
The
photo on the left shows the Church Alley taken from St Andrews
Churchyard looking towards Clay Street. On the left is the boundary
wall to St Andrews House, now part of St Andrews Park, and on the right
is the Boundary wall to the Recreation Ground. It is shown on a map of
1656 and may have existed earlier than this, the earliest we have been
able to trace it's name is from a map of 1876. It is believed that the
Alley follows the coarse of a tunnel, possibly in a connection with the
earlier Monastic buildings that were once in Soham.
The photo on the
top right is the Village Sign as you enter Soham from Ely situated on
the Shade with an identical one at the other approach into Soham from
Fordham, situated at Downfields.
Three
Soham Village College pupils - Lucy Mathews, Jayne Harris and
Andrews Scott - designed and made the signs as part of their GCSE
technology examination, first researching alternative designs,
materials and construction techniques before coming up with the final
sign.
Depicted on the signs are three Soham landmarks - the
Steelyard at the Fountain public house, St Andrews Church and
Downfields windmill - and a vivid reminder of the wartime drama when a
train carrying explosives blew up at the Soham railway station. Soham
Benevolent Association commissioned the signs to mark their 40th
anniversary. Above left is the original design used for the signs and
on the right is a photo of the original mould used.
The
photo on the left shows the Steelyard or Weighing Machine on the
Fountain public house, An iron or steel lever, ''The Steelyard'' was
hung from a strong bracket projecting from the wall of the weigh-house,
or in some cases from a horizontal pole resting on two uprights like a
football goal. The short arm of the lever, about a foot long, was
provided with a hook and chains, from which was hung the object to be
weighed. The longer arm, about 10 feet in length, moved in a slot or
loophole in the wall of the weigh-house. It was graduated and numbered
like a rule, and provided with a sliding weight. this was moved till it
balanced the object at the other end, and its position then gave the
weight of the object. The ''engine'' as it was called, was in fact
similar to the steelyards that were once in use in butchers shops.

The
photo on the right shows the old iron foot bridge across Brook Dam,
connecting The Causeway to Brook Dam Lane leading to the Town. Photo
taken from The Causeway looking towards Brook Dam Lane, with the duck
pond on the left. The only other way to enter the Town from the South
would be via Sand Street then Stone bridge.
The photo on the left was taken in July 1937 in Soham, showing the
overturned car of a Mr E. P. Jones, Dairyman.