Whittlesey, Cambridgeshire - sunset scene - local postcard c.1980s

Postcard
• Picture / Image:  Sunset over Whittlesey, Cambridgeshire
• Publisher:  R. A. Hurst, Whittlesey WI / Cambridge and Ely Federation of Women's Institute
• Postally used:  no
• Stamp:  n/a
• Postmark(s):  n/a
• Sent to:  n/a
• Notes / condition: 

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Text from the free encyclopedia WIKIPEDIA may appear below to give a little background information (internal links may not  work) :

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Whittlesey, historically known as Whittlesea (as the name of the railway station is currently spelt) or Witesie, is an ancient Fenland market town around six miles (10 km) east of Peterborough in the county of Cambridgeshire in England. With the neighbouring parishes of Coates, Eastrea and Pondersbridge, it has an approximate population of 15,000.

Whittlesey is located between the city of Peterborough, 6 miles (10 km) to the west and the town of March, 11 miles (18 km) to the east, and is bordered to the north by the River Nene and to the south by Whittlesey Dyke. Historically it was connected to Peterborough and March by the Roman road Fen Causeway constructed in the first century AD, a route approximately followed by the modern A605. The rail station is on the line between Peterborough and Ely (historically the Great Eastern Line), with direct trains to Cambridge, Birmingham, Liverpool, Leicester, Stansted Airport and others.

Whittlesey appears in the Cartularium Saxonicum (973 A.D.) as Witlesig, in the Domesday Book as Witesie, and in the Inquisitio Eliensis^[2] (1086 A.D.) as Wittleseia. The meaning is “Wit(t)el’s island”, deriving from either Witil, “the name of a moneyer”, or a diminutive of Witta, a personal name; + “eg”, meaning “'island', also used of a piece of firm land in a fen.”^[3]

Before the draining of the fens, Whittlesey was an island of dry ground surrounded by the marshy fens. Excavations of nearby Flag Fen indicate thriving local settlements as far back as 1000 BC. In more recent times Whittlesey was linked to Peterborough in the west and March in the east by the Roman Fen Causeway, probably built in the 1st century AD, and Roman artefacts have been recovered at nearby Eldernell.^{[citation needed]} In 2010, in the nearby village of Eastrea, a Roman skeleton was discovered. Named 'Maximus' by villagers, the 2000 year old skeleton was unearthed during an archaeological dig on the proposed site of the new Eastrea village hall.^[4]

The town's two parishes of St Mary's and St Andrew's were controlled by the abbeys in Thorney and Ely respectively until the Dissolution of the Monasteries (c.1540). The two parishes of St Mary's and St Andrew's were combined for administrative purposes by the Whittlesey Improvement Act of 1849. Despite the proximity of Peterborough, Whittlesey is in the Diocese of Ely.

Until it was drained in 1851, nearby Whittlesey Mere was a substantial lake surrounded by marsh. According to the traveller Celia Fiennes, who saw it in 1697, the mere was ""3 mile broad and six mile long. In the midst is a little island where a great store of Wildfowle breed.... The ground is all wett and marshy but there are severall little Channells runs into it which by boats people go up to this place; when you enter the mouth of the Mer it looks formidable and its often very dangerous by reason of sudden winds that will rise like Hurricanes....""^[5] The town is still accessible by water, connected to the river Nene by King's Dyke which forms part of the Nene-Ouse Navigation link. Moorings can be found at Ashline Lock alongside the Manor Leisure Centre's cricket and football pitches.^{[citation needed]}>

The town is also notable for its three 80-metre high wind turbines, which are the largest on-shore turbines in England. They power the McCains chips plant, reducing their electricity bills by 60%.^[6]

The town has one secondary school, Sir Harry Smith Community College (built on the site of Whittlesey Workhouse),^[7] and three primary schools. There is also another primary school in the neighbouring village of Coates.

type=printed postcards

theme=topographical: british

sub-theme=england

county/ country=cambridgeshire

number of items=single

period=1945 - present

postage condition=unposted