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Chalfont Common
Chalfont Common photos
Displaying the first of 1 old photos of Chalfont Common. View all Chalfont Common photos
Chalfont Common maps
Historic maps of Chalfont Common and the local area, hand-drawn by Ordnance Survey and Samuel Lewis. View all Chalfont Common maps
Chalfont Common area books
Displaying 1 of 7 books about Chalfont Common and the local area. View all books for this area
You can read extracts and browse photos from these books.
Memories of Chalfont Common
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Buckinghamshire memories
Ivy Myers. I wonder how many people from Chalfont remember the "Rose and Crown", a Benskins pub. My father owned it from 1946 until 1950. There was also the “Kings Head” which was on the corner of Joiners Lane. Of course if you look for them now you won't find them, the area is covered by the dual carriage-way and round-a-bout. At this time the village had hardly any cars going through it. My father said that because there were quite a few pubs in the village rivalry for customers was pretty fierce and he had to think of all different ways to get custom. The pub had an old stable block behind it which he turned into a club room. He hired this out for functions and started an “Ancient Order of Buffaloes Lodge”. He did catering for the Gymkhanas and the Bar for the dances held at the hospital. Dad also arranged outings to Goodwood races and local dart team matches. ... Read more
A Bren Gun
Gold Hill common has an upper flat grassy area and then a sloping area, which leads down into the town, which is covered with scrub, not the town of course. This photo is right on the edge of the upper part. In 1963, when I was a boy of eight, the army came and laid on an exhibition, I guess this was a recruitment drive. They carried out a mock battle with half tracks and guns firing blanks and yellow smoke billowing slowly across the common. If you take the main footpath from Layters Green Lane (?) across the common, the swings and stuff will be off to your left, there was/is a hawthorn tree to the right of the path and I lay under that tree with a soldier who was firing a Bren gun. I asked him if I could have any of the spent carteridge shells but he told me that they all had to be accounted for. It was an amazing experience.
Learning to Ride A Bike
We found an old bike that had no chain and no brakes. Every day after school we would get the bike out of the gorse, where we had hidden it, and take it in turns to free wheel down this slope. Then push it back up and someone else would have a go. I would have been seven.
Going to School
I walked past this clock every day on my way to school. Down past the clock on the left was a news agent where I learned to shoplift. Almost every day I would steal from them and never got caught. I also started stealing from the Handy Stores at the top of Gold Hill common, anyone remember that place? When it was getting knocked down I found an old plaster wall picture which I took. I visited my mother in 2006 and she still has it hanging on her wall and she was 81 at the time. In the early to mid 60's we had some great winters and we would sledge down the common and sometimes right out onto this road. Those were the good old days when you could go to the cinema, get a bag of chips and still have change out of a shilling. Sadly, I never had a shilling and so those old days weren't that great actually.
Whitethorn Morris Dance at Merlin''s Cave Pub
The lovely village green and pond at Chalfont St Giles are next to a splendid pub called Merlin's Cave. This is a very popular summer evening venue for morris dancing and the dancers and musicians can soon draw a crowd of onlookers from both villagers and passing motorists.
For many summers one of the local morris sides which dances here is Whitethorn Morris - often performing as guests of other dance sides including Grand Union Morris and Lord Paget's. I played my piano accordian as leader of the Whitethorn Band and on occasion had nine or ten musicians which at times outnumbered the usual team of eight dancers!
Our morris band included drums, accordians, melodeons, whistles, and even a musical crowbar! The red, white and blue dresses of the Whitethorn Morris dancers made a colourful and energetic spectacle. The band played toe-tapping dance tunes in jig and polka tempos and a good time was enjoyed by all!
These summer evenings were great fun... Read more
Childhood Memories of The Village Pond
My friends and I spent many hours catching Sticklebacks in the pond. A fishing net cost tuppence in those days and was regarded as a lot of money but worth every penny. After the war it was so sad to see the pond gradually disappearing and like so many other childhood memories just fading away.
Village Memories
The village played an important part in my early life. My parents moved here in 1927 and bought a small cottage in Back Lane and named it 'Mon Abri'.
I went to school here, up to 11, and then I was fortunate enough to obtain a Scholarship to Dr Challoners Grammar in Amersham on the Hill to which I cycled every day.
The war was approaching and I was called up in 1942. In the meantime I met my future wife who had been evacuated to Newlands Park. She sadly passed away last year after 68 years of marriage and so you see Chalfont St Giles has so many precious memories for me.
