a rubble with a population of around 30,000 down on a million plus 400 years earlier

[@fossetti8216]

Godmanchester is said "Gomster"

[@neilmcdonald9164]

Godmanchester is pronounced "Gumster",no really...🎩

[@DadgeCity]

Not any more. All the poor old local folk are long gone.

[@roysimmons3549]

Same as Middlesex.

[@Sam_Green____4114]

Oddly enough Huntingdonshire District Council still exists but the county doesn't ! It can still be seen in words on their vehicles they own and operate !! Vehicles such as Dustcarts , street sweepers etc etc. ( Or least it was in 2016 . I left the UK then and have never been back !)

[@C.O._Jones]

Did you meet a man, going to St. Ives?

[@AlexinGreatBritain]

With seven wives? Yep.

[@ddahodd7856]

in

[@Notime5654]

Sorry Huntingdonshire, Love Cambridgeshire ❤

[@DavidJohnson-rj8zu]

Yes it does still live it has a Council made up of 20 Conservative, 15 HDC Independent Group - 11 Liberal Democrat, 4 Labour and 1 Green Party and shares power with HDC Independent Group and has two MP's, which beggers the question what the heck are you talking about, and keep taking the medication.🧐

[@IndigoJo]

It has a district council. Prior to 1965 it was a county. He states this in the video, if you watched it.

[@DavidJohnson-rj8zu]

@@IndigoJo No I have got that pleasure to come, that is interesting 1965 that's when I was living in the family home our area was in the County of Essex and a lot of services was supplied by Essex County Council including Education all though we retain county states for Address purposes we became one of the London Boroughs and of course poor old Middlesex disappeared as a county for good.🧐

[@Kerbeygrip]

Just use it if you want to. I still use Salop. Letters still get there.

[@DadgeCity]

"Salop" suffered from the fact that it's like the French word for "slut".