Peter Filby - 1948 to 2024

It is with great sadness that we announce the death of our friend and colleague in local history studies, Peter Filby.  

Peter died peacefully at Arthur Rank Hospice on Monday 22nd January 2024.

He served on the Committee of Cambridgeshire Association for Local History for many years and had also been a trustee and volunteer at both Cambridge Museum of Technology and the Museum of Cambridge.  He was also a valued member of the mills preservation community through his research and practical support on projects.  

At Cambridge Museum of Technology he was one of the founding trustees when the new governance document was adopted in 2014.  He was our resident local historian,  generous in sharing his knowledge and giving us access to his reference materials.   He carried out research on the story of rubbish and sewage in Cambridge which later fed into the displays in our redeveloped museum.  Local history ran in his family, his mother Ena having been a Cambridge Blue Badge Guide and his aunt, Irene Lister, wrote on local history subjects.   He was always available when help was needed, stepping in to do everything from demonstrating printing presses, to posing for photos for a guidebook as the rest of us were not too keen on having our photos taken,  to running the shop when needed  There were days when the museum would not have opened if Peter had not stepped up to the till.   As a trustee, he was always very supportive of the staff, bearing boxes of chocolate biscuits at Christmas or accompanying us on a trip to the Wrestlers for a drink and a curry.  

A kind and generous man, he will be greatly missed by all of us who work in and love our local history.

Funeral Announcement

Peter’s friends and colleagues are invited to attend a memorial service at St Philip’s Church, 185 Mill Road, Cambridge, CB1 3AN at 10.45am on Monday 19th February 2024.  There is very limited parking near the church so please be prepared to walk, bike or get a taxi. 

A lunchtime reception will follow at Cambridge Museum of Technology, CB5 8LD, from 12 noon.  Entrance to the Museum can be from Cheddars Lane or Riverside.  There is some parking on site, entry via Cheddars Lane, and there is also three hours free parking at the neighbouring Tesco on Newmarket Road. Once parked there, aim for the very tall chimney and you will find the Museum.

There will also be a service at Cambridge Crematorium, East Chapel, earlier in the day at 9.30am. 

You are welcome to come to all or any of these events.  It would help us in planning our catering and orders of service if you could let us know which you are likely to attend.

We would love to have photos and memories of Peter for inclusion in the service and at the reception. Please do share with us via email to michbullivant@gmail.com or bring them along to the lunchtime reception where they can be displayed 

If you would like to donate to charity in memory of Peter please follow this link which will take you to the memorial donation page: https://peasgoodandskeates.co.uk/donate-in-memory

Any flowers should be sent to Peasgood & Skeates, 617 Newmarket Road, Cambridge, CB5 8PA the day before. 

Radio Enters the Home exhibition opens to great acclaim

The new Radio Enters the Home exhibition has been opened to great acclaim at Cambridge Museum of Technology . It is located in the Pye Building alongside the permanent Pye exhibition. It celebrates 100 Years of the BBC bringing radio into the home and the first radios made by Cambridge company Pye. Some 25 of the earliest Pye radios made between 1922 and 1932 are on display, together with panels outlining the history of the BBC and how radio helped Pye grow to become the largest company in Cambridge.

It is open to the public every Saturday and Sunday between 10.30am and 4pm until October included in the normal museum ticket. Tours of the exhibition are given by ex-Pye emplyees on the second Sunday of the month starting on 12 Februarys at 2 pm. The opening has been widely featured on BBC Look East , ITV Anglia news and BBC radio Cambridgeshire.

BBC feature on Cambridge Museum of Technology’s 2023 exhibition “Radio Enters the Home”

Cambridge Independent

Engineers House @Cambridge Museum of Technology

The Museum is delighted to announce that Calverley Brewery will be taking over the bar in the Engineer's House on 1st October 2022 and that Alforno, the popular pizza business, is continuing as is. We are excited about this new close relationship and look forward to providing the excellent service customers are used to. We would like to thank OtherSyde for their work over the last four years and wish them well in the future.