In an age of noise, spectacle and rolling news, Dorneywood House – tucked away off a country lane in the depths of Buckinghamshire – seems like a throwback. The estate on which the house stands has a history of ownership … Continue reading Speak softly and rule the nation
It looks like a simple memorial stone, until you delve into the story of Stanley Spencer’s life, in which nothing was simple. His was not an especially long life, though the times changed considerably; he was born into a late … Continue reading Stanley, I presume?
A few weeks ago, we visited Runnymede and the JF Kennedy Memorial on the centenary of his birth. Just outside Beaconsfield in Buckinghamshire, there’s another link with the USA – in a quiet house and garden with over 300 years … Continue reading The silence of Friends
Sitting quietly in the Chilterns, on a hill behind the village of West Wycombe, is one of the most famous examples of clubland in the world. Its founder Sir Francis Dashwood, 2nd Baronet, had form in this area: his other creations … Continue reading Wine, women and Hell-Fire…
There’s something reassuring about Bekonscot, which sits unobtrusive off the main street of Beaconsfield’s new town area. In an age of VR headsets and Skype, Bekonscot’s attractions are solidly old-fashioned. And yet when it was new, it was so new … Continue reading The original model village
Now here’s a practice none of the parties in this year’s General Election campaign are promising to introduce… Every third Saturday in May, the Mayor of High Wycombe and its Charter Trustees – councillors for the town wards of Wycombe … Continue reading Wycombe tradition: MORE or NO MORE?
In the middle of the Metropolitan Green Belt sits the small village of Chenies. Seriously small: there are well under 200 inhabitants. Chenies Manor goes back, in one form or another, at least 800 years, having been in the possession … Continue reading Tudors and tulips
It’s no big deal eating in someone’s living room. True, it’s a little more unusual when the low beams hint at over 400 years of history. And then there’s the art works… and the local produce… Clearly the Drawingroom, just … Continue reading The Drawingroom: bigger on the inside…?
Not many people would, probably, put the words “Luton” and “culture” together. Luton has such a bad reputation that it’s even been voted the UK’s worst town. A drive round the centre can be depressing and confusing. Yet some of … Continue reading Teacups and trucks
We’ve all had this problem… Working in the big smoke; live a long way away; how to shorten the daily grind of commuting? Get a base in town, perhaps – or just outside town. Which brings us to Richard, earl … Continue reading Commuter Castle
Slow Travel: The Chilterns and Thames Valley 