Reminiscing

A Memory of Woburn Sands.

I was born in NW London. My first visit to Woburn Sands was about 1950 when my Uncle Ted and Aunt Ada moved here. They lived at the 'Dene' Aspley Hill. Aunt Ada did the housework for Mrs Russell the owner of the 'Dene' and my uncle drove a lorry for Marston Bricks. My school holidays were spent here cycling around the district. Then in 1955 my father Charles Batham bought 'Quarry Cottage' in Sandy Lane, Aspley Heath. At that time there was no electricity or sewer. Mum cooked on a wood stove and we read by oil lamps. No TV or radio. The toilet was the outhouse. I met my wife Barbara while travelling to work at Bletchley. We married in 1960 and in 1961 we purchased the 'Quarry Cottage' and half the land from my father who built a bungalow which he called 'Charlesdene'. It was then that electricity and sewers were connected. Two of my children were born there. I worked at Woburn Engineering for a few years. (can't find any reference to it now). My father died in 1967 and in 1968 I emigrated to Western Australia. No doubt many changes have taken place since then. I still have many happy memories of the village.  Roy Batham