Date: 07 December 2006 17:48

ACCESS TO THE PAST PROVIDES ROUTE TO A HEALTHIER FUTURE

Residents and visitors to Northstowe could be improving their health and 
history education by following the same paths as Norman knights.

Cambridgeshire County Council is working to provide people living in and 
around the planned town of Northstowe with improved access to the 
countryside, and the opportunity for healthier and more active
lifestyles.

The area, known in Saxon times as the Hundred of Northstow, has a wealth of 
history ready to be discovered by people using the new network of paths.

As part of the 'Northstowe Area Footpath and Cycleway Network Project' the 
Council is consulting with local people, parish councils and landowners to 
discuss the proposed countryside access routes. These will link communities 
and provide access to the wider countryside, and encourage people to adopt 
healthier forms of transport to get around the area.

The two-year project to improve the public rights of way and cycle networks 
around Northstowe has now identified potential network improvements in an 
area ranging from Histon to Fenstanton and from Bar Hill to Aldreth.

Officers are digging deep into history and offering people access to the 
countryside around Northstowe that has seen ten centuries since it was 
established as the Saxon 'Hundred' of Northstow. Although the new town has 
yet to be built, it will be located in an area where evidence can be seen of 
the battles the Saxons had with the Normans following the 1066 invasion; 
changes to village life through fen drainage and a full military history 
with the Pathfinder airbases and RAF Oakington at the heart of the 
development.

The improved path network in and around the planned new town of up to 10,000 
homes will link the new community and current residents of the surrounding 
area into the droves, river towpaths and village heritage of the ancient 
Hundred.

Potential routes will range from short paths accessible to those who are 
less mobile, to longer links to local villages and wildlife reserves such as 
Fen Drayton Lakes, to more challenging networks reaching out into the wider 
countryside, suitable for those on foot, horseback and mountain bikes.

 The countryside access network around Northstowe will link into the new 
bridleway being provided along the route of the Guided Busway. This facility 
will also help people living in local villages to enjoy the facilities of 
the new town. Plans for the network will also consider the effect of planned 
road improvements and the project should establish good practice for future 
housing development in
Cambridgeshire.

Funding for the 'Northstowe Area Footpath and Cycleway Network Project' has 
been provided by the Department for Communities and Local Government's 
Growth Area Fund (GAF) as part of the planned development of the M11 
corridor. Project work at Northstowe follows principles laid out in the 
County's Rights of Way Improvement Plan (ROWIP) produced last year. 
Well-designed countryside access routes can also provide green corridors, 
which encourage wildlife.
http://www.cambridgeshire.gov.uk/environment/countryside/access/rowip

Definition of a Saxon Hundred
The name is derived from the number 100 and it may in some areas once have 
referred to a hundred men under arms. In England, however, it was that 
amount of land sufficient to sustain one hundred families. From Anglo Saxon 
times to the 19th century in England a Hundred was the division of a shire 
for administrative, military and judicial purposes under the common law. 
Originally, when introduced by the Saxons between 613 and1017 a hundred had 
enough land to sustain approximately one hundred households headed by a 
hundred-man or hundred eolder. He was responsible for administration, 
justice, and supplying military troops, as well as leading its forces. The 
Northstow Hundred was an ancient district made up of the following parishes: 
Girton, Impington, Landbeach, Lolworth, Long Stanton All Saints, Long 
Stanton St Michael, Madingley, Milton, Oakington, Rampton, Waterbeach.

John Reynolds