Nostalgic memories of Latimer's local history
Share your own memories of Latimer and read what others have said
For many years now, we've been inviting visitors to our web site to add their own memories to share their experiences of life as it was when the photographs in our archive were taken. From brief one-liners explaining a little bit more about the image depicted, to great, in-depth accounts of a childhood when things were rather different than today (and everything inbetween!). We've had many contributors recognising themselves or loved ones in our photographs.
Why not add your memory today and become part of our Memories Community to help others in the future delve back into their past.
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Displaying Memories 1 - 10 of 14 in total
I was posted to Latimer in 1968 where I met the woman I loved for 53 years. We met on the first day I was posted there, her name was Private Barbara Peckett. I lost her to cancer in October 2022. Latimer was a great posting and all the joint service personnel got on really well. The village was beautiful. I have many fond memories of this place - it was the best posting I had in my 12 years in the Royal Navy.
Posted to JSSC Latimer in 1962. One of the first RAF cooks to arrive and to take over the OR's Mess from the Army. It was my first time on a multi service camp, but not the last. I remember that there were very few buses into Chesham and no transport to the tube station in Little Chalfont. The co op hall in Chesham for the dances 4 times a week and have a few beers in the Lamb over the road, it was a proper 4 ale and spit ...see more
I was a member of the small printing unit at JSSC during my National Service. Our job was to print the material for the Combined Services Officers course on Atomic Warfare. The Officers were from all the Commonwealth countries and mostly from the higher ranks. The Commandant of the camp was Lt. Col Acland and the Adjutant was a Major Reynolds. The officers were billeted in Latimer House and the other ...see more
My army father was posted to the staff college in Latimer after his 3 years in the Korean war. One of the happier parts of my childhood in a lovely little rented cottage adjoining a farm with a big barn where we could play, there were chickens and horses for us to enjoy. Think it was on the road out of Chesham? School was called Longmeadow, and we often went to Chesham to feed the ducks and I also remember the ...see more
I joined the WRAC and was posted to JSSC in the beautiful village of Latimer in 1953, what a wonderful time that was. There were two of us arriving at JSSC on that April day and the first place we went to was the NAAFI. Up on the stage, were two soldiers playing music and one of them was the man I was to marry. I was accommodated in Latimer House right at the top with other WRAC personnel, we all got on ...see more
I was posted to the J.S.S.C., Little Chalfont, Buckinghamshire from my regiment in Germany {15/19 Hussars} and I was there for two years {1966-8}. I still have vivid memories of my time there; the officers houses' I worked at, the picket room, the N.A.A.F.I., the barracks, and the many officers 'do's' in which most of the time I had the job as glass-washer. There were thousands of them! And we never got finished ...see more
I have some lovely nostalgic memories of the J.S.S.C Latimer, where I was stationed in 1952. Most of the period I was a provost policeman. There were 3 of us and a provost corporal, cpl Burrows, [I believe came from Wiltshire]. There was no R.S.M, but a warrent officer, [I forgot his name], also a camp commondant colonol Ackland, under him, major Hickey. The food was wonderful, the guys and gals terrific. My ...see more
I was posted to Latimer in 1954 from Hadrians Camp, Carlisle, and after walking from Little Chalfont Station with full kit it was great to walk into the guardroom and have someone stick a mug of tea in my hand, Corpral Homer MM.
I also remember CSM Wacky Jones Major "DEBBIE " Renolds and many others from all services including WRAC, it was a great posting. I met my wife to ...see more
It was only two years or so, from 1959-61, aged 6-8, but it still seems as if the happiest period of my childhood in Latimer was one long, endless, glorious summer. My dad was in the army, in the King's Own Scottish Borderers, attached to the Joint Services Staff College there, now Latimer House, the conference centre. I don't know what my dad's job was, but his office, behind the married quarters and since ...see more
My memories are not of my own associations with Latimer, but I still feel a great affection for the place. When my grandparents got married in 1897 they went for a brief honeymoon in Latimer. My grandfather's aunt, Elizabeth Amanda Smith, had married the school master, Edward Stevens, and the family lived in the old school house. They invited my grandparents to spend their honeymoon there and I am told they had fond ...see more