Pete Bassett has worked with some of the biggest bands and artists in the world including: 
Pete, who lives in Great Shelford, now runs the Quite Great! agency in Grantchester. He was the Head of PR for MCA records encompassing the Geffen label , then Head of Press at Polydor, looking after Motown , Mother and , Fiction. Pete launched Guns 'n' Roses legendary Use your Illusion 1 and 2 with a very special delivery of albums in a tank at midnight to a key shop on Regent Street grabbing headlines and bringing central London to a standstill. Pete set up Quite Great! In 1996 using a name given to him by his then 5 year-old son Louie who used the phrase to express his excitement whilst watching England’s football team in their game against Holland in the Euro ’96 . Read more about Pete and his work at http://www.quitegreat.com/  Dreaming up business ideas to raise money to send her daughter Emily to private school as she was being bullied, Julie realised she couldn’t find good quality, reasonably priced satchels like the ones worn by Harry Potter and his friends, a book the family were reading at the time. With just £600 to invest, the idea for The Cambridge Satchel Company was born. “It was awful when my daughter Emily was being bullied at school and I thought‘how can I fix this?’ the Great Shelford entrepreneur told the Financial Times.“I saw a great school for her and needed school fees.” In four years Julie Deane has gone from stay-at-home mum to international trendsetter, while her company has gone from a kitchen table to sales of (Picture - courtesy of the Daily Mail) more than £1 million a month. And it all started with a list… At first she struggled to find anyone who bought into her vision, or who could make traditional satchels, but she kept going – eventually finding a company in Hull that still had all the original 1970s equipment to make them. Not convinced they would be a big hit, the firm still made six samples for her. She made the company’s website herself from a £19.99 template, while her children’s classmates modelled the bags for photos for the website. The six samples took weeks to sell. But all the while Deane was busy publicising her business, telling her story. Although the initial samples were brown and black, one customer requested a red satchel and Julie decided to make the bags in an array of colours – a decision that proved to be a success.
Jimmy Dean rubbed shoulders with the Beatles and the Rolling Stones during his career. But the 86 year-old is best known for his 70 years of involvement with Great Shelford Football Club.  In the 1960s, Jimmy helped maintain the seats and floors at cinemas across the area, including the Regal in Cambridge. His role also included drafting in fellow members of Great Shelford Football Club to act as stewards when the big bands came to perform in Cambridge. This saw Jimmy mingling with the Beatles and the Rolling Stones, as well as Cliff Richard, Shirley Bassey and the Hollies. Jimmy has been involved in Great Shelford Football Club for most of his life. He started playing for the club when he was 16 and has gone on to be secretary, vice-president and president. He was also involved with the Shelford Twinning Association. Read a Cambridge News profile of Jimmy Dean here. Photo of Jimmy copyright Cambridge News.
 Annette Thomas is the Chief Executive of Nature
Publishing Group, running the company, Macmillan Science and Education that has
at its heart the 145-year old title Nature. She joined Macmillan in 1993 as an assistant editor at Nature magazine, becoming managing director of Nature Publishing Group in 2000. Her love of science has been much more consistent, inherited from her father, who was one of America’s first black pharmacists and worked for the Food and Drug Administration. To her mother, she attributes a shell of resilience. When Thomas was being bullied in the early days of high school, “She said to me: ‘Don’t let others define who you are, always define yourself’. That was really great advice.” Her parents met when her father was doing national service in Germany and her mother returned to the States where they married. Thomas was raised in Maryland. She went to the school that was later attended by Google co-founder Sergey Brin. Annette received a first from Harvard in biochemistry and a PhD in cell biology from Yale. Annette lives in Great Shelford and is married to a scientist husband. They have 4 children: a daughter aged 19 who is studying history at Oxford, and three sons aged 17, 10 and 8. Read a feature about Annette in the Independent newspaper here. A lady who worked in Great Shelford for much of her life has just celebrated her 105th birthday. Nancy Giggle was born in Little Shelford in 1909. She was joined by friends and family at Home Close residential home in Fulbourn on September 20 for a birthday celebration. She went to school in the Shelfords until she turned 14, and then moved into her Grandfather’s bakery where she also worked for several years. Later she moved to Great Shelford to work in her aunt’s cake shop on Woollards Lane. During the Second World War, she worked at Spicers in Sawston, before returning to Great Shelford where she worked as a dressmaker for more than 20 years. After retirement she moved into a nearby residential home, and relocated to Home Close in 2011. When asked for the secret to a long and healthy life, she told the Cambridge News: “I believe that keeping mentally active with reading and daily crossword solving is good for you. “Also, accepting the things you cannot change. A busy life is a happy life, because you have no time to let it be otherwise.” While she has no children, Nancy enjoys visits from members of her family, including her nephew Peter and his wife Jess. She always makes an effort to enjoy her daily crossword puzzle, and is happy to be involved in daily activities and socialising with other residents at Home Close. Read a Cambridge News article about Nancy's 105th birthday here. David Poskitt is one of the youngest Parish Councillors in the country. David joined Great Shelford Parish Council in May 2014 , aged just 18.  “I’m interested in politics and current affairs and I am interested in having a say in how the village is run,” said David. “The value I bring is offering a young person’s perspective on the Parish Council.” He admits that he would love to be an MP in the future. “Being on the Parish Council could be the first step towards that,” said David. David, who lives on Cambridge Road, Great Shelford, hit the headlines 6 years ago when he helped to raise around £10,000 for the charity Clic Sargent. He started fundraising after having part of his right leg amputated following a bout of cancer. His fundraising efforts saw him win a Cambridge News Community award for bravery. David has just finished his English, History and Economics A levels at the Leys School in Cambridge. You can contact David at [email protected] Allison Pearson, who moved to Great Shelford in May 2014, is the chief interviewer and columnist for The Daily Telegraph. A former columnist for the Daily Mail, prior to joining the Mail she worked on the London’s Evening Standard. She began her career with The Independent on Sunday, where she was a TV critic, winning Critic of the Year at the British Press Awards in 1993. Pearson has presented Channel 4′s J’Accuse; BBC Radio 4′s The Copysnatchers and appeared as a regular panellist on BBC 2's The Late Review. Her novel I Don’t Know How She Does It, published in 2002, has sold four million copies and has been made into a movie of the same name starring Sarah Jessica Parker. I Think I Love You, her second novel, was published in 2010. I Don't Know How She Does It was a chick-lit take on the pressures of modern motherhood. I Think I Love You was a novel about a teenager's passion for David Cassidy in the 1970s, and the man who is responsible for writing the so-called replies from David Cassidy to the teenage fans, two characters who later meet up again twenty years after experiencing marriage, divorce, and children. Pearson lives with Anthony Lane, film critic of the New Yorker. They have two children. Read Allison's column in the Daily Telegraph about moving house to Great Shelford here.   Rose
Macaulay (1881-1958), who spent much of her life in Great Shelford, was
extremely well-known in her
lifetime as a novelist.
.
She
was born in Rugby, Warwickshire but spent her early childhood in Italy. She was
educated at Oxford High School for Girls and Somerville College, Oxford, where
she read Modern History. As a young woman novelist, Macaulay got to know her father's pupil, Rupert Brooke. She published a novel in 1911 in which a tortured young man remembers a childhood sanctuary in the country as a place of bees and honey. "And will there be honey for tea?" he asks. A year later, Brooke wrote "The Sentimental Exile", his first version of "The Old Vicarage, Grantchester", with his most famous line: "And is there honey still for tea?" LeFanu suggests that Brooke stole this from Macaulay; if so, it would be typical of the way her writing, and her story, have been overshadowed by her more famous contemporaries. After
moving to London, in 1914 published her first book of poetry, The Two Blind
Countries. In 1918 she met the novelist and former Catholic priest Gerald
O'Donovan, the married man with whom she was to have an affair lasting until
his death. Her final and most famous novel, The Towers of Trebizond
(1956), was awarded a James Tait Black Memorial Prize and became a bestseller
in America.
Rose Macaulay was made a Dame Commander of the British Empire in 1958, but seven months later suffered a heart attack and died at her home in Great Shelford. Her name lives on through Macaulay Avenue.  Great Shelford author Adele Geras has written almost 100 books. Read an interview in the Cambridge News with Adele. Her latest book- Cover Your Eyes- was published in paperback on October 23 2014. It is her 98th book. Number 99 is due to be published in February 2015. Although she predominantly writes for children –from tots to teens – Adèle’s books encompass every age group and almost every genre, be it romantic sagas (like her bestseller for grown-ups, Facing the Light) or historical dramas like her bestseller for young adults, Troy. Adele, who was born in Jerusalem, was originally an actress and then a French teacher. Adèle stopped teaching after three years in 1976, when her eldest daughter Sophie was born and before long, she discovered the ‘breeze’ of writing, after spotting a short story competition in The Times. Her novel Troy was shortlisted for the Whitbread Book Award and Highly Commended for the Carnegie Medal. Her first adult novel, Facing The Light was sold to more than 20 countries around the world. Her latest Young Adult book is Dido and for younger readers, she has just published the third in the Tutu Tilly series, My Ballet Dream. Adele has reviewed books for the Guardian and the Times Educational Supplement and twice been a judge for the Costa Awards. See more details of Adele’s books on her website adelegeras.com/  Steve scored the winning goal in the 1993 League Cup Final at Wembley.
In the celebrations after the match, Arsenal skipper Tony Adams attempted to pick Steve up but Adams slipped and Morrow awkwardly hit the ground. He broke his arm (see photo, below) and had to be rushed to hospital. As a result, Steve missed the rest of that season, including the FA Cup final (also against Sheffield Wednesday), where Arsenal completed the Cup Double. Before the final kicked off, he received his League Cup winners' medal, making him the only player ever to have picked up a medal before a Cup final.  Steve also played in the 1994 UEFA Cup Winners’ Cup Final 1-0 victory over Parma, and was also a member of the team that lost in the final to Real Zaragoza a year later.
Steve also played for QPR, Peterborough, Reading, Watford, and Barnet. He received 39 caps for Northern Ireland, scoring once for his country. He went onto manage FC Dallas in the United States. Steve now manages Arsenal’s international partnerships. Richard Holmes from Great Shelford is one of the two people behind Cambridge's newest pub, the Pint Shop.The bar opened at 10 Peas Hill opened on November 4. Richard created Pint Shop with Benny Peverelli, 32, from Cambridge.
The Pint Shop was inspired by Victorian beer houses, which are seen by many as the birth place of today’s pub. Richard and Benny took the spirit of those original beer houses, namely; craft beer, intimacy, food and fun, to create their new business. The pair have been planning the venture for years, since they worked together in London. Pint Shop has a 70-seat bar, two separate dining rooms and a garden. Early favourites on the food menu include the triple cooked ox cheek and the pork shin braised in ale, while there are 16 craft beers hooked up and ready to go. The menu in the dining rooms will change weekly and feature simple British dishes cooked around three historic principles; charcoal spit-roasting, charcoal grilling and slow braises. As well as a variety of craft beers there are also 45 gins, 20 whiskeys and wine list from small estate European growers. Richard explained: “We started Pint Shop because we wanted to create a place that embraced eating and drinking equally. A place where you feel equally at home having a few beers, a light lunch or a full blown feast. A place where people from all walks of life, rub shoulders with each other.” For more information about Pint Shop, visit pintshop.co.uk or follow on Twitter @PintShop. RevSimon Talbott is the new Vicar at St Mary’s Church. He was born and brought up in Newmarket, where his elderly parents still live. After 25 years away, he says it is re
He and his wife met in Norwich, where he was a curate and Mary was teaching in the local church school. Rev Talbott (pictured abseiling down the church tower at St Martin's Epsom in May last year - they raised £7,000 that day to help repair the bells. An experience he saus he won’t forget in a hurry!) says it is early days yet for any changes at St Mary’s, as he is still in 'listening mode' and he would welcome feedback from as wide a circle as possible in the community. “We really want to serve the whole village,” he said.
A key issue this autumn is developing a
website (offers of help greatly appreciated!) and improving their communications
and administrative support. Early plans are for developing their work with
families and children, providing high quality care and support for our more
senior residents and working in partnership with the Free Church and other
local Christian bodies. Rev Talbott described his first impressions of Great Shelford as “very positive.” “We have received a really warm welcome from everyone and impressed with the facilities in the village and the range of activities on offer. It helped that The Feast happened during my first full week of ministry, which provided lots of opportunities to see the village at its best.” His interests outside of work include cricket (a passion!); horse racing; cooking, food and wine; walking and gardening and Real Ale!
Great Shelford tennis coach Hamid Hejazi is launching his own charity to introduce under-privileged children to tennis. He hopes to give 8 to 14-year-olds the same opportunity he had to turn their lives around.
“I grew up in a council house in Stevenage, my parents divorced when I was 12 and I was expelled from school,” Hamid told the Cambridge News. “Tennis changed me and being in that environment as a teenager, I had good role models. If I can take children who would never consider playing tennis and one of them has a better life because of it, it will be worth it.” Hamid is waiting for the project, called the Richard Darton Foundation in memory of his late grandfather, to be awarded charitable status. Jeff Wayne, composer of the musical version of War of the Worlds and captain of the Hertfordshire team that Hejazi played for, has agreed to be patron of the new charity. The Foundation will send coaches to schools to find players deserving of an opportunity, withcoaching sessions leading to matches, competition and possibly careers in coaching. “I want these kids to play several times a week to play in competitions, meet new people and face new challenges. It will be about attending, listening and behaving are achievable things.”  Tudor Brown from Great Shelford was awarded the MBE in the Queens birthday honours in June 2013. He was a co-founder of ARM Ltd. and has served as its' President since 2008.
At ARM Holdings he was an Engineering Director and Chief Technical Officer from 1993 to 2000, Chief Operating Officer from October 2001 to July 2008, and Executive Vice President for Global Development. Previously, he was Principal Engineer at Acorn Computers, working exclusively on the ARM research and development programme since 1984.
He sits on the UK Government Asia Task Force. He is a Fellow of the Institution of Engineering and Technology. He holds an M.A. in Electrical Sciences from Cambridge University.
 
Links to other Great Shelford pages
Great Shelford planning and planning applications
Great Shelford community groups
Great Shelford blogs and emails
|
Home >
