travel to england – The Chilterns

Across the valley to st Lawrence and Dashwood Mausoleum

Wye Valley Views

April 8, 2022May 14, 2023 by Mary Tebje, posted in Buckinghamshire, Chiltern Hills, hertfordshire, Travel in England

It takes a visitor to show the locals where to go!

On a windy spring morning, I joined friends and colleagues on a walk from Hughenden Manor, near High Wycombe in the Chilterns. Our walk leader Delphine, was to show us the Visorando app in action.

The Right Ingredients

This is a walk peppered with fabulous sightseeing opportunities: a Chilterns Manor House, bluebells in beech woodlands, a medieval village, a coffee shop, a pub (naturally), secluded valleys where the kites shoot the breeze and skylarks sing.

An unexpected view along the wye valley route — Dominating the landscape

We came across this beautiful view unexpectedly, making me stop as we emerged from the woodland behind Hughenden Manor. A total surprise!

Three miles west of High Wycombe, tucked away in the Wye valley, is a unique 18th century Italian-inspired Chilterns landscape, built to impress and entertain. Across the valley, St Lawrence and the Dashwood mausoleum straddle the hilltop, still dominating the landscape after 250 years. Based on the design of the Constantine Arch in Rome, this unroofed structure is unlike anything else in the country. Built using excavated flints from deep inside the hill, still in the Dashwood family ownership, this show-off memorial to Sir Francis and his friends is in remarkable condition. Beside which is clustered a tiny village of the most lovely cottages creeping up the hill.

routes through west Wycombe — Chocolate-box cottages

Coffee was calling so we heading into my favourite Chilterns village, West Wycombe. This tiny village, that hugs the hillside looks just like a film set; steep lanes, wobbly windows festooned with impressive cobwebs, doorways for tiny residents and unexpected passageways. All authentic, medieval properties, re-purposed for 21st century life.

Wye Valley Cottages — National Trust cottages

When your walking companions have such a wealth of local knowledge, they add layers of richness to the journey: identifying plants and animals, film locations and stories of those who have passed this way before. All of the above best discussed over coffee and cake, before we headed back up the valley.

Uphill all the way

On the return leg, we spotted a few early bluebells, poking out above the new growth, two red kites shooting the breeze, oblivious to our chatter as we walked uphill back to Hughenden. Working in tourism, I know it is usually visitors who discover the local gems because they look harder, trying to find the essence of a place. And in this, Delphine succeeded. She had captured the beauty of the undulating, rolling Chilterns landscape, historic streetscapes, wildlife, local food and drink and stories, all woven together in what makes the Chilterns so special. So yes, it often does take a visitor to guide the locals through their own landscape stories. Thank you!

Further Information

This is not a blow-by-blow account of how to navigate your way. Go exploring yourself and walk this lovely, but hilly six mile route on Visorando, that also includes; Sunday strolls to strenuous hikes, long-distance trails and urban walks.

Did you know that West Wycombe was saved by the Wall Street crash of 1929?

The fire was from a portable BBQ, discarded with accompanying beer bottles under a tree just behind the mausoleum. I am sure Sir Francis Dashwood would have approved of the party, but not the litter. Read Hellfire on a Hill

National Trust Hughenden Manor was once the home of Victorian statesman Benjamin Disraeli. An understated place, and worth a visit.

Take your Chilterns memories home with a mug, picture or tea-towel from our Chilterns Gifts range. Available online to UK mainland only.

Bluebells in ashridge — Chilterns Bluebells

Tree Routes

April 6, 2022May 14, 2023 by Mary Tebje, posted in Bedfordshire, Buckinghamshire, Chiltern Hills, hertfordshire, Travel in England, Visit England

If a tree falls in Ashridge Forest and no one is around to hear it, does it make a sound?

Shaking myself out of the winter slumber, I headed into Ashridge during the recent unseasonably warm weather. The forest was full with noisy life shaking off a winter slumber. The ambient light is washed out with remnants of a winter hue, with just a hint of green and clumps of spring flowers.

Avenue of trees — Foresters Walk follows an estate boundary

The forest is one of my favourite places to spend time enjoying the woodland throughout the year. I have followed so many animal trails and footpaths, visiting regularly and finding something new each time. Located on the Hertfordshire and Bedfordshire borders, the Ashridge Estate is a seamless mixture of beechwoods, chalk downland, meadows, isolated buildings and small farms. It is a huge privilege to have access to this special place.

The mud was not too horrendous, so picking my way around fallen trees and storm debris not too slippery! Leo naturally heads for all the puddles.

along a route in Ashridge — A once busy barn is now quiet

Lumps and Bumps

This walk was all about the magnificent trees: big, small, young, ancient, bent, decaying, lightening-stuck or toppled. Before the foliage takes centre stage, I could image in a world turned upside down with their branches like their roots now pointing to the sky. Now it’s all about textures, lumps, bumps, moss and carvings, the various trees stand out including; cherry, beech, oak, chestnut, holly, conifers, hornbeams and ash trees. There will be others, but I don’t know their names.

The rat-a-tat of a woodpecker, squirrels making a racket as they race down tree trunks, along the floor, over the fallen trees and back up another tree. The landscape is exposed, open, with old boundaries and ditches visible. The birds busy themselves with protecting territories and preparing for the next generation to claim the forest.

The greening of the forest starts from the ground up; splashes of coltsfoot and winter aconite yellow, dog violet purple contrasts with the faded snowdrops and the emerging nettles. Bluebell shoots are widespread, the promise of colour in late spring before the leaf cover shuts out the light.

If a tree falls in Ashridge Forest and no one is around to hear it, does it make a sound?

I’m surprised I didn’t hear the crashing trees as I only live a few miles away! Many of the old, majestic trees survived storm Eunice on February 18th, whilst some lie smashed on the ground, blocking paths, or narrowly missing trees, fences, gates and other obstacles.

Tree routes in Ashridge — Missing its neighbour, this tree exploded as it hit the ground

Tidying up is underway, but a tidy forest is not a healthy forest; nutrients from decaying trees are absorbed back into the woodland ecosystem, animals will find new homes and children will create more dens and castles.

This brown woodland will soon be transformed into shades of fresh green and bluebell blue.

Further Information

I have written extensively about the beautiful Ashridge Estate, you can read more here: do trees fall uphill? Winter shadows or pause awhile in the forest.

Spring in the Chiltern hills is the season when we shake off the gloom of winter and look forward to renewal. It’s the skylarks, snowdrops and then bluebells that increases the heart rate and knowledge that spring is not far off.

Take bluebells home with you when you buy from our range of Chilterns Gifts and Souvenirs.

Shadows

January 18, 2022May 14, 2023 by Mary Tebje, posted in Buckinghamshire, Chiltern Hills, hertfordshire, Travel in England, Visit England

January is a tough month; days are short, whilst the year yawns ahead. Slipping and sliding through the thick mud along favourite countryside trails is not very appealing. We hunker down until April, when spring should be firmly established and the ground firmer.

Photography may not be top of mind either, too much grey and cold. But there is another way!

Winter opens up the Chilterns landscape through the skeletal trees, now devoid of leaf cover that hems in the landscape, blocking views and possibilities. Those popular snowscapes don’t always deliver when it’s not cold enough for snow.

To get around that problem, I am focusing on winter themes that should make me look at my surroundings anew. Starting with January shadows; long and varied in the low, deep winter sunshine, through the trees, crunching along the footpaths, buildings and structures or playing tricks through the mist. Close up or in the landscape, there are lots of opportunities to try something different. Have fun too, this is not about professional photography.

Iron gate in Tring Park, Chilterns
Self portrait in wood
Sheep shadows
Men at work
Holy shadows
Winter light and shadows

Get involved on Instagram @ChilternHills. I have been sharing images all month and encouraging others in my community to share their experiences. Please join in by taging and #shadows and I’ll RT the most creative and fun.

Winter shadows in Tring Park

Further inspiration

The ambient sounds louder, views wider and more intense and unexpected pathways, routes and earthworks are revealed by skeletal undergrowth. It matters not where they lead, just follow! Winter in the Chilterns.

The Bedfordshire and northern Hertfordshire Chilterns landscape is the least explored. Find out what makes this mixed urban sprawl encircling the Barton and Pegsdon Hills with villages so interesting?

Chilterns Gifts

This winter, celebrate the seasons in the Chiltern Hills
with our range of beautifully designed gifts that reflect the special qualities of this lovely region. Shop online now.

Discover the Chilterns hills whatever the season — A celebration of the Chiltern Hills – a field guide

Shapeshifters

November 9, 2021May 14, 2023 by Mary Tebje, posted in Bedfordshire, Buckinghamshire, Chiltern Hills, hertfordshire, Travel in England, Visit England

I don’t usually write about birds, as they are not something I know much about. Other than to enjoy the spectacle they present and to encourage nesting in my garden, (which blackbirds and robins oblige), I simply admire them from afar.

Along with blackbirds, magpies, sparrows, robins, blue jays, song thrush and the twice daily overflight from a red kite, starlings are very much part of the community. Noisy and gregarious, they feed on the verges and lawns, the flock swooping and chattering from the aerials and rooftops every day. Far from being dull, they show-off iridescent colours that change as they move about.

Starlings who used to roost in vast numbers in London’s Leicester Square, but no more. Discouraged by birds of prey and bright lights they are typical of species that is in decline.

It’s not just the starlings putting on a good show this autumn

They are birds that get noticed

I first heard of murmurations from a wildlife programme and friend who lives near Brighton Pier where they are a fairly regular sight. I don’t know where this unusual name comes from. Is it the sound their wings make on their fly-pasts? More of a whooshing sound than a murmur. As they settle in to roost, they made a huge racket, so I’m not convinced it’s their sound. More to do with the movement? The ebb and flow?

Shapeshifters

The sight of their displays is special. Like sardines they are also iridescent, acting as shapeshifting units, but some of them are changing direction, or deciding that it’s time to enter the roost. They are like the vast families of sardines.

Then last autumn, during the year of lockdown, when I was spending time locally – as you would have been, retracing my steps along tracks I had forgotten, I saw my first display. Quite small, but I knew immediately what it was. I watched as the birds worked their magic over water near College Lake in Hertfordshire before disappearing into the trees.

What is a murmuration?

A murmuration is the collection noun for starlings and describes their aerial displays before these groups roost for the night.

I am not aware of other British species that do this, but please do set me right if this is not the case. These large gatherings happen in the autumn and gather pace as more birds migrate from central Europe to the milder winter climate here, peaking in December and January. The groups get larger and larger as smaller groups are absorbed with latecomers, but all roosting together. It seems a sensible way for the birds to nestle up and keep warm together during the long winter nights. Makes me wonder how a single robin keeps warm on a cold night?

Starlings, the sardines of the sky

You may have heard of the Sardine Run? The annual spectacle of millions of migrating sardines that swim north along the east coast of South Africa each winter, attracts all sorts of visitors, predators and chancers who jostle for the best spots to feed or to follow. This is what I am reminded of, in the sky but not that well attended.

Gathering on rooftops, chattering and hopping about before taking off and slowly making their way back and forth, back and forth in the direction of the roosting site. That was when I spotted them, some distance away, but I recognised a murmuration in the making. Leo and I legged it!

The making of a murmuration

Untidy and at height, three sizeable groups slowing growing in size as they absorbed stragglers, circling above my head. Each bird is flying quickly, like synchronised swimmers. The closer they get to the roosting site, the tighter the circles and those tell-tale murmurations emerge; long, tapered, chunky, a cloud, flat, a ball, untidy as some are wanting to go in a different direction.

They hang in the air

Their wings shimmering as they change direction, appearing to contact and expand, undulating as they fly overhead. I can hear them chattering. One group follows the other, chasing it, darting behind, their wings rushing as they fly overhead. Merging for an instant then two separate groups. Does each bird know which group it’s in?

The spectacle begins

Alive. In no hurry to rush to their roost. It is as if they are enjoying gathering and circling many times to then suddenly drop. As if sucked out of the sky, falling like rain into the reeds.

And they are done

The reeds are alive with unseen birds, their jostling and chatter whilst settling in causing waves across the vegetation. Two smaller groups join, one after the other, as do some late stragglers, who just fly straight in. Magnificent!

The sun was gone and it was getting cold. I left them still chattering and jostling, thinking about what the take off at sunrise would look like.

Further information

There’s plenty more to enjoy in the season of colour across the Chilterns. “Wrap up warm” the hardy types say; “put on wellies, a good coat and pack a thermos”. Let me unpack that for you: wellies don’t keep your feet warm, jeans turn to ice when it’s wet and cold, and yes, a thermos is a very good idea. Take a look at the autumn page for ideas.

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Explore the northern Chilterns, they offer a different experience to the busy southern and central regions.

Chilterns Gifts

Celebrate the seasons in the Chiltern Hills with a NEW range of beautifully designed Chilterns Gifts including; Christmas cards, china mugs, tea-towels, 2022 A4 wall calendar amongst other popular items.

The Hampdens

August 9, 2021May 14, 2023 by Mary Tebje, posted in Buckinghamshire, Chiltern Hills, Travel in England, Visit England

Not the Hamptons, but a tucked-away Buckinghamshire parish about three miles south east of Princes Risborough. It incorporates the villages of Great Hampden and Little Hampden and hamlets of Green Valley and Hampden Row.

Due to difficult geography, no major roads or rail links ripped through this countryside.

You’ll find instead deer, the tips of hares, countless butterflies, dozing horses and dappled footpaths through beech woods in an historic landscape. Churches, farms, a manor house and memorials to old family names and their legends.

Classic Chilterns

Setting off from the mysterious Whiteleaf Cross on the hillside above Princes Risborough, we followed one of the very good National Trust countryside Trails that leads from the familiar into the pleasing unfamiliar.

Above Princes Risborough, Whiteleaf is where the walk to Little Hampden starts — The view from Whiteleaf towards Bledlow.

Leaving an overgrown Whiteleaf Cross at the WW1 trenches, apart from some dog walkers, we had the route to ourselves. A beautiful August day, we passed through Kingsfield Wood and walked parallel to a Grim’s Ditch Iron Age earthwork. A feature of the Chilterns, I’ve heard many theories about who it was meant to keep in or out: cattle or the Danes?

A style to nowhere — Would this have kept the Danes out?

Hampden House

The 400-year old cedar tree hinted at our approach to Hampden House. The Gothic-style battlements and arch windows resemble an overblown wedding cake. Perhaps an influencing factor when the current owners bought the house from the family in 1985 to market as a wedding venue. They refurbished a structure that had seen wear and tear as a girls school and latterly as the location for the Hammer film company who churned out horror films and TV series in the 1980’s. An extraordinary sight in this quiet valley.

Once home to the Hampdens (later the Earls of Buckinghamshire), who lived here continuously from before the Normans right up until 1938. Imagine that!

A famous son of this valley (who has a statue in Aylesbury), is commemorated across the county, is John Hampden. Notorious for his refusal to pay 20 shillings for the dodgy ship-money tax, brought in by a near bankrupt King Charles 1 in 1637. This indirectly led to the Civil War and his death at Chalgrove Field near Thame. St Mary Magdalene church doubtless has a rich heritage inside, but is still under Covid-restricted opening hours and was closed.

Hampden family church — The 13th century church of St Mary Magdalene, probable burial site for John ‘the patriot’ Hampden is adjacent to the Manor House.

We continued our walk down an avenue of lime, plane and horse chestnut trees that must have shaded many a visitor over the years. We did as instructed and pushed the button on the large gate and turned to cross the hot fields, alive with butterflies and the scraping of crickets. I love that high summer sound.

Hampden House from Queens Gap — Hampden House from the grassy ‘Queens Gap’ avenue

We spotted deer jumping over the wheat, making it look so easy. Rabbits and probably hares too as we climbed up through Warren wood towards the isolated hamlet of Little Hampden and our second local family.

Little Hampden Church

This gem of a church is tiny, and looks quite fragile. Yet it has survived the rigours of the Reformation and a Victorian make-over. The church is of course locked, and access has to be arranged to see the medieval wall paintings and alter stone.

The church at Little Hampden — Little Hampden church

The 15th century porch has two storeys, the upper one housing a bell, cast in 1791 that is once again working, the locals vying for the privilege of ringing it across the valley.

The Little Hampden church — Memorial stained glass window

The Gingers

Not only is the building spectacular, the graveyard is too. Surprisingly large, with an uneven surface, evidence of long-forgotten burials. I was drawn to a headstone, tucked away at the boundary and noticed the unusual surname.

Headstone in the church at Little Hampden — In memory of Ann, wife of John Ginger

“The Yeomanry family of Ginger constantly resident here, during more than two hundred years; as the principal tenants and occupiers of the land, have obtained some celebrity, on account of the great age to which some of them attained, ….that the head of each of four generations, had arrived at the age of upwards of ninety years.” [The History and Antiquities of the County of Buckingham, by George Lipscomb, 1847].

I found further evidence of the Ginger generations on the Ancestry genealogy website, including an incident of stock theft and a funeral. I wonder if there are Gingers still living in the area?

What a walk! Eight miles packed with nuanced history, places, people, outlandish buildings and beautiful scenery. Tucked away in a quiet corner of Buckinghamshire, this really is classic, unexpected Chilterns.

Further Information

There are several circular walks from Whiteleaf, including a spell on the Ridgeway National Trail.

You’ll find another link with the Civil War in the Buckinghamshire hamlet of Dinton. A heady mix of local legend, the shadow of a ghost, a hermit and a royal executioner.

There are plenty of other delightful Chilterns churches to visit across the seasons.

Celebrate the seasons in the Chiltern Hills with a NEW range of beautifully designed gifts and souvenirs from Chilterns Gifts.

Shillington Village

June 27, 2021May 14, 2023 by Mary Tebje, posted in Bedfordshire, Chiltern Hills, hertfordshire, Travel in England, Visit England

I am increasingly drawn to the northern Chilterns. Encircled by the Bedfordshire and Hertfordshire conurbations of Luton, Dunstable, Stevenage and Hitchin, this unassuming space has a rich history.

A landscape under urban pressure as the sprawl grows and grows. Pre Covid-19, Luton airport had over 100,000 annual aircraft movements, adding to the noise and pollution. This is no chocolate box English idyll. In sharp contrast to the central and southern Chilterns, you have to look harder to understand the landscape and it’s unusual sense of place.

From Shillington towards Sharpenhoe Clappers — The view towards Sharpenhoe Clappers

Beauty and special landscape qualities are everywhere

Just north of the Barton Hills and within sight of the escarpment that runs from Sharpenhoe through to Knocking Hoe, Shillington village is crowded around its church. A prominent landmark atop its chalk hill, the tower is visible for miles around.

“hoh”, or “hoe” as it has become known, refers to a heel or protruding piece of land.

From the Bunyon Trail — John Betjeman called All Saints the ‘Cathedral of the Chilterns’

At nearly 1,000 years old, All Saints Church has survived the weather, natural disaster, decay, plague, pollution and a Victorian make-over. The geology has determined the vernacular with the ironstone walls, a type of Clophill sandstone commonly found in Bedfordshire. The whiter interior stone is called ‘clunch’, a soft, workable chalky limestone from the old quarry at Totternhoe in south Bedfordshire. A stone distinguishable in many local churches (and in Westminster Abbey). Mined at Totternhoe Knowles, a favourite place to walk with wildflowers, industrial archaeology and smattering of burnt-out cars.

Ancient poo

Once a Saxon monastery, the church and region grew rich through the unexpected mining and selling of coprolite. More than just fossilised dinosaur dung, this wonder substance can also include teeth, bones and claws consumed by the ‘producer’, and mineralised over millions of years.

These accumulations are in fact the remains of land animals caught as the sea levels rose over 90 million years ago. The resulting Greensand Ridge stretches over 100 miles from Tring through Bedfordshire and Cambridge and on to East Anglia.

A gold-rush

In the 1700’s, someone discovered that once coprolites were processed, the resulting phosphate made excellent fertiliser. Seams were subsequently exposed at nearby Chibley Farm, and so began a dangerous, but lucrative trade. All across the region, people came to what must have been a mini-gold rush. Shillington’s population doubled to 2,400 thirsty men, women and children who made good use of the 12 local pubs! Everyone was cashing in; landowners, farmers, the church, publicans, bankers, brewers and mining suppliers.

Drinking was naturally a problem and the church spent time and effort trying to tackle it. After taking the pledge, one man was advised by his doctor to take ‘a glass of Porter’ to alleviate his rheumatism, he decided to be pain-free rather than devout, but lost his membership of the congregation!

From about 1890 the industry declined almost as fast as it grew. There are no landscape scars however, no rusty mining structures either. The layer of coprolite-bearing clay was handily near to the surface, and once extraction holes had been depleted, the fields could be easily restored.

Is that the time?

One local exception could be the clock in the church tower. Put in at considerable expense at the height of the boom in 1870, when £100 seemed a reasonable price?

The more visible legacy are the big houses that got bigger from the proceeds of leasing land for prospecting. Methodist chapels sprung up at the height of the boom and landowner Trinity College in Cambridge, made handsome profits.

A house in the Shillington village — Shillington Village cottages

As you explore these pretty village and country lanes with screeching summer swallows, imagine who has passed before you; hoping to make their fortune, or finding misfortune from the fossils.

An unassuming county, Bedfordshire and the northern Chilterns with their intriguing places, geology and history, is worth your time.

Shillington church street — Looking down Church Street

Further Information

Due to Covid-19 restrictions, All Saints is temporarily closed. Sunday afternoon teas and refreshments will hopefully be offered once they re-open.

Explore nearby Baron Hills and Sharpenhoe Clappers, all possible on the same day. Tucked away down an impossibly bumpy road, is Someries Castle, a scheduled ancient monument.

The Bunyon Trail is dedicated to the memory of John Bunyan, the Puritan Evangelist and author of the ‘Pilgrim’s Progress’, his famous work he wrote whilst in prison. The route passes through villages and scenic countryside, taking in many places of historic interest connected with him.

The nearby Crown pub serves cozy pub meals with a garden in the summer.

Six miles away is the market town of Hitchin. I recommend the British Schools Museum and one of the last working lavender farms in the country, Hitchin Lavender.

Chilterns Gifts

Celebrate the seasons with a NEW range of beautifully designed gifts and souvenirs to remind you of your time well spent. Online order and deliveries to mainland UK only.

One Year On

March 23, 2021May 14, 2023 by Mary Tebje, posted in Buckinghamshire, Chiltern Hills, hertfordshire, Travel in England, Visit England

A reflection on the past year and on the affect the Covid-19 pandemic has had, here in the Chiltern Hills.

March is the space between winter and spring. It’s the month where we crave an end to the cold winter winds and are eager to welcome the warm spring days. It can make us impatient and above all, dissatisfield. It can be a ‘nothing month’, but not this year, nor was it, in 2020.

One year on, a reflection on the past year and affect the Covid-19 pandemic and lockdown has had, here in the Chiltern Hills. — After the storm

Winter storms leave their mark in the forest. On a recent walk in Ashridge, I heard a loud crack! It was the splitting and toppling of a massive old tree. Many other trees had already wobbled and crashed, some violently, knee-capped almost – as if a child had been let loose with a chopper. But a reminder of the natural cycle of growth, decline and renewal that stands in stark contrast to the awful pounding the Chilterns has taken in the past year.

Vandalism, graffiti, fires, trespass, wild poohing, fly tipping and good old fashioned ‘can’t be arsed to take litter home’ just don’t belong in our beautiful countryside.

What have we lost?

It has been a tough and terrible year. Sadly over 126,000 deaths recorded, exhausted healthcare workers, lives turned upside down, family members in the wrong places unable to meet up, borders closed, tourism and hospitality businesses in turmoil.

March 16th was the technical start of the 2020 lockdown, but it is 23rd March that rests in the popular memory. When the lockdown screws were well and truly tightened and we all had to stay at home. Exercising for one hour a day.

The seasons don’t stop

The sun shone on the empty roads, the footpaths were eerily quiet. I kept up my dog walking, revisiting overlooked local tracks. I recorded my lockdown micro walks, 18 in all. Spring didn’t stop though, and it was a joy to watch up close as leaves unfurled, nesting got underway, the warmth of the sunshine hardened the mud. Awkward greetings and new walking etiquette was quickly learnt as we danced around one another on the narrower paths! All helped counter the repressive pandemic restrictions.

The mask slipped

The impact of our release from lockdown is well documented. With the easing of restrictions, like a catapult, the pent up demand to get out and about, suddenly filled our communities. The police became a regular feature as the local quarry became a hotspot for campers, bikers and party-goers with cars parked three-deep everywhere. The result of not being able to visit family, participate in sport, watch football matches, go shopping, visit the high street, meet friends in pubs and restaurants, or take the family to museums and outdoor attractions. It quickly became an angry and confused mess.

Many visitors were new to the countryside, weren’t familiar and didn’t know what to expect. The countryside does have a reputation after all. Farmers battled with trespass and walkers trying to socially distance on muddy narrow footpaths this past winter meant they encroached on fields and crops. But what were people supposed to do?

Outdated messaging

The temptation to waggle a stern finger at transgresses never works. And that is all to often our default position: put together a three-word slogan and assume the bossy voice to counter the wave of visitors trying in their own way, to have some leisure space and time.

Following a review, an updated Countryside Code is due out any day. I hope it will have vast amounts of marketing money to share an improved, more inclusive messaging that encourages positive behaviour and a love of the countryside.

Recovery

We’re not through this yet. Driving around the Chalfonts last week, my car scratched from the awkward branches sticking out along the busy lanes, stopping to try and avoid both potholes and passing vans. So many Hs2 trucks! I was struck at how dirty the countryside is; verges everywhere littered with bottles, bags, wrappers, fast food boxes, bags adorning the trees and fly-tipping. It was horrible.

As April beckons, so the leaf cover will swallow up much of this mess, and things will look and feel better. There is hope now that we have the Covid-19 vaccine. I really hope too, that from now onwards, countryside visitor management will not be done on the cheap, with extra resources to communicate, clean up and better care for our beautiful Chilterns.

Let’s leave the host communities with happy memories too

Facilities will be open, which will relieve some of the pressure, but I expect the Chilterns countryside will be busy again this Easter and into the summer. What sort of welcome will visitors receive? How will they be feeling if the international borders remain shut? Willing or defiant?

To all those new countryside and market town converts, we welcome you. Plan and book, so you can really enjoy your visit. Please spend time with our local businesses, take your litter home, and be considerate of others. Thank you.

Further information

We have so many wonderful stories about the people and places that make our region so special. Whilst you plan your next visit, you can read about them here.

Share the seasons in the Chilterns with our new range of locally inspired Chilterns Gifts and souvenirs

Keach’s Meeting House

September 23, 2020May 14, 2023 by Mary Tebje, posted in Buckinghamshire, Chiltern Hills, Travel in England, Visit England

Midway between Aylesbury and Buckingham, on an elevated piece of land overlooking the Buckinghamshire flats, you will come upon the pretty market town of Winslow. Up and over the hill onto Sheep Street, you drive past lovely thatched cottages and the once grand, but now faded Winslow Hall, before turning into the picturesque high street.

Sheep street in Winslow — Looking back down Sheep Street.

Making up another piece of the jigsaw I am piecing together, this visit to the remarkable Keach’s Meeting House continues the story of the strong nonconformist tradition so typical of our region.

Meeting Midway

There’s something about Buckinghamshire and the Chilterns, that over the centuries, attracted both political dissenters and religious non-conformers who met or worshiped in secret. Some wanted to do things differently, to go against the grain. Amongst the beech trees and farmland, many would make their mark on the nations history.

Our guide for the hot, late summer afternoon was local historian and keeper of Winslow’s stories, Dr David Noy. In keeping with the times, he was sporting a Covid visor and we socially distanced in Bell Alley outside the Meeting House.

Houses on then Walk, Winslow — The abundance of clay and lack of stone really is a local feature

David grew up in the town and has a wonderful grasp of even the tiniest detail told in an engaging and slightly dry manner. The story of Winslow is in fact the story of many towns across Bucks and the Chilterns; mysterious burial mounds, obscure Saxon heritage, rapid growth, Royal favour, dissent and disaster is reflected in the rise and fall of local family fortunes.

Burning Books

In English church history, a nonconformist was a Protestant who did not “conform” to the governance and usages of the established Church of England.

Winslow has a strong nonconformist tradition going back to the 17th century, and in 1660, Benjamin Keach (1640 – 1704), was chosen pastor for the little Baptist chapel.

Benjamin Keach was a powerful preacher, a prodigious writer, poet, and composer of the long hymns he was keen his congregation sang – every verse! In 1664, he published a book for children, called The Child’s Instructor, which saw him arrested and charged with publishing a book that contradicted the teaching of the Church of England. Fined £20 and sentenced to several hellish months in goal. He also had to stand upon the pillory at Aylesbury and a few days later to do the same in Winslow market where his books were burnt in front of him by the common hangman.

Keach continued his ministry at Winslow until 1668, but being harassed by the civil powers, he moved to London. Chosen as pastor of a small congregation in Tooley St. Southwark, he remained there until his death in 1704.

A Modest Structure

Tucked away on Bell Walk, the Meeting House is one of the oldest buildings of its type in Bucks. There is some debate when it was built – 1625 or 1695. David pointed out how the 2 and 9 in the image above, have been ‘adapted’.

Easily missed behind a wall and overhung with large trees, a small graveyard at the front. It’s tiny! This modest structure, no bigger than a garage, would have provided shelter but not a lot of comfort for the congregation – the benches look like they were designed to keep the worshipper awake! Especially as Baptist worship at this time included long prayers and longer sermons. There is a lot of charming detail; small leaded windows, wooden spindles in the porch, hat pegs, early C18 century tomb flags in the floor, against the east wall, beneath the narrow gallery, are hinged desk tops and four lead ink-wells, for use of the Sunday-school which started in 1824.

Our Stories

I came away from Winslow feeling that all is not what is seems. You think you know somewhere, or are familiar with village life (I live in a Chilterns village), but David’s tour really opened my eyes to changing fortunes, vernacular and provincial town fashion. But most of all, I was reminded that it’s not the structures that determine a location, a place in the landscape. Underneath the Buckinghamshire skies and in the Chilterns beechwoods, it is people who continue to make and tell the stories.

And always go with a guide. Thank you David!

Further Information

The Winslow history website has lots of interesting photographs.

Explore Jordan’s, the unassuming village, with deep local roots and influence that still reaches far-off places. It owes this accolade to its Society of Friends Meeting House, one of the oldest in the country.

Another strand of religious heritage are the many pilgrim routes that criss-cross the fields and towns. Read about ancient relics and medieval wall paintings over in Hertfordshire.

The Right Ingredients

Uphill all the way

Further Information

Lumps and Bumps

If a tree falls in Ashridge Forest and no one is around to hear it, does it make a sound?

Further Information

Further inspiration

Chilterns Gifts

They are birds that get noticed

Shapeshifters

What is a murmuration?

Starlings, the sardines of the sky

They hang in the air

Further information

Chilterns Gifts

Classic Chilterns

Hampden House

Little Hampden Church

The Gingers

Further Information

Beauty and special landscape qualities are everywhere

Ancient poo

A gold-rush

Is that the time?

Further Information

Chilterns Gifts

What have we lost?

The seasons don’t stop

The mask slipped

Outdated messaging

Recovery

Let’s leave the host communities with happy memories too

Further information

Meeting Midway

Burning Books

A Modest Structure

Our Stories

Further Information

A new range of Chilterns gifts and souvenirs