Allan Brigham
Allan Brigham (1951–2020) was a British road sweeper, historian, and tour guide. His historical writing includes Bringing It All Back Home (2006), a report published by the Chartered Institute of Housing, lamenting the decline of the Romsey neighbourhood of Cambridge, and his many contributions as a founder member of the Mill Road History Project, funded by the National Lottery Heritage Fund in 2013. His honours include a Tidy Britain Group Silver Broom award and an honorary degree from the University of Cambridge. Biography Brigham was born in 1951, in Harpenden, Hertfordshire, the son of Michael Brigham, an accountant, and his wife, Helen Hine, a physiotherapist. He was educated at the Leys School, Cambridge. He then studied history and politics at University of Sheffield, graduating in 1973. At Sheffield he was taught by political theorist Bernard Crick and was a contemporary of politician David Blunkett. Brigham moved to Cambridge in 1974 but could only get a job as a road sweeper. "Roadsweeping was the only job I could get when I moved here. It was meant to be a temporary job but I have just continued doing it. I had planned to be a teacher." He joined the GMB union. For