The pretty village full of thatched cottages where a famous writer was the church’s vicar

It’s also surrounded by stunning countryside

There are many pretty villages in England, but Cambridgeshire is home to one with a number of claims to fame. Elsworth is not only a picturesque old village full of thatched cottages, but it has not one but two historic facts.

The South Cambridgeshire village was once home to a very famous resident, who you might not know by name but you will definitely know his work. Rev W Awdry, was the vicar of Elsworth’s Holy Trinity church between 1946 and 1950 – and you probably know him best as the writer of the very well known Thomas the Tank Engine.

He was rector of the parish of Elsworth in 1946 when he was writing his books. He wrote five books while working in Elsworth before moving to be the vicar in Emneth – another Cambridgeshire village.

The village’s other claim to fame is that it helped create what is known as ‘the Cambridgeshire dialect’. Many people might say there isn’t an accent in Cambridgeshire – it’s certainly not as strong as the likes of Liverpool, Newcastle or Essex – but there is still an accent.

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The Cambridgeshire dialect varies depending on whether you’re in the north of the county, where the Fenland accent rules, or further south where it’s difficult to tell where people are from, but this small village is the first place where any of the dialects were first recorded.

In 1950, it was one of only two sites in Cambridgeshire to be covered by the Survey of English Dialects. The village was chosen to be a part of the survey because it was a rural area with a history of a stable population.

Residents were talked to and recorded so that their dialect would not be completely lost to history. Extracts from these recordings are now all freely available online through the British Library. The other village to have its dialect recorded in Cambridgeshire was Little Downham.

The village is just nine miles away from Cambridge and seven miles from Huntingdon. You will find two pubs there – George & Dragon on Boxworth Road and The Poacher on Brockley Road. It also has a community shop, a primary school and a Church.

Despite its small size today, Elsworth has always been a well-populated village and was also a very successful and bustling Medieval village, dwarfing those around it. It’s name has also changed a little over time. It was listed as Eleswurth in 974, and Elesuuorde in the Domesday Book of 1086.