Grunty Fen

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Coordinates: 52°22′5″N 00°11′5″E / 52.36806°N 0.18472°E / 52.36806; 0.18472
Source: Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.

Grunty Fen
Shire county
Region
CountryEngland
Sovereign stateUnited Kingdom
List of places
UK
England
Cambridgeshire
52°22′5″N 00°11′5″E / 52.36806°N 0.18472°E / 52.36806; 0.18472
Map showing Isle of Ely with Grunty Fen near the centre in 1648 by J Blaeu

Grunty Fen is a fen and former civil parish, now in the parish of Wilburton, in the East Cambridgeshire district, in Cambridgeshire, England. It is 4 miles south west of Ely. In 1931 the parish had a population of 95.[1]

History

The catchwater drain, south of Wentworth

Grunty Fen consists of the low-lying land at the centre of the

Second World War the area was largely uncultivated once more. There are now several working farms covering the fen.[2]

The parish of Grunty Fen was situated in the hundred of South Witchford and covered an area of 1793 acres. At one stage the it was considered extra-parochial,[3] with the area divided between the parishes of Ely, Witchford, Wentworth, Haddenham, Wilburton, Stretham, and Little Thetford. From 1858 Grunty Fen was a civil parish in its own right until it was abolished on 1 April 1933 and merged with Wilburton.[4][5]

The Ely and St Ives Railway crossed the area and was jokingly called the "Grunty Fen Express". The former railway stations of Wilburton and Stretham that opened in 1866 both fell within the parish, closing to passenger traffic in 1931 and closing completely in July 1964.[2][5]

The area made national headlines when Isle of Ely MP Clement Freud asked the Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher whether she had plans to visit Grunty Fen where residents were concerned about the level of wage settlements. Thatcher replied that the 97 residents were a happy, agricultural community with a low rate of unemployment.[2][6] Clement Freud used to race a horse called Grunty Fen.

Popular culture

From the late 1980s BBC Radio Cambridgeshire broadcast a weekly slot featuring Dennis of Grunty Fen, "Britain's favourite vocal yokel", a fictional character who lives in a converted railway carriage with his 92-year-old grandmother. Despite the death of the creator, Pete Sayers, in 2005, the character's popularity continues.[7][8]

An annual race known as the Grunty Fen Half Marathon has been run annually since 1991. The race starts and ends at Witchford Village College.[9]

References

  1. A Vision of Britain through Time
    . Retrieved 21 January 2023.
  2. ^ a b c Mike Petty (19 March 2012). "Memories". Cambridge News.
  3. ^ "History of Grunty Fen in East Cambridgeshire". A Vision of Britain through Time. Retrieved 21 January 2023.
  4. ^ "Relationships and changes Grunty Fen ExP/CP through time". A Vision of Britain through Time. Retrieved 21 January 2023.
  5. ^ a b Kelly's Directory of Cambridgeshire, 1929
  6. ^ Margaret Thatcher, Prime Minister (10 June 1980). "Grunty Fen". Parliamentary Debates (Hansard). House of Commons. col. 296–297.
  7. ^ "Dennis of Grunty Fen". ely.org.uk.
  8. ^ "Deep down your way". The Independent. 29 June 1997.
  9. ^ "Grunty Fen Half Marathon".
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