Whiteleaf, Buckinghamshire

When I was a boy

I was born in Princes Risborough and fondly remember as a young boy going into the shop with the bay window (shown on the right of your picture) to buy sweets and giggle at the young girls. The shop was known locally as 'Blue Kettle Jacks' although it was properly known, I think, as The Old Blue Kettle.

Parish Church

On Sept 2 1877 William Frederick Beels married Emily Arkell in the Parish Church. William Frederick Beels' son was Frederick John Beels. His son was Frederick James Beels. Frederick James lived in Risboro with his grandparents and he remembers having to go to the next town by train to get groceries. He had to go by himself because his mother looked... [more]

Two weddings

My parents were married at Great Hampden church in July 1929, they were Neater Ruth Groom of Prestwood, and Harold Aubrey Hall of Beenham in Berkshire. January 4th 1956 Barbara Hall, their only child, was married to Reginald Frank Ridgley, also of Prestwood. My mother died in April 1994, the wild cherry blossom and bluebells were adorning the Glade as we... [more]

Dunsmore People and Happenings Remembered

PREFACE TO THE SECOND EDITION

In 1995, when the first edition of this history was published, it seemed incredibly optimistic to have had three hundred copies printed for a market which was likely to be composed in the main of the residents of about forty properties. Ten years later the stock has run out and the opportunity arises to correct... [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... [more]

The Chequers

At the age of 16 I remember picking cherries on the trees (still existing in the photo and just shown to the left of the picture) while being too embarrassed/shy to acknowledge the presence of my first "girlfriend", Valery, on her bike below.
The Chequers was my fathers local from the mid twenties until the mid eighties. He hardly missed an... [more]

PIGLET

We came to live in Downley Road in 1987 at The Barn which was in a bit of a state in those days. Wife, daughter, me and three cats. The very first memory I have is of our first weekend here when we thought we would  quickly nip out to the back of the common to get our bearings for half... [more]