Naming The Junction

In 1987 Juliette Durie-Gair won a competition launched by the Cambridge Venue Group in the Cambridge Evening News, naming the new venue 'The Junction".

Cambridge Evening News. February 24th 1987

Juliette Buttimore (nee Durie-Gair) recalls:

“In terms of how the name came about in all honesty I can’t remember exactly (I was 7 after all…) – I think my comment at the time was “well it’s near the railway” which seems like pretty normal 7 year old logic. I certainly remember visiting the site of the cattle market in its pre-Junction days to see the auctions.”

Cambridge Evening News

“I was very lucky in terms of my musical upbringing with my parents (Chris Gair), uncle and godfather (Jem Linsey) all playing in bands and being involved in the music scene in Cambridge and they knew about the competition for the name and could say far more about the venue history than I could and certainly credit to them for helping get it off the ground. Anyway, it meant I got to hear a lot of great music even as a young child, and I’ve always had a soft spot for ‘Up the Junction’ and I like to think it had registered in my brain at this point – I still like how it pops into my head whenever I come for a visit.

Winning the huge double tape deck was a game changer too – I gained the ability to record pretend radio shows with my friends, and who knows how many mix tapes over the next few years. Not surprisingly I ended up involved in the Cambridge music scene myself as a teenager volunteering for Shebeen and later working at The Boat Race where I saw a lot of gigs, played in a band, reviewed far too many demos and made some life-long friends across the Cambridge music scene.”

Jem Linsey and Lyn Disley of the Cambridge Venue Group (recorded January 2020) :

‘Lost Nights and Love Songs’ is a Heritage Lottery funded project celebrating 30 years of The Cambridge Junction. www.junction.co.uk/lost-nights