St. George’s Day in Aylesbury

St. George in person in Aylesbury!

The 23rd of April is St. George’s Day, the feast of the Patron St. of England. This of course would have been a great surprise to St. George who, being a Minor Asian, never knew the place existed. What is clear is that Richard the Lionheart, a French Plantagenet, who actually spoke English badly and spent less than six months in England as King endorsed St. George as Patron Saint because the Crusaders identified with his being martyred in land which they held as part of The Kingdom of Jerusalem and then of Acre in the 13th Century. George's reputation grew with the returning crusaders. A miracle appearance, when it was claimed that he appeared to lead crusaders into battle, is recorded in stone over the south door of a church at Fordington in Dorset. This still exists and is the earliest known church in England to be dedicated to Saint George. The Council of Oxford in 1222 named 23rd April as Saint George's Day.

http://daithaic.blogspot.com/2009/03/for-st-george-and-england.html



So today in Aylesbury our out of touch Town Council organises St George’s Day events to demonstrate its irrelevance and its increasingly urgent need to justify its own existence. Afterwards to recover a gentle stroll to our wonderful (they only overspent by £18,000 a seat!) new Waterside Theatre and then to the adjoining canal basin which is the terminus of the Aylesbury Branch of the Grand Union Canal.






WARNING; Scenes of Morris Dancing in Kingsbury Square

Laugh if you may but Aylesbury, the County Town of Buckinghamshire, is not unknown to the stars of stage and screen. Part of Clockwork Orange was filmed in our concrete underpasses, Laurence Olivier and Vivian Leigh lived nearby at Notely Abbey, David Jason lives by Coombe Hill and Sir John Gielgud lived in the South Pavilion, Grendon Underwood House, now Tony & Cherie Blair’s country house. Many made their way to the Prime Minister’s country house at Chequers 2 miles from our modest cottage and Burton, Taylor and many famous luvvies used to wine and dine at the Bell in Aston Clinton when it was a rather top restaurant. And then there was an actor who began his acting career in Aylesbury more than 60 years ago.






The shape and use of materials in the Waterside Theatre is designed to echo the wooded rolling Chiltern Hills with their limestone underlay


Waterside Theatre in Aylesbury


Ronnie Barker's statue

A bronze statue of the late comedy legend Ronnie Barker was unveiled last September at the opening of the Waterside Theatre in Aylesbury. The Porridge and Two Ronnie’s star, who died five years ago, was born in Bedford and Aylesbury Vale District Council commissioned sculptor Martin Jennings to design the statue as part of its Waterside development project. It now takes pride of place in the new public space in Exchange Street. The statue was officially unveiled by Mr Barker's widow, Joy.

http://daithaic.blogspot.com/2010/09/ronnie-barker-in-aylesbury.html

The Aylesbury arm runs in a beeline from Marsworth Junction, on the Grand Union Canal which connects Birmingham to London, ending up in the town basin, the home of the Aylesbury Canal Society. From Marsworth Junction to Aylesbury Basin is around six and a quarter miles and sixteen locks, the Marsworth seven and Aylesbury nine. The canal arm took just three years to build after over fifteen years of 'planning'. The canal takes most of its water from the Grand Union through Marsworth Junction - Aylesbury Canal Locks 1 and 2, the only staircase locks on the southern Grand Union Canal system.
















Aylesbury Canalside

Aylesbury is the county town of Buckinghamshire in South East England. In the 2001 census the Aylesbury Urban Area, which includes Bierton, Fairford Leys, Stoke Mandeville and Watermead, had a population of 69,021, which included 56,392 for the Aylesbury civil parish. This is expected to be over 90,000 after the 2011 census.
The town's population has doubled since the 1960s due to new housing developments, including many London overspill housing estates, built to ease pressure on the capital, and to move people from crowded inner city slums to more favourable locations. Indeed Aylesbury, to a greater extent than many English market towns, saw substantial areas of its own heart demolished in the 1950s/1960s as 16th-18th century houses (many in good repair) were pulled down to make way for commercial developments.



Traditionally the town was a commercial centre with a market dating back to the Saxon period. This is because it was established on the main Akeman Street which became an established trade route linking London to the southwest. In 1180 a gaol was established in the town (it is still there though has moved locations two or three times) which only really happened in main towns across the country.






Market Square, Aylesbury

By the late 19th century the printers and bookbinders, Hazell, Watson and Viney and the Nestlé dairy were the two main employers in the town, employing more than half the total population. Today the town is still a major commercial centre and the market still meets on the cobbles of the old Market Square four days a week. Nestle and Hazell, Watson and Viney have both gone, as has the US Automotive parts producer TRW, who left the town in 2006. Although three major industrial centres make sure the town has one of the lowest unemployment rates in the country.


Britain's most unlikely Prime Minister, Benjamin Disraeli, Earl of Beconsfield


Sir John Hampden, the local MP whose refusal to pay the Ship Tax to Charles I led to the English Civil War

Stoke Mandeville was also the location of the Stoke Mandeville Games, which first took place in 1948 and are now known as the World Wheelchair and Amputee Games. The Games, which were held eight times at Stoke Mandeville, were the inspiration for the Paralympic Games, also called The Stoke Mandeville Games, which were organised in Rome in 1960. The wheelchair aspects of the 1984 Paralympics were also held in the village. The London 2012 Summer Paralympics mascot, Mandeville, is named after the village, based on the games once held there. Stoke Mandeville Stadium was developed alongside the hospital and is the National Centre for Disability Sport in the United Kingdom, enhancing the hospital as a world centre for paraplegics and spinal injuries.

http://daithaic.blogspot.com/2008/09/paralympic-games.html

As well as the convenient and much improving shopping, educational, medical, entertainment and employment opportunities of Aylesbury what most people appreciate here is the position at the centre of the fertile Vale of Aylesbury just the far side of the Chiltern Hills from London. Buckinghamshire is one of the loveliest of the Home Counties - some say the loveliest - and its Chiltern Hills and beechwoods, beautiful River Thames and the rolling acres of Aylesbury Vale make it a place for visitors to enjoy. Country walks run between picturesque villages with a host of welcoming pubs.

http://daithaic.blogspot.com/2009/04/chiltern-spring.html

The Chilterns lie only a few miles north-west of London and yet they are an unspoilt area of rolling chalk hills, magnificent beechwoods, quiet valleys and charming brick and flint villages. A wonderful mosaic of woods, fields, hedges, sunken lanes and clear streams.







So that is the attraction of Aylesbury, a sizable town with facilities which make it convenient set in lovely Buckinghamshire countryside within 50 minutes commute of London and with good travel connections to the rest of the UK and to London’s airports.


The Chiltern Hills

Pray and Display

Signs in the car park of the Catholic Church in Great Missenden, Buckinghamshire. Not sure what evidence you can give if you get a ticket but finding evidence is always the problem with religion!

Great Missenden at the head of the Misbourne valley is an attractive small town, with a long curving High Street of half timbered and Georgian shops, a graciously proportioned Baptist Church and a number of traditional pubs.


Roald Dahl Museum and Story Centre, Great Missenden

Church Street is full of interesting old houses and leads, via a bridge over the by - pass, to the mainly 14th century Parish Church of St. Peter and St. Paul. Missenden Abbey, founded in 1133 as an Augustinian monastery, is now a residential college offering adult education courses.


Chiltern Hills

Great Missenden has been host to a variety of famous people over the centuries, including Robert Louis Stevenson (author of Treasure Island). The village is now best known as home to the late Roald Dahl, the internationally famous children's author.

Roald Dahl (13 September 1916 23 November 1990) was a British novelist, short story writer and screenwriter, born in Wales of Norwegian parents, who rose to prominence in the 1940s with works for both children and adults, and became one of the world's bestselling authors.


Roald Dahl

His most popular books include The Twits, Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, James and the Giant Peach, Matilda, The Witches and The BFG. Roald Dahl’s grave is in the graveyard of St. Peter and St Paul Church, Great Missenden. It is covered with a slab of Welsh slate as he grew up in Swansea and a small Norwegian flag is on the grave acknowledging the land of his forefathers. As you go to the grave at the edge of the path, you see an enormous footprint, pointing in the direction of Roald Dahl's grave. Then there are 3 more of these (concrete) footprints in the grass that lead right to his stone. These are footprints of a character in one of his books, The BFG - The Big, Friendly Giant. So it was like the BFG was either visiting his grave or had laid him in it!!


Roald Dahl's Grave St. Peter and St Paul Church, Great Missenden

For the museum devoted to Great Missenden’s most famous resident Roald Dahl see;

http://daithaic.blogspot.com/2008/01/roald-dahl-museum-and-story-centre.html


For scenes of Spring in the Chiltern Hills see;

http://daithaic.blogspot.com/2009/04/chiltern-spring.html

Leighton Buzzard Railway

Today it was across the border from Buckinghamshire into Bedfordshire to renew our acquaintance with the Leighton Buzzard slow train! Leighton Buzzard is a town in Bedfordshire, England near the Chiltern Hills and lying between Luton and Milton Keynes. It adjoins Linslade and the name Leighton Buzzard is sometimes used to refer to the combination of the two towns. It is set on the Grand Union Canal the first great industrial artery of England which joined London to Birmingham. Located in the southern suburbs at Pages Park station you’ll find the local Buzzrail which served the network of sand quarries and brickworks across the area, the unique narrow gauge Leighton Buzzard Railway.




The industrial locomotive "Beaudesert"

The Leighton Buzzard Railway is one of the last survivors of the thousands of little lines that served factories, mines and quarries across the country - and also one of the oldest, having just completed 90 continuous years of operation. It was built in 1919, using materials and equipment that were surplus from the War Department Light Railways that had supplied the battlefields in World War 1. Originally built to serve the local sand quarrying industry, the railway has carried a passenger service, mostly hauled by historic steam engines, since 1968. It is operated by the volunteer members of a non-profit society. The track is 2 foot (610mm) gauge and with its gentle pace, sharp curves, steep gradients, level crossings and roadside running, the Leighton Buzzard Railway offers today's travellers a unique and relaxing experience and a living reminder of times gone by. Plus some great views towards the Chiltern Hills in the final mile. The return journey takes 1hr 10 mins, and most trains are hauled by a vintage steam locomotive the railways working museum collection.




Carriage interiors

A bed of Lower Cretaceous sand across Bedfordshire has been quarried on a small scale for centuries. The most significant occur around Leighton Buzzard. In the 19th century sand was carried by horse carts from quarries south of the town to be shipped on the Dunstable-Leighton Buzzard railway. The carts damaged roads and resulted in claims for compensation against the quarry owners from Bedfordshire County Council. At the end of the century steam wagons were introduced which increased the damage to roads.





The outbreak of the First World War cut off supplies of foundry sand from Belgium. Sand was needed for ammunition factories and new sources were sought. Leighton Buzzard sands proved well suited and production increased. After 1919 the quarry companies were told they could no longer transport sand by roads, so a private industrial railway was proposed to take the traffic.






Page's Park Station

Leighton Buzzard Light Railway opened on Thursday November 20, 1919, linking the sand quarries (Double Arches at the far end of the line) with the mainline railway south of the town at Grovebury sidings. The line was built using surplus equipment from the War Department Light Railways. After the Second World War sand traffic returned to the roads. In 1953 a strike on mainline railways pushed more traffic onto the roads. By the mid-1960s only one sand quarry, Arnold's, still used the light railway. The mainline to Dunstable was lifted in 1965.


LBR Route Map

The aftermath of WW11 also made a contribution to the demographics of the area stretching from Bedford to Aylesbury which contained numerous sandpits, quarries and brickworks – the large Italian community. One of the reasons they settled in this area was after the Second World War Italy was devastated and had huge unemployment whilst Britain had a manpower shortage as it set about rebuilding. Italians were allowed to come over to work in the Brickworks, cement plants and sandpits which were north of the Chiltern escarpment. Conditions were harsh in dangerous and backbreaking conditions by today’s standards; only young Italian males could be employed, they had to live in camps for three years before they were allowed bring their wives and children into the country and their movements were restricted as “controlled aliens.” As they left the camps and set up home they integrated well into the local communities whilst keeping their Italian connections.

See Buon’ Amici

http://daithaic.blogspot.com/2008/04/buon-amici.html

One of the great threats to this unique railway is the increased urbanisation of the area which encroaches on the line. Staff at Leighton Buzzard’s narrow gauge railway have spoken out against planning applications for nearby greenbelt land. The application proposes 4,000 homes plus roads, industry and amenities in South Bedfordshire. The development would cover the last remaining stretch of open countryside on the route of the Leighton Buzzard Railway (LBR), which is designated greenbelt land. The railway’s chairman, Mervyn Leah, is sending out a rallying call to make sure that not only is the landscape around LBR protected, but that people speak out against threats to greenbelt land, which is protected by law.





“I have been saying for some time that what happens to us tomorrow will affect what happens to everyone else the day after,” said Mr Leah. “So now is the time for all of us in the heritage and tourism sectors to stand up and say very loudly that this is just not on!”


The track between housing

The developers, Arnold White Estates and Willis Dawson Holdings Ltd, have submitted their plans despite public consultation showing support for development around the existing Luton conurbation. Ironically, Arnold White Estates is the successor of Joseph Arnold and Sons – the local sand quarrying company that owned and operated the Leighton Buzzard Light Railway in its industrial era.






Stonehenge Works

Lets hope these schemes to concrete in and suburbanise Green Belt land don’t come to fruition not just for the sake of the railway but for the sake of the Bedfordshire countryside. Meanwhile a trip to the charming “Slow train of Bedfordshire” is well worthwhile. There is a buffet and shop at th terminus at page’s Park where you start your gentle journey on the unique industrial trains that brought workers and materials to and from the network of sandpits. Quarries and brickworks that once dotted the area. With its gentle pace, sharp curves, steep gradients, level crossings, roadside running and in the last mile, great views towards the Chiltern Hills it provides a good day out for all the family. At the other terminus at Stonehenge Works, an old brick factory, you can explore the museum collection of old locomotives and carriages collected from factories, heavy industry, WW1 Battlefields and Colonial plantations. Like the railway itself, they all have a fascinating story to tell.





View Larger Map

Page's Park Station
Billington Road, Leighton Buzzard
Bedfordshire LU7 4TN

Enquiries

station@lbngrs.org.uk

Telephone

01525 373888

http://www.buzzrail.co.uk



A trip up the narrow gauge railway originally built to transport sand. Video shows the original vertical-boilered Chaloner, trains passing at the loop, and the demonstration area at Stonehenge Works station of loading sand from the quarries into the tipper wagons. Note the need for flagmen to control the road crossings!