Welcome to Thriplow and Heathfield – two villages in one big parish set in open farmland, 7 miles south of Cambridge.

On the surface, we look like this:

In Thriplow village, buildings lie in a loose figure-of-eight, where the lanes still look like lanes and almost every house overlooks a green space. It has all the things you’d want in a village: school, playgroup, church, pub, shop (where you can drop in for a coffee and chat), cricket field, recreation ground, village hall and a village green with a smithy. Its footpaths take you through fields, woods and orchid meadows; in Springtime, the whole village is awash with daffodils.

Heathfield is a modern village (with over half its houses less than 10 years old) and it too has plenty of open spaces, home to recreational activities. Families enjoy a free grandstand view of historic aircraft in the Duxford Imperial War Museum Airshows and, on other days, residents in the two villages can have free entrance to this world-class centre. Fast and stopping trains run into London Kings Cross or Liverpool Street from nearby stations. As we are less than a mile from the M11 junction 10, Stansted Airport is just 20 minutes away. We are close to the Trumpington Park and Ride bus scheme into Cambridge, which also provides connections to London and to other airports

But, underneath, villages are much more than a collection of buildings. There’s a strong sense of community. We’ve saved our pub (which has won Cambridgeshire Pub of the Year), school (to which children come from miles around) and the shop, which is now successfully run by the village itself. Flourishing clubs for cricket, tennis, carpet bowls, drama, W.I, aerobics, local history, dancing, books, gardening and wine, together with local facilities for fishing, golf and horse-riding, offer plenty of leisure-time choice.

A strong community faces both outwards and inwards. Practically every household is involved in Thriplow's Daffodil Weekend and we are proud of the enormous amount of money we have raised for many different charities and our local needs.

And as an individual, neighbour or friend, we look out for each other and offer support if needed. Now that’s real community spirit.

See you sometime?

Website updated: 28/06/2010