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Drayton Beauchamp memories

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Memories of Buckinghamshire

AUNTY ELIZA And Her Son ALF

Great Aunty Liza lived in an area called Buckland Wharf in a long, low, white bungalow where time stood still except the Grandfather Clock ticked in her "parlour" to tell us otherwise.  The room was very dark because the blinds were drawn "to keep out the sun".  There was a heavily framed picture of her husband on the wall- a severe looking man with a handlebar moustache - very much the Victorian gentleman.  I cannot remember the furniture but vividly remember the rag rugs on the floor.  In her kitchen she cooked over a range, did her washing in an old butler sink and bathed weekly in an old tin bath.  She was quite the handywoman and on her 80th birthday very proudly showed off her latest creation - a bright emerald green knitted petticoat (my cousin and I were told off for having a fit of the giggles).  

My mother and her cousin would always holiday with Aunty Liza when they were little - one memorable day... Read more

HALTON 1978-1983: PLAYING IN THE CANAL & SCHOOL

My name is Forsyth now, but I was a Plumb.
I moved to Halton when I was six and joined Halton 1st School and then Wendover Middle School.
I lived in the big black and white house, which bordered the canal. There was a bridge, which my friends and I used to climb along. I expect it’s not that high, but it felt so daring at the time. We had a long garden at the front that we used to stand in to watch the air displays.
My best friends were a boy who lived opposite me and a girl who lived in the village shop - which was cool!
One day my friend, Amanda from Wendover Middle School, and I decided to run away from home. We arranged to meet at the tower in Wendover. I think we thought we could live there for some time with food we were going to take from home. We were going to meet at midnight. I must have slept really... Read more

Anne Boleyn's Cottages

Coldharbour Cottages, Tring Road 1899
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My late Sister Daphne Hemmings owned No 3 Coldharbour Cottage. She passed it on to her son Jimmy Hemmings. I have fond memories of visiting her and staying awhile in these fascinating dwellings. You wouln't want to be six-foot plus with the low doorways plus the low beams, you would crack your head on the oak beams. If anyone passed away upstairs you would have to be lowered through a trapdoor located in the front bedroom in line with the front door. As a school boy in the Second World War years I used to walk from Aylesbury to Wendover up Coombe Hill to the Monument and in the war years (if my memory serves me correct) there were dummy anti-aircraft guns all around the hills. In 1965 my wife, children and myself emigrated to Australia. In 1993 we decided to have a trip back to the UK, staying with my sister for a short time, and we decided to have a walk up Coombe Hill which I hadn't done... Read more

Spitfire

I recall a huge thermometer erected on the clock tower, it was graduated in pounds sterling with a picture of a Spitfie at the top> We children, and of course the rest of the Wendover community subscribed as much as we could as often as we could in order to puchase our very own Spitfire, as Wendover's contribution to the war effort. I was an evacuee from the bombing of London at the time, I also recall seeing an army tank sliding into a sweet shop on the corner opposite the clock tower. I wonder if any of these wonderful people who made my stay in their village so memorable are still with us today :- Mr Mathews of Mathews Bakery, Willy Swilly, Pig Farmer and Humanist. Mrs Goodson Railway Man whom I was billeted with first. And Mr and Mrs Wright, Policeman 2nd. Avril Brackly, close friend. 'Buck' Alcott, friend. Lady Garner and 'Pinky', and Bruce Hamilton, beautiful people. Mr Pentelope, teacher, and last but not least Father Masters,... Read more

Wenover C of E School

I used to go to Wendover Primary School when it was situated beside the clock tower. The head master was then H. J. Figg Edgington. I began in Mrs Tott's class, then Mrs Connolly's, then Mr Spencer's, then Gertrude Agatha Jones's. It was the best time there. We would walk the Heron Path on nature walks, down through the 'rec towards the church and pond, then back past the stream which had sticklebacks and red throats in. We used to believe that a grey lady haunted the church tower and would pretend that we had seen her and run for our lives. Mr Edginton wore his cap and gown always and was a vicar with a dog collar. He used to spank us if we were naughty but he didn't really. He would lay us over his knee then clap his hands and pretend to. Just to let us know we had been naughty for forgetting our gym kit or whatever. I was in the school netball team and was the... Read more

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