My Favourite Bridge

A Memory of Denham.

I remember this bridge from when I was little and living in Higher Denham. We often walked into the village this way, past the lovely brick wall and past the hut where we got free orange juice after the war. My grandmother ran the pub, THE PLOUGH, which was up the road straight ahead in the photo. My brother once fell in the river near this bridge. We were in the tiny newsagent's shop in the village, and he went out the back door and fell into the river. It wasn't deep and he was soon fished out, but we still tease him about it! I took my children back to Denham (from Canada) a few years ago, and the same lady was running that tiny newsagent's shop. She seemed old when I was a child and must have been well into her 80's by the time we went back. I had been telling my children about her before we entered, and how she always told us to "shut that door behind you" before we had got through it. Imagine my surprise when I opened the door and heard that same voice tell me to "shut that door behind you!". How we all laughed when we left! Nothing much has changed in the village. Seeing this lovely photo reminds me of the wonderful times we spent in Denham as children. I went to school there, to Brownies with Miss Gilby as my brown-owl, to The Plough for nanny's chips and lemonade, and to our cousins' houses. I miss those days, but am so grateful Denham has been preserved, and we can always go back in time there. One of these days I will take my grandchildren.................