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The Rookery, Tunwells Lane

The Rookery, 9 Tunwells Lane, Great Shelford

History of The Rookery

In 2026 HM sent this note:

The Rookery belonged to my paternal grandfather (Harry Robinson) and grandmother (Mary Robinson). I believe this was their first and only home and would have been bought following their marriage in the early to mid 1930s. My father (Roger Robinson) was born there in 1937 and was their only child. He lived there until he was called to national service. I didn’t meet my grandfather as he died, a year before I was born, in 1962. He had served in WW1 as a senior officer and then worked in the agricultural industry in Cambridgeshire. My grandmother was a home maker and lived there up to her death in 1978 aged 82, when the property was sold. I have happy memories of the Rookery as I spent several weeks each summer staying with Mary on my own, when I was between 6 – 12. I enjoyed playing in the gardens, walking with her daily into the village for provisions and playing cards with her in the evening. 

Mary Robinson circa 1963

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Licence

This work is licensed under CC BY-NC-SA 4.0

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Capturing Cambridge makes accessible thousands of photos and memories of Cambridge and its surrounding villages and towns. It is run by the Museum of Cambridge which, though 90 years old, is one of the most poorly publicly funded local history museums in the UK. It receives no core funding from local or central government nor from the University of Cambridge.

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