The Parish of Thriplow has approximately 1,050 people living in it. These are in general located in two communities – the Village Ward and the Heathfield Ward. There are about 450 people in the Village Ward and just under 600 people in the Heathfield Ward. The two communities are about a mile apart. We are a small parish by conventional standards – there are only 827 voters registered on the most recent Electoral Roll.
The village of Thriplow (with a silent h) is an old village – see the History Section for more details. We have several old manorial houses, a village green complete with perfectly preserved smithy, a church, a primary school, pub, village hall, a few small businesses and a community-run village shop. Thriplow is perhaps most noted for its fabulous Daffodil Weekend event, held annually close to Easter, which you will read about in other pages here.
Heathfield started life in the 1930’s with some buildings constructed for the service personnel stationed at RAF Duxford (now part of the Imperial War Museum) across the A505. Rather bizarrely, some of these properties are in the parish of Thriplow, and others are in the parish of Whittlesford. Recently there have been a number of housing developments completed in the Heathfield area that extend this community. There is a service station/car sales business and a spring water company in the ward.
The area between these two communities is devoted to farmland (arable, potatoes etc) and we have an internationally renowned (non-GM) seed development company based here too. Part of this farmland is certified as organic, and it reaches up to, and even into, the residential areas at a number of points – don’t be surprised if you see big farm machinery trundling along our tiny roads!
Finally, we have the recycling centre, a car breaking business and a few houses spread along the A505 itself.