Mike Petty Archive Project

General Resources

In July 2026 the Museum of Cambridge was invited by Mike Petty MBE to upload his entire digital catalogue on to Capturing Cambridge and integrate it into our existing research. This was a great honour for us and the task has commenced. However, the volume of data is considerable and proper integration into our geolocated database will take time.

Progress will be reported here. We will list the files which are both accessible via this site and whose content has been, to a greater or lesser degree, integrated within Capturing Cambridge in a methodical way.

CAMBRIDGE CITY

Mike Petty’s Cambridge Arbury & Kings Hedges Scrapbook 1897 to 1990

Cambridge Arbury & Kings Hedges Scrapbook, 1897–1990
Newspaper reports charting the transformation of Arbury and King’s Hedges from farmland into major residential districts, including housing, archaeology, churches, schools and community life.

Mike Petty’s Cambridge BENE’T STREET Chronicle

Cambridge Bene’t Street Chronicle
Reports concerning the historic buildings, public houses, shops, businesses and changing street life of Bene’t Street and its immediate surroundings.

Mike Petty’s Cambridge BROOKLANDS AVENUE Scrapbook

Cambridge Brooklands Avenue Scrapbook
Newspaper reports about the houses, institutions, businesses, residents and development of Brooklands Avenue and the surrounding area.

Mike Petty’s Cambridge Burleigh Street 1897 to 1990 Scrapbook

Cambridge Burleigh Street Scrapbook, 1897–1990
Reports documenting Burleigh Street’s shops, public houses, cinemas, businesses and residents, together with the redevelopment that transformed the area.

Mike Petty Cambridge Castle End Scrapbook 1897 to 1990

Cambridge Castle End Scrapbook, 1897–1990
An extensive collection covering Castle Hill and Castle End, including historic buildings, archaeology, schools, public houses, institutions, roads and local residents.

Mike Petty Cambridge Cherryhinton Road Area Scrapbook 1897 to 1990.doc

Cambridge Cherry Hinton Road Area Scrapbook, 1897–1990
Reports tracing the growth of Cherry Hinton Road and its neighbouring streets, with material on housing, businesses, schools, churches, public houses and community life.

Mike Petty Cambridge Chesterton Lane to Gilbert Road.

Cambridge Chesterton Lane to Gilbert Road Scrapbook
Reports concerning the streets, buildings, businesses, institutions and communities extending from Chesterton Lane through northern Cambridge to Gilbert Road.

Mike Petty Cambridge CHESTERTON ROAD AREA Scrapbook

Cambridge Chesterton Road Area Scrapbook
Newspaper reports about Chesterton Road and its surroundings, including shops, public houses, riverside activity, transport, redevelopment and local residents.

Mike Petty’s Cambridge CHESTERTON Scrapbook

Cambridge Chesterton Scrapbook
A substantial collection documenting the history of Chesterton, including its streets, industries, schools, churches, public houses, notable buildings and inhabitants.

Mike Petty’s Cambridge CHRIST’S LANE Scrapbook

Cambridge Christ’s Lane Scrapbook
Reports concerning the shops, businesses, buildings and redevelopment of Christ’s Lane and the area beside Christ’s College.

Mike Petty’s Cambridge DOWNING STREET Scrapbook

Cambridge Downing Street Scrapbook
Reports about Downing Street’s museums, university buildings, shops, businesses, public houses, traffic and changing appearance.

Mike Petty’s Cambridge DRUMMER STREET Scrapbook

Cambridge Drummer Street Scrapbook
Reports documenting Drummer Street, its bus station, shops, hotels, businesses, transport services and twentieth-century redevelopment.

Mike Petty’s Cambridge East Road Scrapbook 1897 to 1990 by Mike Petty

Cambridge East Road Scrapbook, 1897–1990
Reports covering East Road’s schools, shops, factories, public houses, entertainment venues, transport, social institutions and residents.

Mike Petty’s Cambridge EMMANUEL STREET Scrapbook

Cambridge Emmanuel Street Scrapbook
Reports concerning Emmanuel Street’s churches, shops, businesses, public transport, traffic and redevelopment beside Emmanuel College.

Mike Petty’s Cambridge King Street Scrapbook 1897 to 1990

Cambridge King Street Scrapbook, 1897–1990
Reports documenting King Street’s public houses, shops, businesses, houses, institutions and distinctive community life.

Cambridge Fitzroy Street 1897 to 1990

The Fitzroy Street scrapbook traces the transformation of one of Cambridge’s busiest working-class shopping streets from the late nineteenth century to its disappearance beneath the Grafton Centre redevelopment. Its newspaper extracts document a lively mixture of shops, workshops, public houses and homes, together with fires, crimes, accidents, unemployment, migration and campaigns over poor housing and clearance. Familiar businesses such as Laurie and McConnal, Peak’s Furnishers and Hallens appear alongside the experiences of traders, residents and some of the street’s more colourful characters. Taken together, the articles preserve a vivid record of everyday life in Fitzroy Street and of the community protests and commercial changes that accompanied the redevelopment of the Kite.

Cambridge GREAT ST MARY’S PASSAGE Scrapbook

The Cambridge Great St Mary’s Passage Scrapbook explores the history of the narrow passage linking the Market Square with King’s Parade and St Edward’s Passage. Its newspaper cuttings record early photographic studios, music dealers, cafés, specialist shops, wartime celebrations and appearances in films, as well as ambitious proposals for remodelling the Market Square. Much of the material overlaps with other city-centre scrapbooks and has already been used on Capturing Cambridge, but the collection provides a concise record of the passage’s changing commercial and public life.

Cambridge GREEN STREET Scrapbook

The Cambridge Green Street Scrapbook traces the changing character of this historic city-centre street through its shops, workshops, public houses and colourful personalities. Its newspaper cuttings record motorcycle dealers, printers, booksellers, bookbinders, outfitters and pioneering health-food businesses, together with traffic changes and the gradual disappearance of long-established independent firms. Spanning the early twentieth century to the late 1980s, the scrapbook provides a vivid picture of Green Street’s commercial life and distinctive atmosphere.

Cambridge GUILDHALL STREET Scrapbook.doc

The Cambridge Guildhall Street and Guildhall Place Scrapbook traces the history of this small but important area adjoining the Market Square, Petty Cury and the Corn Exchange. Its newspaper cuttings record public houses, shops, workplaces, entertainment venues and successive plans for rebuilding Cambridge’s centre, culminating in the creation of the pedestrian precinct.

Cambridge HILLS ROAD NEWTOWN Scrapbook

The Cambridge Hills Road–Newtown Scrapbook explores the neighbourhood between Lensfield Road and Brooklands Avenue, including Bateman Street, Brookside, Coronation Street, Norwich Street, Russell Street and Union Road. Its newspaper cuttings record the growth of New Town, its schools, churches, public houses, businesses and community institutions, as well as the changing lives of local residents.

Cambridge Hills Road Scrapbook 1897 to 1990

The Cambridge Hills Road Scrapbook, covering 1897 to 1990, traces nearly a century of change along one of the city’s principal routes. Its newspaper cuttings record the development of local churches, schools, hospitals, businesses and transport, alongside road accidents, wartime bombing, public controversy and the replacement of Victorian buildings by modern offices. Together, these stories provide a vivid account of Hills Road’s transformation and the everyday lives of the people who lived and worked there.

Cambridge HISTON ROAD area Scrapbook

The Cambridge Histon Road area Scrapbook traces the transformation of Histon Road and its surrounding streets from a semi-rural approach to Cambridge into a densely developed suburban district. Its newspaper extracts cover housing estates, council homes, prefabricated bungalows, allotments, schools, shops, garages and longstanding local businesses, alongside proposals for relief roads, park-and-ride sites, supermarkets and leisure facilities. The collection also records the lives of residents in Akeman Street, Darwin Drive, Gilbert Road and Windsor Road, including wartime service, community celebrations, housing conditions and neighbourhood organisations. Fires, accidents, an aircraft crash and even the appearance of a young deer in Gilbert Road add vivid episodes to this valuable record of social, commercial and physical change during the twentieth century.

Cambridge HOBSON STREET Scrapbook

The Hobson Street scrapbook traces the changing character of this central Cambridge street from the late nineteenth century to the 1980s. Its newspaper extracts document the Wesleyan Chapel and its conversion into the County Hall, the growth of early motor businesses, the arrival of Cambridge’s first flying machine and the eventful history of the Central Cinema, later converted into a bingo club. They also cover Christ’s College, Lloyd’s Bank, Miller’s Music Shop, the redevelopment of Sidney Street and Sussex Street, fires, traffic restrictions and the changing use and value of city-centre property. Together, the articles show Hobson Street evolving from a poorly paved commercial backstreet into an important centre of local government, entertainment, retailing and office accommodation.

Cambridge HUNTINGDON ROAD Scrapbook

The Huntingdon Road scrapbook traces the development of one of Cambridge’s principal routes from its semi-rural outskirts in the late nineteenth century to a busy suburban corridor lined with homes, colleges, businesses and research institutions. Its newspaper extracts cover early omnibus services, travelling shows, the pioneering wireless telegraph mast, the University Farm, the National Institute of Agricultural Botany, garages, schools, religious communities and the construction of New Hall and Fitzwilliam College. They also record the lives of residents in Huntingdon Road and neighbouring streets, wartime experiences, road accidents and decades of controversy over ring roads, traffic, development and the protection of open land. Together, the articles document the profound changes experienced by Huntingdon Road and its surrounding neighbourhood between 1898 and 1989.

Mike Petty’s Cambridge Mill Road Scrapbook 1897 to 1990

Cambridge Mill Road Scrapbook, 1897–1990
An extensive collection covering Mill Road’s shops, industries, railway connections, public houses, schools, churches, residents and diverse communities.

EAST CAMBRIDGESHIRE

Ashley Scrapbook

Barway Scrapbook 1897 to 1990

Bottisham Scrapbook 1897 to 1990

SOUTH CAMBRIDGESHIRE

Babraham Scrapbook 1897 to 1990

BalshamScrapbook 1897 to 1990.doc

Barrington Scrapbook

Barton Scrapbook 1897 to 1990

Bassingbourn Scrapbook

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NB: as from July 2026 there is a Mike Petty Archive source tag in use on Capturing Cambridge. We are trying to ensure that all entries where we have used extracts from Mike’s Archives are credited. Many thanks Mike for all your work!

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This is the previous information we gave to assist with accessing Mike Petty’s data. It remains valid but increasingly the files will also be available via Capturing Cambridge:

A Cambridgeshire bibliography, vol.1: books and pamphlets. An annotated bibliography of printed material added to the Cambridgeshire Collection 1855-2016

https://archive.org/details/ACambridgeshireBibliographyVol.1BooksAndPamphlets

A Cambridgeshire Bibliography, vo1.2: an annotated list of the articles in the Cambridge Antiquarian Society Proceedings 1859-2017 and Cambridgeshire & Huntingdonshire Archaeological Society Transactions 1901-1953

https://archive.org/details/CambridgeAntiquarianSocietyProceedingsIndex

Fenland Notes and Queries Contents List. An index and partial abstract of material appearing in Fenland Notes and Queries, a quarterly antiquarian journal for the fenland, 1889 to 1906. In was a forum in which people sent in questions about the history, ecology etc to which others replied

https://archive.org/details/FenlandNotesAndQueriesContentsList

https://archive.org/details/CambridgeARCHAEOLOGYChronicle

https://archive.org/details/CambridgeARCHIVESChronicle

Copies of Newspaper Articles 1905-1985:

https://www.flickr.com/photos/153171359@N04/albums

Guide and Illustration Catalogue:

https://archive.org/details/CambridgeshireIllustrationsPart1Index/Cambridgeshire%20Illustrations%20part%201%2C%20%20Index/page/n23/mode/2up

https://archive.org/details/CambridgeshireMemoriesAndReflectionsByMikePetty/page/n9/mode/2up

https://archive.org/details/CambridgeAntiquarianSocietyProceedingsIndex/page/n9/mode/2up

https://archive.org/details/StoriesFromAYearMikePetty_201503/page/n5/mode/2up

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