2010 Fire

Applecote Cottage, Whitecroft Road in 2007
Photo by Tim Gane

15th January 2010
A 999 call was made by a passer-by at 11.27 am

Two crews from Cambridge, two crews from Royston and a crew from Sawston were called to a fire in a Grade II listed thatched cottage at 30 Whitecroft Road in Meldreth.

Firefighters arrived to find an extensive fire in the three-bedroomed home, which had already engulfed all rooms. No one was inside the home at the time.

Crews wearing breathing apparatus used one jet and one hose reel to extinguish the fire.

Mick Jackman, Station Manager at Cambridge Fire Station said, “when crews arrived they very quickly realised that this was a substantial fire affecting all rooms in the house. The race was then on to stop the fire from spreading to the thatched roof, which crews were successful in doing.”

The fire was found to have been caused by an electrical fault.

Comments about this page

  • Stephen Schiavo, my husband and I have lived in the cottage since it was restored after the 2010 fire. It is now called Apple Tree Cottage but the apple tree in the front yard had been removed before we came to live in the cottage. It is much more ‘modern’ now than you remember it; the back has been extended to accommodate a modern kitchen and a third bedroom and en suite bathroom upstairs. Please come and visit to see for yourself when you are next in England. 

    By Henneli Greyling (06/02/2020)
  • What a pity! I lived there when I was a very small boy! My dad, an officer in the USAF, rented that home in the early 1950’s and we loved the house and the village. It is still among our fondest childhood memories (At the time I had one brother and shortly afterwards a sister was born in Cambridge.) We used to throw conkers at each other chasing around the stocks on the traffic island out front. In the 80’s I returned with my family, and “caught” taking photos outside, the current owner invited us in for a tour of the home. I had to stoop to miss the beams in the kitchen; and the place did seem somewhat smaller than it seemed to a 4-year-old at the time. I hope it was saved and can be restored. Let me know if I can help! Stephen Schiavo Professor, CIS Missouri Southern State University

    By Stephen Schiavo (27/03/2014)

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