(Photo opposite: Wendover View) Two types of folk rise early on a Sunday in Buckinghamshire, UK (quite apart from the mums with energetic toddlers): the car boot salespersons and the walkers. Car boot sales (known as yard sales in the other version of English) can be seen setting up their tables from about 6.30 am. Given that that was not an hour when I saw daylight on my recent visit to Buckinghamshire I did not bump into too many of them. The walkers, however, I did encounter.
The obligatory attire for this activity, given that it was England in June (!), was anoraks (or parkas for across the pond dwellers) and wellie boots. Serious walkers wear boots designed expressly for the purpose of having a brisk, exhilarating stroll through anything from scrub to swampy field (my visit coincided with some serious flooding; this was only to make me feel at home though: I had just left serious flooding in Puerto Plata, Dominican Republic).
Less serious walkers wear wellies (Wellington boots). I encountered one group in Wendover, hence the title. They were armed with hearty enthusiasm, backpacks, maps and brightly coloured parkas which I (mistakenly) took as belonging to denizens of the erstwhile colonies. And since they looked a little lost I thought I had better stop to assist. Preparing to impart that I used to be a resident of these leafy lanes I discovered that they were not tourists. No………. They were a middle aged singles group on a ‘let’s meet a new partner’ jolly activity. What fun! The parkas which had fooled me were indeed anoraks and must have been the Wendover equivalent to peacock feathers. It apparently hadn’t lured in much by way of peahens which is probably why I got pounced on to join them. The offer was politely declined as I hastily fumbled with the hire car’s remote unlocking device muttering adages to self about sausages and skins. Amongst other things.
(Photo opposite: Anne Boleyn’s Cottages) This group would no doubt have been too busy sizing up the ‘availability pool’ to notice some of the more historic treasures which surrounded them. The name Buckinghamshire is Anglo Saxon in origin and refers to Bucca’s home, Bucca being an Anglo Saxon landowner. Just yards from where the singles group were surveying each other stands a row of cottages known as Anne Boleyn’s Cottages. Anne Boleyn, wife of King Henry VIII and mother of Queen Elizabeth I, was probably someone who wished she had survived long enough to have the luxury of joining a singles group, middle aged or not. But what she missed on longevity she made up for in property, owning part of Wendover, and the cottages remain to this day.
Escaping eastwards along the A413 I drove to Chalfont St. Giles and Milton’s Cottage, the grade 1 listed 16th. Century cottage where John Milton, the blind English poet and parliamentarian completed Paradise Lost and started to contemplate Paradise Regained. No groups of singles walkers here but several students of literature and a few foreign visitors. The cottage boasts a library with works such as the Areopagitica, Milton’s speech to Parliament on freedom of speech and non-censorship of the press, which is to Milton’s prose what Paradise Lost is to his poetry, and Eikonoklastes, Milton’s answer to the King’s defence of the Divine Right of Kings. Amazing how several hundred years later such thoughts have resonance and not just in monarchies!
(Photo opposite: Milton’s Cottage) In this part of Buckinghamshire there is such an abundance of historical treasures that quite literally you don’t know which way to turn. Turning left out of Milton’s Cottage will take you to the Quaker village of Jordans about two miles away. This village originated in the early part of the last century but the farmstead of Old Jordans dates from the 17th century and was the home of Quaker farmers. Jordans Village was built in 1919 by a consortium which included the architect Frederick Rowntree of the famous Quaker family of York (makers of chocolate and sweets). It was built to allow the Friends’ social and religious principles to be expressed in a ‘self governing human community’. Redbrick terraced houses are screened by high beech trees around the spacious village green. A co-operative store, shop, village post office and popular meeting place were included in the design but a pub was not as Rowntree – in line with Quaker temperance ideals – deliberately omitted one!
The Mayflower Barn was built in 1630 out of timber reputedly taken from ‘The Mayflower’ which carried the Pilgrim Fathers to America in 1620 (but just as likely to be from any of the 37 ships of the time with the same popular name). Jordans Meeting House is built on land bought in 1685 by John Pennington with donations from William Penn, the founder of Pennsylvania US. It was built to take immediate advantage of James II’s Declaration of Indulgence permitting Quakers and other non-conformists to practise their religion openly. Mellowed now with time, it is still unadorned inside and covered with deal wood panels in accordance with Friends’ custom. A headstone marks the resting place of William Penn. In 2001 George Hamilton IV recorded a Thanksgiving Day concert at the Mayflower Barn.
(Photo opposite: Inside of Mayflower Barn) The Old Jordans Conference Centre was formerly a farmhouse bought in 1618 for £700. In 1911 it was converted into a Friends’ hostel and is now a conference centre set in tranquil gardens facing the Mayflower Barn. Aging rock star Ozzy Osbourne, when not in Los Angeles lives in a mansion in a nearby lane. Maybe he should be told about the wellie walkers of Wendover? Oh, wait………..he has Sharon.
If on the other hand you should choose to turn right out of Milton’s Cottage, cross the A413 at the Pheasant roundabout and continue on until you can turn right into Gorelands Lane where you will find that the Chiltern Open Air Museum is signposted. I noticed it offers the St. Giles equivalent to freaky Fridays - concession admission rates to pre-booked groups of over 60 year olds on Fridays and made a mental note to impart this to the Wendover wellie walkers should our paths ever cross again………………..The Chiltern Open Air Museum preserves what are known as vernacular buildings - the houses and workplaces of past generations which would otherwise be lost. And no they don’t speak although it is likely that many would have a tale or two to tell.
(Photo opposite: Replica Iron Age House) There is a working Victorian farmyard, a replica Iron Age house and a 1940’s prefab. Activities include a blacksmith at work, pole lathing, candle making and a simulation of a 1940’s washday – without washing machines! The centre even runs courses such as how to make bricks by hand and working with flint and lime. And just to keep everything authentic near the café which serves English Cream Teas and Toasted Teacakes there is a splendid Edwardian Public Convenience. Special events at the Museum cover Land Girls and Home Guard re-enactors (for devotees of Dad’s Army – a British sitcom about the Home Guard in the Second World War), vintage vehicle shows, sheep dog demonstrations and one whose title intrigued but was not available when I visited – Medieval Cooking and Weapons. I am still trying to fathom the connection between the two………….! When I say this is a good place to take children I am thinking more of the wide range of activities available than the little darlings getting their hands on a claymore or a halberd!
(Photo opposite: Bull Hotel) Those looking for accommodation with a historic bent are spoiled for choice in Buckinghamshire. The Greyhound Inn in Chalfont St. Peter holds fascinating historical significance as the preferred location for the infamous ‘Hanging Judge’, Judge Jeffreys, who used to travel via a secret tunnel from his manor within the Greyhound Inn village straight to the establishment. Judge Jeffreys was Lord Lieutenant of Buckinghamshire from 1687-9. If you do stay there be aware that it is a pub and has loud music on Friday and Saturday nights. Those looking for four poster bed accommodation in a historic setting could try The Bull Hotel at Gerrards Cross. This was built in 1688 along one of the great coaching roads between London and Oxford and has a long history with tales of highwaymen and famous stagecoaches. Jack Shrimpton was a notorious highway robber executed in 1713 for these crimes and murder and is remembered at this hotel by having a bar named in his honour.
In West Wycombe the George and Dragon is entered through a cobbled archway on West Wycombe High Street and is a coaching inn built in the early 18th. Century and reputedly haunted by a ghost called Sukie. Sukie was allegedly a barmaid at the George and Dragon who fell in love with a rich gentleman. She received a note, apparently from the gentleman asking her to meet him in the secret tunnel that supposedly ran from the pub to the Hellfire Caves. Then, the note said, they would dash away and be married. In fact the note was forged by the local lads who did it for a prank. It wasn’t so funny for Sukie though who turned up dressed in a bridal gown (as in all good ghost stories!) only to discover the lads laughing at her. The lads threw stones in a playful way but one hit her on the head killing her. According to the tale the lads took her body back through the tunnel to her room at the pub and to this day it is said that Sukie haunts the pub. People who drink at George and Dragons shouldn’t throw stones………or at least shouldn’t have one too many in case they see Sukie.
(Photo opposite:The Compleat Angler) In Old Amersham The Kings Arms dates from the 15th. Century but potential guests will be pleased to learn that it has been refurbished since then! The Chequers Inn at Wooburn Common, Beaconsfield was built in the 17th. Century and has a four poster bed in its honeymoon suite. Even older is Missenden Abbey, Great Missenden built in the 12th. Century – this has a conference centre providing accommodation. And those wanting really upmarket accommodation in a historic setting should try The Compleat Angler at Marlow. No it isn’t misspelled - Izaak Walton is believed to have written his world famous book on angling in and around Marlow in 1653 and it is from his book that the name of the Inn was later taken.
The Compleat Angler was always a very popular and fashionable place frequented by artists and intellectuals - Edgar Wallace, Dame Nellie Melba, J.M. Barrie, Phil May, the famous Punch artist, Scott Fitzgerald, Noel Coward, Nancy Mitford and Tallulah Bankhead, plus many others. Currently it is still frequented by royalty, celebrities and film stars so if that is your sort of thing, who knows with whom you could rub shoulders? Probably not the wellie walkers of Wendover. Speaking of which The Red Lion Hotel in Wendover is a 17th. Century coaching inn. From 1830 there is record of a daily service to the Bull Inn at Holborn, London for the fare of ten shillings with a journey time of five hours. Today the journey is a lot quicker (A40 permitting) and The Red Lion also offers accommodation.
(Photo opposite: The Red Lion, Wendover) A hire car will be convenient to get you to all these places; Buckinghamshire does have a good public transport service between major towns but sleepy villages are serviced in the main by the local bus service and the sleepiest might see only four busses a day. Be advised also that pubs in sleepy villages serve as social centres for many of the locals. They are harmless and don’t usually pay much attention to tourists. But pubs can attract lonely people and there is always one, usually ostracised by the others, who for the price of a pint will regale you with ghost stories and highway robberies as if he, himself, had personally experienced being on a stagecoach held up by one of the more notorious robbers. Humour him, he is probably a retired Wendover wellie walker……………
Ginnie Bedggood’s story of relocating to the Dominican Republic in 1992 Quisqueya: Mad Dogs and English Couple is published as an ebook on Offshore Wave. To buy the ebook click here:
For more information visit her website at Ginnie Bedggood - book author, writer, expat Dominican Republic
For more information on places mentioned in the article please visit the following websites:
Mayflower Barn George Hamilton IV - At The Mayflower Barn
Chiltern Open Air Museum Chiltern Open Air Museum
List of Hotels, B&Bs and Country Inns
For those wanting to investigate the ghost at the George and Dragon (ho ho ho!)
Haunting Breaks - Events .:. George and Dragon
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