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Mike Petty
Illustrated Lectures

Mike Petty is an authority on Cambridge and the fenland. He has won a national award for his lectures and articles, which currently include daily and weekly columns in Cambridge newspapers – ‘Looking Back’, ‘Memories’ and ‘Pickwick’s Cambridge Scrapbook 1838’ together with monthly articles in ‘Our Time’

Mike has written numerous books on Cambridgeshire and the Fens including ‘Vanishing Cambridgeshire’, ‘Memory Lane Ely and the Fens’ and histories of Stretham and other villages. He is a regular contributor to radio and television programmes.

But probably Mike is best-known for his talks: “Not so much a lecture, more a performance” is one comment heard regularly from audiences throughout the region. Talks are illustrated with transparencies & suitable for all ages from school children to Senior Citizens.

Mike also specialises in presentations for conferences, anniversary dinners or anything concentrating on 20th-century issues

Mike Petty was Librarian of the Cambridgeshire Collection for 35 years during which time he assisted thousands of researchers. He was awarded the MBE & an Honorary Degree from Cambridge University for his work. Mike continues to share his knowledge offering a personal research and picture search service. For a free consultation just write, ring, e-mail or see the website for hints & help

M.J. Petty MBE, MA, ALA,
13a Reads Street, Stretham,
Ely, Cambs. CB6 3JT
 phone 01353 648106  
E-mail mikepetty@tiscali.co.uk

Pickwick’s Cambridge Scrapbook 1838

Characters and tales of Cambridgeshire life in Dickensian times. This talk can be personalised for your area or interest

Includes

  • Pickwick’s Fenland Scrapbook
  • Pickwick’s Gardening Scrapbook
  • Pickwick’s Women’s Scrapbook
  • Pickwick’s Cottenham, Ely, Great Gransden, Huntingdon, Linton, Royston or Wisbech Scrapbooks

Cambridge

  • Cambridge Market Hill 1200 to 2000: History of Central Cambridge
  • Victorian Cambridge : Conditions in town and university
  • Sherlock Holmes in Cambridge: Follow the detective around Cambridge
  • Cambridge at War 1914-1918 : From the Front to the Backs
  • Interwar Cambridge 1919-1939: Building the new town
  • Cambridge at War 1939-1945 : The Home Front
  • Elizabethan Cambridge, 1952-2006: Most recent times
  • Cambridge Planning Issues: An historical perspective
  • Cambridge Transport History: From Shank's pony to pedestrianisation
  • Town and gown: Disputes from earliest times to present

Old Cambridgeshire

  • Vanishing Cambridgeshire 1900-1940: Unique pictures of a lost county
  • Victorian Cambridgeshire: Aspects of rural life 1838-1900
  • Ghosts & Witches of Cambridgeshire: Eyewitness accounts in fact and fiction
  • The River Cam its history & commerce

Fenland

  • Fenland Floods: When, where and why
  • Taming the Fens: Fenland drainage
  • Fenland Past to Present: 1600 to present & future
  • Fens 1066-1610: Hereward & other fighters
  • Fens 1610-1799: Drainage and the Civil War
  • Fens in the 1800s: Riots, hardship – and opium
  • Fens at War, 1914-1918: Zeppelins & casualties
  • Fens 1919-1939: Farming in crisis
  • Fens at War 1939-1945: Bombs and strangers
  • Fens in the 40's: WWII and the 1947 floods
  • The Great Flood 1947: When it all went wrong
  • Fens from the 50’s: Change in and around Ely

Researching Cambridgeshire

Mike was Librarian of the Cambridgeshire Collection for 35 years and has unique knowledge of resources for the study of the county including:

  • Cambridgeshire History on your Computer, the Library on your Laptop: websites that bring books, newspapers, maps and pictures to your desk
  • Discovering resources for research - a guide to Cambridgeshire libraries, museums, archives and other materials
  • Printed material - books, journals, and articles: how to find & use them
  • Cambridge Engravers 1574-1900: Pictures and their makers
  • Cambridge Photographers 1844-1900: Photographers and their pictures
  • Cambridgeshire Newspapers 1763 to date: What is available where and how the information contained can be exploited

Let down at the last moment? Give me a call, there’s usually something ready to go!

Other topics on request
Special presentations can be produced for conferences, classes or individuals

Charges, 2009
Clubs & organisations, evenings from £30
Senior citizens, daytime from £25
Conferences, dinners, charities by arrangement
Expenses 30p per mile return from Stretham

Guided tours of the Fens for individuals or groups. Personal guided visits to Cambridge


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