Visitors to More’s Meadow will see construction of the Parochial Charities’ new almshouses is finally underway.

The trustees had their first site meeting with the contractor in early July as foundations were being excavated – and we look forward to seeing this £4.4M development progress to completion around the end of next year.

The 21 new units – a mixture of 1, 2 and 3 bedroom homes with gardens – will bring to 53 the total number of almshouses owned by the Charity, providing affordable living for Great Shelford people. Sarah Rann, the Parochial Charities Chair of Trustees said, “After three years in planning, we are delighted to see our contractors breaking ground at More’s Meadow. I would particularly like to thank the Cambridgeshire and Peterborough Combined Authority for their grant of £1M to help build these homes. We are also very grateful for the generosity of some local benefactors who have contributed to the landscape improvements.”

With East West Rail very much in the news, the trustees have been paying close attention to plans for the new railway, meeting with Anthony Browne MP and making submissions to EWR’s consultation process. We have also asked our architect to make modifications to the design so as to mitigate the possible impact of the railway; there will, for instance, be triple glazing installed throughout the development. Further details of our building design can be found on the Parochial Charities’ website.

Meanwhile, we have been busy making improvements to the adjacent meadow – also owned by the Parochial Charities – laying out wheelchair accessible paths, planting more trees and establishing a community garden – where volunteers have been digging out the beds and planting flowers and vegetables. Special efforts have been made to accommodate all levels of mobility with the inclusion of raised planting beds within the garden. Further trees have been ordered for the orchard, ahead of November planting.

We have been particularly pleased to see the village school using the meadow as part of their Forest School initiative – and setting up a very impressive insect hotel during their most recent class visit.

Having moved our allotments so as to make way for the new development, we are also pleased to see our (very patient) allotment holders already harvesting their first crop from the relocated plots.

Why not come and visit? The More’s Meadow landscape is there for the enjoyment of all villagers so – come along, enjoy the walk and take in the fine prospect across to the fields towards Cambridge and the Gog Magog Hills. Visitors may use any of the three entrances to the meadow: Bridge Close / More’s Meadow – alternatively the gates at the bottom of The Hectare – or even the footbridge over the railway.

We look forward to seeing you.