Wendover News November 2024

Don’t allow Remembrance to fade away

It’s November. So, we have Remembrance Day details on the cover, as Wendover News has done most Novembers for decades. It has become a bit of a tradition.

For some people, the effects of war don’t just manifest themselves at the start of November. They are continuing nightmares that stay with them every day of the year. There are now fewer people living with that pain than in previous decades, as first-hand memories of world wars will have faded from Wendover’s residents minds.

But other memories are still just as raw, from the middle east, Korea, Northern Ireland, Falklands, Balkans, Afghanistan, Iraq and many other conflicts that first appeared, then slipped into history. New stories took over the headlines. Remembrance isn’t just a part of the year, it’s a burden still carried on some peoples’ shoulders every waking minute. That’s what we also need to remember.

Conflict continues around the world all the time. Recently, it seems to have reached a worrying crescendo. That’s a very good reason why we need to talk carefully to our young people so that they understand it can affect everybody. Just because those people being killed, wounded and displaced are ‘over there,’ doesn’t mean they should be ignored. Talk to your children about it. And if they are part of the youth organisations that attend Wendover’s Remembrance, let them know that what they do that day, will be important.

This year’s Remembrance season will begin on Wednesday 30 October, as Wendover resident Sue Abbott and her team place knitted and crocheted poppies on the railings around the War Memorial on the Manor Waste. They will remain there until the early days of the New Year.

The Annual Thanksgiving and Memorial Service will take place in St Mary’s Church HP22 6NL at 3pm on Sunday 3 November. It is organised by Churches Together in Wendover and all are welcome to attend. See also details on page 2 in Events columns.

Remembrance Sunday falls on 10 November this year. As usual, the Royal British Legion, with the cooperation of RAF Halton, is organising the Parade which will start at 2.30pm prompt. If you get to Wendover High Street beforehand you’ll see the various uniformed organisations parade with their banners up the High Street to the War Memorial on the Manor Waste – please make space for this to happen smoothly. Banners will be lowered during the customary two minutes silence.

Armistice Day, 11 November, falls on a Monday this year. There is no formal ceremony, but residents often gather at the War Memorial in order to mark the two minutes silence from 11am.

The Editorial Team

Our next issue will be a special Bumper Christmas & New Year edition covering both December and January. Please send your content, advertising orders and artwork to us by Wednesday 6 November at the latest. See page 7 for all the exciting details!

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Wendover, Dunsmore, The Lee, Halton, Weston Turville and Aston Clinton November

Wendover Dementia Suppport

Tribute: Margaret Seabrook

by Wendover Community News CIC: A

Editorial Team: Simon Eccles, Wynne Byford, Jane Larkham, Richard Byford, Rory Lavery, Lorna Archer and Izzie Addison.

Coordination, ads, social media and online: Wynne Byford

Production: Richard Byford, Simon Eccles Accounts: James Harrington & Paul Hammett

Distribution and deliveries: Bob, Sheila and about 67 other brilliant team volunteers!

We are a regulated media company funded entirely by advertising revenue. Please support our advertisers.

Aylesbury Vale Tutors

Making learning enjoyable

Jim and Karen Lucas

Events

Simply Walks and Cycle Rides

Wendover – Tuesdays: Weekly walks from Wendover Clock Tower, leaving 10am. You can socialise afterwards at Wendover Christian Centre. Aston Clinton – Thursdays: from Aston Clinton Park leaving 10.30am. Meet beside “Your Café in the Park”. Refreshments are available there afterwards. Registration is 15 mins beforehand at both locations.

Aylesbury Cycling UK: Easy Pace: every first and third week of the month, about 30 miles long. Newcomers: each second and fourth week and about 20 miles long. Email: aylesburycuk@ gmail.com

Cracklewick Morris

Tuesdays 8.15-10.15pm

Halton Village Hall, HP22 5NG

An all-inclusive mixed Morris side who meet most Tuesdays for dance practice. Everyone welcome – musicians and dancers. No experience needed to dance. Email: cracklewickmorris@gmail.com

Poetry Please

Fr 1, 10.30am, Wendover Christian Centre

This month, the theme will be “People.” Bring a poem on the theme or go and see what others have chosen. Everyone welcome!

Shopping Extravaganza

Sat 2 Nov, 2-4.30pm

Flicks in the Sticks

Fri 1 & 29, 7pm All Saints’ Buckland, HP22 5HX £10 includes hot supper. Call Natalie, 01296 632488 or email: Benefice3@gmail.com.

Cholesbury-cum-St Leonards

Local History Group

Fri 1, 7.30, St Leonards Village Hall, HP23 6NW

A talk by Keith Fletcher and Eleanor Phillips on “Cricket Ramblings: Famous Players and Funny Incidents in Local Cricket.” Guests are very welcome and the fee for a single meeting is £4. Membership for the season is £10. For more details see: www.cholesbury.com

Thanksgiving and Memorial Service

Sun 3, 3pm St Mary’s Wendover, HP22 6NL Organised by Churches Together in Wendover. If you would like a loved one named during the service email info@stmaryswendover.org or drop into JUST, High Street, HP22 6DU. Leaflets also available at the back of the churches.

Kimble & Ellesborough Horticultural Society

Tues 5, 8pm, Stewart Hall, HP17 0XN “Winter Wonder – The Joys of the Winter Garden.” Amber Hine, who trained in garden design at Capel Manor College, will cover winter garden structure, seedheads, plants for garden scent and winter garden blooms. She’ll also look at design features for winter interest, garden lighting and her favourite gardens for fantastic winter displays. Visit www.e-voice.org.uk/kehs.

BA (hons) Education, Science, Maths, SEND 07908 460133 or 07508 036366 aylesburyvaletutors@gmail.com

For all ages and abilities DBS Checked QTS

ST ANNE’S HALL to hire

All enquiries to Angela German 07423 266713 stanneshallwendover@hotmail.co.uk

WENDOVER MEMORIAL HALL

Great for Children’s Parties Ideal for Weddings & Functions

Excellent kitchen facilities

Enquiries : 07804 671445 angelawmh@aol.co.uk

Stoke Mandeville Community Centre, HP22 5UJ Handmade crafts, jewellery, candles, toys, cakes, tombola, puzzles, bags, raffle. In aid of Breast Cancer Now.

Bucks Art Society 2024 Autumn Exhibition

Wendover Memorial Hall, HP22 6AF 1 , 6.30-9.00pm.Preview Evening and YAA Awards. 7pm, Award presentations and official opening. 2–3 Autumn Exhibition. See p9.

Craft Group

Weds 6 & 20, 10am-12pm

Wendover Christian Centre, HP22 6GJ Craft Group provides time, space, and friendly company to work on any kind of craft project. Please bring your own materials or just see what others are doing. Coffee served at 11am.

LEGACY FAIRS

Antiques & Collectors Market Wendover Memorial Hall

Thursday 21 November 9am-2pm (Trade 8am)

For updates Tel: 07503 465532 or email: peterphillips39@yahoo.com

Entrance by donation to Charity

Nature inspired, openended arts and crafts sessions for children aged 3-12 and their families. Littledragontinymouse@gmail.com @WildwoodWonders_ArtsAndCrafts

Compassionate Café Wigginton

Wed 6, 1.30-3pm, The Sports Ground, HP23 6HH

A space for local people affected by bereavement to meet others.

Chilterns Light Network

Wednesdays, 7.30 for 8pm, Wendover Memorial Hall, HP22 6HF 6; Third anniversary social celebration. BYO; 13; tba, 20 Healthcare –podcaster medic looks to the future, 27; Holiday/Home Keep Fit. Fun and friendly group. All welcome. £5 non-members. See: www. chilternslightnetwork.org or email: clnwendover@protonmail.com

Wendover Horticultural Society

Thu 7, 2.30, St Anne’s Hall, Wendover, HP22 6JG

Professor Alison Shreeve, chair of the National Sweet Pea Society, will speak at this meeting. It will include a workshop for planting sweet pea seeds in pots to take home, and to try growing flowers for next summer. Pots etc will be provided. Visitors welcome, price £3.00. Contact Diane on 07966 155775

Wendover Art Hub autumn term workshops

Fri 8, 1.30pm-3.30pm Artist Afternoons. Take your own art resources and get one-to-one tuition with Jaany Ravenscroft-Hull. £18 at Real Magic Books, High Street, Wendover. Fri 15, 2-3pm Gusto Art Club. Take a sketchbook, pencil and pen. Venue: Gusto Café, Castle Park Road/Ashbrook Park, Wendover HP22 6AE. £10. Sat 16, 10am-1pm Escape into Seascapes and Landscapes Felting Workshop, with artists Jaany Ravenscroft-Hull and Caroline Davey. £40. Venue: Real Magic Books. To book any event email: art.hub.ox@gmail.com

Wendover Society talk

Fri 8, 7..30pm, St Anne’s Hall, HP22 6JG

Speaker Gordon Rogers will be talking about ‘Churchill’s Toy Shop” Tickets £5.00 per person which entitles the ticket holder to a glass of wine or juice, email thewendoversociety@outlook.com See p20.

Chilterns Neuro Centre Fashion Show

Fri 8, 6-9pm, Chilterns Neuro Centre, HP22 5LX

Charity fashion show and pre-loved sale. Enjoy the buzz of a live fashion show, shop for great finds on the clothes rails, and check out unique items from various stalls. www.chilternsneurocentre.org/fashion Tickets cost just £10 and can be bought online or at the Centre.

Shop at The Lee’s Christmas Market

Sat 9, 8.30am-1pm, The Lee Parish Hall, Lee Common, HP16 9NB

An annual fixture in the shop’s calendar. Christmas Food and Gifts. See article and ad on p11.

Aston Clinton Repair Café

Sat 9, 9-12pm, St Michael & All Angels, Aston Clinton, HP22 5HW

See if the team of volunteers can bring your household items back to life.

Proud Sponsors

Sarah Routley BSc (Hons)

Max Rogers ANAEA

Wendover Evening WI

Tue 12, 7.30pm, St Anne’s Hall, Wendover, HP22 6GJ

AGM. Afterwards there will be time for a chat and maybe a game of bingo or two! Sat 16, 10-12.15pm, Christmas Fair at Wendover Memorial Hall. Proceeds to charities. Free entry. See ad p4 & p20.

Board Game Café

Thu 14, 2-4pm, Wendover Christian Centre

Enjoy a variety of games old and new or take your own to play with others. Open and free of charge for all.

Aylesbury Centre of the National Trust

Thu 14, 8pm, Broughton Junior School HP20 1NQ

Gordon Rogers speaks on “The Sky at Night – with a laugh.” All welcome. Doors open 7.30pm. Contact: Hon Sec 07399 540626 or aylesburycentrent@gmail.com.

Wendover Art Club

Thurs, 7.30-9.30 pm, St Annes Hall, Wendover, HP22 6JG 14 Creative evening with Cate Bowley on shaving foam marbling. Be prepared to maybe get a bit messy and have fun! 28 – Talk by Barbara Jefford “Women Artists... Why so few?” Entry fee of £10 for non-member guests for demonstrations and £2 for creative evenings.

Sally Evans Artists and Makers Fair

Sat 16, 10am-4pm, St Mary’s Hall, Princes Risborough, HP27 0AF For details of this and fairs in other locations, See p8.

Off the Wall Art Fair at Discover Bucks Museum 16 Nov-15 Dec, Aylesbury, HP20 2QP

Wonderful artwork for sale by 34 professional artists. Check website for all events including Nostalgia & Natter, Afternoon Tea & Talk and the new “Weird” exhibition. www.discoverbucksmuseum.org. See p8.

Book Club

Sat 16, 10.30 -11.30am, Wendover Christian Centre

For November only the discussion will be about one book: “The Go-Between” by L P Hartley. You may wish to get reading it, to join in.

Aylesbury Vale Stitchers

Sat 16, 2.30pm, Wendover Memorial Hall HP22 6HF

Amanda Hislop will give a talk entitled “Of Land, Sea, Sky and Trees” covering stitch, painting and mixed media. Amanda has written a number of books including “Stitched Textiles: Seascapes.”

The talk details her working practices, illustrated with a PowerPoint presentation, sketchbooks, and pieces of work. Sketchbooks are the key to the development of her work a and from these pages her work evolves exploring paper, paint cloth and stitch. aylesburyvalestitchers@ gmail.com.

Open Morning at John Hampden School, Wendover, HP22 6HF

Mon 18, either 9.15am or 10.30am.

An opportunity to view the school and find out more about it. To book, phone 01296 622629 or email office@jhampden.bucks.sch.uk.

The RSPB Aylesbury Group

Mon 18, 7.30 p

Prebendal Hall Community Centre, Aylesbury, HP19 7QW “Bird Flight” by Jeff Blincow. More info at https://group.rspb.org. uk/aylesbury.

Ceilidh Dance Evening

Fri 22, 7.30pm -10pm (doors open 7pm), Red Kite Pavilion, HP22 5HL

£12 per person and £40.00 per family (two children aged 10 and above). For further information or to book your place, please call Natalie on 01296 632488 or email: Benefice3@gmail.com.

SUNDAY 1 DECEMBER 1PM TO 5PM

Art at Wingrave

Fri 22- Sun 24, 10.30am–4.30pm, Field View, Wingrave, HP1 4PT

View all the wonderful art on display while enjoying mulled wine and cakes. More details on p8.

Compassionate Café, Great Missenden

Wed 27, 11.30am, Great Missenden Library, HP16 0AL

Each session is facilitated by trained volunteers who ensure the café offers a safe and welcoming space for people to come together for emotional support. www.bit.ly/3Zqn5RH

Arts Society Ballinger

Thu 28, 7.30pm for 8pm, Ballinger War Memorial Hall HP16 9LQ

“The Astonishing Master Mozart Comes to London.” Conductor, pianist and composer Graham Griffiths gives an entertaining and informative presentation that tells of the Mozart family’s residence in London (1764/5) when the eight-year-old Wolfgang Amadeus befriended George III. For more details email ballinger@theartssociety.org or visit www.theartssocietyballinger.org.uk

Weston Turville Historical Society

Fri 29, 8pm (Doors open 7.30) Weston Turville Village Hall, HP22 5RW

“Jewellery & Silver of H G Murphy.” Speaker – John Benjamin. Entrance £2 members, £3 visitors.

The Christmas Tree Festival

Sat 30, 10am-5 pm & 1 Dec, 11.30am-4.30pm, St Peter and St Paul, Great Missenden, HP16 0QS

There will be more than 20 Christmas trees lit around the church and various events taking place throughout the days, including a giant hamper raffle, music, stalls and refreshments. Parking available.

Wendover Christmas Celebration Event

Sat 30, 4-7pm, Manor Waste, Wendover, HP22 6EA

The switch-on of the Christmas Tree Lights, hosted by the Bucks Radio team. Local school choirs and musicians, stalls full of present ideas and warm food. The High Street shops normally open with their own events and attractions.

Quiz & Chips Evening

Sat 30, 7pm, St Anne’s Hall, Wendover, HP22 6JG

Organised by the Friends of Wendover Community Library, to be held at St Anne’s Hall due to the library redevelopment. Tickets £15 each which includes fish and chips supper. Please book your place at the Clock Tower on Tuesday, Thursday and Friday between 10am and 2pm.

SAVE THE DATE - DECEMBER

Sun 1, Christmas at the Chilterns Neuro Centre (see ad p4)

Sun 1, Festive Tea St Mary’s Church Weston Turville

Sat 7, Lee Common CE School Christmas Fair

Sat 8, Christmas Tea Dance, St Mary’s, Wendover, (see ad p3)

Sat 8, Wendover Choral Concert

Fri 13 and Sat 14 Cribfest

Fri 13, Carols around the tree, Wendover

Fri 20, Flicks in the Sticks, All Saints’ Buckland

Our next issue will be a special Bumper Christmas & New Year edition covering both December and January. Please send your content, advertising orders and artwork to us by Wednesday 6 November at the latest. See page 7 for all the exciting details!

Rare aurora borealis glows over Wendover

Story

and

photos: Simon Eccles

Once again the aurora borealis shimmered over Wendover and the rest of Britain on the night of 10 October. The “northern lights” are normally a rare sight this far south, but recent intense solar activity means this was the second time this year that residents could enjoy one of nature’s most colourful light shows.

However, they had to be equipped with a digital camera or phone to see the full glory – the colours were only dimly visible to the eye as a glow in the sky, especially if there were nearby street lights, but electronic sensors “saw” the full effects and gave wonderful colours.

I had kicked myself for sleeping through the light show earlier this year, but this time I was up late writing stories for Wendover News so was ready as the Aurora Watch app went bing on my phone.

For those of a technical bent, the pictures here were taken on either a modern Sony A6700 digital camera with the ISO sensitivity wound right up to allow exposures in the region of 1/5 second, to give sharp images despite hand-holding in the dark; plus a year-old Apple iPhone 15 doing clever things with its night mode.

The circular image was taken on the Sony fitted with a fisheye lens that captures a remarkable 220 degrees all round, so when pointed straight up it sees the complete sky and a lot of the ground around the horizon too.

The locations were around Lionel Avenue and Parton Close. By the time I got down to the Clock Tower to look for a more evocative backdrop, the aurora was fading.

Modern tech helped with the post-processing to give what you see here. High ISO images are very

The famous “curtains of light” rippling above Parton Close, Wendover

“noisy,” (ie grainy), but Adobe’s current Photoshop imaging app has an effective new AI Noise Reduction tool that smooths away noise while preserving real detail. The colours here are not enhanced or boosted by Photoshop – they are what the camera sensors saw, though whether that makes them “real” is open to debate. I myself just saw a dim but distinctly glowing sky with some red patches, unless I looked at the camera monitors.

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Auroras are caused by the solar wind (charged particles from the sun) hitting the earth’s magnetic field in a way that makes gases in the upper atmosphere glow. In these photos, the colours show the gases being excited. Red is a comparatively rare aurora colour only seen in the most intense solar activity and is formed by oxygen (O) atoms at very high altitudes above 150 miles; green is lower-level oxygen atoms at higher concentrations (O); purple and blue are diatomic nitrogen (N2); Purple is traces of hydrogen and helium; and pinks and oranges are mixes of gases seen though each other.

Auroras are rare and used to be unpredictable, but nowadays there’s an app for that that gives you a few minutes or sometimes hours warning. I recommend the free AuroraWatch UK alert app, available for Apple iOS or Android devices.

Tel:01296 621162 www.ph-as.co.uk OSTEOPATH WENDOVER HEALTH CENTRE Penny H. Dathan BsC (Hons) DO Please call 01296 696999 or email pennydathan@live.co.uk. to discuss your musculoskeletal needs. Website: www.pennydathanosteopath.co.uk

Reliable Lady Gardeners Garden tidying Regular garden maintenance Tel: 07732 484545

Special Bumper Christmas & New Year edition – coming soon

For the first time in over 35 years, Wendover News will appear next as a Christmas and New Year bumper edition, covering both December and January. With extra pages and extra content, you will have everything you need, readily available, until the next issue comes out in February. Then we will carry on publishing every month as usual

During time that we would have spent putting together the January issue, the volunteer team will be planning exciting new features for the coming months and carrying out some minor design changes. It will also allow some of our designers to take a well-earned break, and our deliverers to enjoy a proper break over Christmas.

Over the next few weeks, we’ll be communicating with all our regular contributors, including some from long ago, to find out what they have been doing in the past year and all the plans they have lined up for 2025. We’ll also be working with some of them to extend our coverage of local news and to encourage more community authors to write ‘one off’ pieces for Wendover News.

Who do you know…

It’s now been over six months since the new team took over Wendover News and we are proud of what we have achieved. It’s now time to increase the size of the volunteer team and we have some important roles to fill. So, who do you know who might enjoy being in our team?

We are looking for people who have skills in writing, sub-editing and researching material for the magazine. You don’t need to have professional experience in those fields: It’s amazing how fast you learn when you work in a team like ours. We also need one or more people who have the capability to produce PDF pages with Adobe InDesign or other apps in the Creative Cloud suite.

Our Young Writers’ Group has got off to a brilliant start and are already writing pages for the magazine. Additionally, we would like to attract individuals who would enjoy working with us building our online services.

We’re a team of volunteers, running a professional-standard regulated media company, which is owned by the community around Wendover. As with any busy company, we need administrators and director/ trustees. We’ll explain what all these jobs mean in the Bumper Christmas & New Year edition. In the meantime, If you know somebody who might like join us, ask them to email editor@wendovernews.co.uk or phone 07340 993802.

Available in Wendover, Dunsmore, The Lee, Halton, Weston Turville and Aston Clinton

December 2024 & January 2025

STILL FREE!

NEWS FOR ART-LOVERS

November and December is a good time to visit some of the exhibitions and fairs to see, and possibly buy, the work of local artists.

New works at Wingrave 2024 is a pre-Christmas professional art event showcasing the enthusiasm and talent of 17 participating artists and makers at Field View, Wingrave, HP1 4PT. Organisers Andrew and Margaret Liversidge write: By the time we open our doors on 22 – 24 November every corner of the house will be brimming with art, and more pieces in the garage and garden.

You can look forward to seeing new artists and new work: ceramics, ceramic and paper sculptures, print making, textiles and felt, glass art, designer lamps, pencil and pastel portraiture, furniture design, painted wood design, hand-turned wood, mixed media paintings and the captivating art of ‘riveting welds.’

And there’s more: Julie Pugh’s lovely studio at nearby Home Farm, also in Castle Street, will be open to showcase her unique ‘One of

One’ Jewellery. This is the perfect opportunity for some enjoyable browsing; mark the dates, bring a friend, head down and pay us a visit. A warm welcome awaits along with mulled wine and cakes (refreshment proceeds supporting Cancer Research).

At Discover Bucks Museum enjoy browsing the wonderful art on display in the popular Off the Wall Art Fair. If you are looking for something special for your home or a unique gift, you will find work by 34 professional artists, including paintings, prints, ceramics, glass, sculpture, jewellery and photography.

The show opens on Saturday 16 November with a special launch from 12.30 to 2.30. Enjoy a glass of wine and meet many of the artists taking part. There are also Meet the Artist days on 23 November and 7 December. The show continues until 15 December and is organised by the Friends of the Museum with all profits supporting the work of the Museum. For opening times and admission charges visit discoverbucksmuseum.org

Sally Evans Artists & Makers Fairs promote Oxfordshire & Buckinghamshire’s Finest Craftspeople. Each craft fair is an opportunity to meet an array of incredible local talent with every exhibitor hand-picked for their uniqueness and craftsmanship. From prints to pen-making; calligraphy to ceramics and stained glass to silversmithing; a diverse and impressive shopping experience awaits you! The dates and locations for the next fairs appear in the advert below.

A little bird told me gallery is nestled in the heart of Wendover and offers a bespoke picture framing service, limited edition prints as well as children’s books, unusual cards, gifts, advent calendars, tree decorations and wrapping paper. They also showcase local artists work including, silver jewellers, ceramicists and glass makers. Visit www.alittlebirdtoldmegallery. com. See ad p1.

Barbara Green Alexandra Buckle

Murphy

News from Wendover Community Library

Jane Larkham writes: Wendover Community Library Refurbishment has begun! The completion of this project is planned for Spring 2025. Wendover News has been reassured that the Lindengate mural

The interior of the library, showing the underside of the mezaninne floor with the ceiling underneath removed

will be moved to back garden and displayed there but Wendover Community Library is looking for suitable public places where other items will be available to view. These include:

* Twinning Memorabilia

* World War I quilt

If you are aware of a suitable location, please contact fowlmembers@ hotmail.com.

Photo and Short Story Competitions

Ron Melville from the Friends of Wendover Library writes: The photo competition was judged by public display in the Library in August and the winners will be shown in Real Magic Books at a small WAFTA (Wendover Author and Fotography Top Awards not BAFTA) ceremony in November. Please see www.facebook.com/ WendoverCommunityLibrary or www.bit.ly/4e5cWi3 for exact details.

Once again, as normal with public votes on photographs, the wildlife photos were popular!! A slight embarrassment though in that our winner this year is the chair of our trustees!

So congratulations to Phil Mitchell for his photo entitled ‘Family on the Canal’; which came in first place.

Second Place was Martyn Dudley with ‘Meanderin’ Mandarin’. Third Place was Tony Cashen with ‘Wendover High Street’ Fourth Place was Richard Mock ‘From Coombe Hill’

Thirteen photos were chosen to be printed in the Wendover Community Library Calendar 2025 available from Real Magic Books, or the Clock Tower (during limited Library hours from 10am to 2pm on Tuesdays, Thursdays and Fridays).

Online services continue at www.bit.ly/4e5cWi3 or phone 03031 230035. The calendar is a bargain at £7.50 and is a lovely memento for friends and family who no longer live here. It is also great for noting family commitments. A must buy for yourself and all your friends!

The Short Story competition winner will be announced during the same ceremony.

1st place: Phil Mitchell – ’Family on the Canal’

2nd place: Martyn Dudley – ‘Meanderin Manderin’

3rd place: Tony Cashen – ‘Wendover High Street’

4th place: Richard Mock – ‘From Coombe Hill’

The Lee: thriving despite HS2 works

As you drive out of Wendover in the direction of Great Missenden, it’s easy to forget that on the hills to the left, lies some of the Chiltern’s most beautiful countryside. Nestling within, is the village of The Lee.

Despite all the ‘Road Closed’ signs, and expanse of HS2 works between Wendover and the Frith Hill route from Great Missenden, it is still possible to get to The Lee quite easily. Only one of the three roads leading up there – Bowood Lane – has been closed by HS2’s contractor, EKFB. The other two, Rocky Lane and Leather Lane are still open, albeit with a bumpier journey since the works started. Occasionally one or the other of these two routes get closed for essential works but even then, you can get there via Frith Hill (Great Missenden) or B4009 and Aston Hill. Failing that, it makes for a satisfying and picturesque walking route, provided you avert your eyes away from the direction of the HS2 works.

If you arrive during daylight, you will probably remember why it first appealed to you: The photogenic village green surrounded by picture-postcard houses, the church and the pub. The Cock and Rabbit pub dominates this area and goes to extraordinary lengths to entice people in. As well as the restaurant and stock of good beers, it is also a very small, but perfectly formed music venue, amongst other things. On the last February of most months, it hosts a blues night with a great band and the sort of atmosphere you might normally associate with rural America or the best of British blues clubs of the 1960s.

One little gem which may be of interest to parents of young children is Lee Common School which takes children from all around the area and attracts pupils from the local community and beyond. Pam Batty, chair of the governors of the school, says: “We pride ourselves on our caring and nurturing approach. Our small size affords the opportunity to know our children and families well, enabling highly individualised care. Our team works hard to deliver creative and engaging learning activities allowing us to meet each child at their stage of development. Children also benefit from specialist teaching in yoga, sports and music and attend Forest School in our very own meadow overlooking the beautiful Lee Manor Park.”

CHILTERN FOOT HEALTH SERVICES

Ian Phipps MCFHP MAFHP Foot Health Practitioner (Wendover - based)

Home visits - 01296 623851

Surgery at the Belmore Centre 01296 612361

Registered member of the British Association of Foot Health Professionals

An appointment can be made to give you a personal tour of the school and to find out how it can meet the needs of your child and family. Contact the school office on 01494 837267 or email office@ leecommon.bucks.sch.uk. You can also visit www.leecommon.org for more information.

Why the Lee is particularly worth a visit before Christmas

The Lee has its own not-for-profit shop which is run mostly by volunteers and to avoid confusion, they have called it ‘Shop at The Lee.’ As in previous years, Shop at The Lee is holding a Christmas Market and Gift Market which this year is on Saturday 9 November, from 8.30am to 1pm in The Lee Parish Hall next door to the shop.

Shop at the Lee

On sale will be charity Christmas cards, pretty napkins, advent calendars and crackers. In addition, there will be materials for wrapping your presents, Christmas decorations, plants and door wreaths as well as small stocking-filler gifts suitable for all ages.

The address of the shop is Lee Clump Road, Lee Common, Great Missenden, Bucks HP16 9NB and their normal opening hours 8am –5pm. Half days at weekend and bank holidays. Website: www.thelee. org.uk/shop, telephone 01494 837195 or email: shop@thelee.org.uk.

The Lee Common School and Larks Nursery are also holding a Christmas Fair on 7 December at 12-3pm, with free entry. See advertisement below.

• Loose covers

• Curtains

• Re-Upholstery

• Tracks & Poles

TEN YEAR GUARANTEE

For personal, helpful service, please call Tel: 01844 261769

Mob: 07801 182400

gblakefurn@gmail.com www.grahamblake.com

‘Yoga for every-body’ Wendover group classes & 1:1 yoga therapy www.lizbrownyoga.co.uk 07941 425187

Wendover Manor care home gets the go-ahead

Planning permission has been granted for a new care home for elderly residents on the Aylesbury Road-Worlds End Lane roundabout at the north of Wendover, which its developer hopes will open in the spring of 2026. The new home, to be called Wendover Manor, will have places for 53 residents, with facilities for them and their visitors including a woodland walk and a café.

The developer is Salveo, a family-owned business that already runs Cherry Tree House on Dobbins Lane, with room for 20 residents. Managing director Grace Evans joined her family’s company in 2019.

For the new home Salveo bought the site of the former Chiltern Court home in 2021, four years after it closed in 2017. Grace says the old home had ugly extensions and some very strange room layouts. “It was in a fairly run-down state when it closed, and is in a very sorry state now, so Salveo is going to demolish it and build an all-new purpose-designed building.”

Salveo drew up plans over the next two years for the modern new building. Grace says. “The new main building will be U-shaped. It very tastefully designed . We consulted with Bucks Planning Office to make sure it meets their requirements. Almost all the current

trees will be retained or replanted. It will still be secluded from the roads on two sides.” The architect’s impression is above.

There will be plenty of facilities for residents and visitors, she says “We want to involve the local community. There will be a café area, and a woodland walk for families and residents. There will be a cinema, a spa, a hair care salon and a treatment room. There will be a lounge, a dining room, a terrace for sitting out.”

However, obtaining planning permission was a much more drawn-out process than anticipated. “The planning process took two years,” says Grace. “As part of the consultation we took residents in to see the old site, plus parish council members and the MP (Rob Butler at the time). We also put things on Wendover social media sites. We met some interesting people.

“The community was involved, and so was Bucks Council. But Natural England was the obstacle, as it had a policy of not increasing the total number of residents in the area. However, the old house had 53 beds when it closed, which is why Salveo went for the same number in its planning application. The most recent hurdle has been in the travel plan. Solving all this was tricky, not due to objections, but red tape.”

With planning permission obtained, things can start to move. The old house is due to be demolished, possibly by the end of October, then building can start. Grace is still hoping for an opening in the spring of 2026. To follow progress, see www.salveocare.co.uk/our-homes/ wendover-manor.

Grace Evans, MD of Salveo/ Wendover Manor

The Boiler Blokes Wayne & Clinton

Simon Eccles

Bucks Radio visits Wendover

Locally based and focused Bucks Radio is now on the DAB radio airwaves and can be picked up in and around Wendover. Previously it was only available online (at www.bucks.radio) since it was set up in 2021. To find it, look through your home or car DAB radio display’s stations list: Bucks Radio will appear in the alphabetical order – you might need to scan the stations list to refresh it. Technically it covers ‘North Bucks,’ as defined by broadcasting regulator OFCOM. This is defined by a map that shows Wendover just inside the borders. You can probably pick it up further south too.

If you haven’t already been listening to the station online, you may have noticed Bucks Radio’s presence at local events around Wendover in the past few years, such as the Christmas lights switch-on or the Picnics in the Park. It’s certainly hard to miss Bucks Bear, the station’s huge furry mascot, meeting and greeting the crowds.

Bucks Radio’s mascot ‘Bucks Bear’, seen here with some of the folks from Wendover Shed at the Picnic in the Park. It’s not known if they realised it was really a person dressed as a bear.

The station’s studio is in Hale Leys shopping centre. It focuses on Aylesbury and surroundings towns and villages. Alongside music from the 70s to today, it broadcasts local news, travel, weather and community information.

Most commercial local stations in the UK have now been swallowed up by large national and international media companies. Bucks’ popular independent local station, Mix96, broadcast from 1994 but was replaced by Greatest Hits Radio (Bucks, Beds & Herts) in September 2020. It was part of a trend that’s seen the old truly local stations and studios bought up and closed, then their FM frequencies are used to relay national programming, often with big name presenters such as Ken Bruce and Simon Mayo at Greatest Hits. However, their

“local news and travel” now covers larger areas, often combining several counties together.

In reaction to this, Bucks Radio was launched in February 2021, with the aim of keeping truly local radio alive in the county. It was a new company set up by two former Mix 96 presenters, Richard Carr (who grew up in Wendover) and Nathan Cooper. Between them they’ve been broadcasting in Buckinghamshire for nearly half a century.

“Bucks Radio began as an online station, supported by smart speakers and a free app,” says Nathan Cooper. “The team behind the station have formed a separate company that has successfully applied for, and won, the licence to operate small scale digital radio – DAB – in North Bucks. This has further enhanced Bucks Radio availability in the area, which in turn will increase listening opportunities and provide more coverage for our advertisers and charities.

Every year Bucks Radio supports the Against Breast Cancer Charity by collecting bras which are recycled in cash (collection is during September and October), to fund research into secondary spread, the main cause of breast cancer related deaths; and in November and December it runs the Christmas Toy Appeal, where listeners donate toys for disadvantaged children across Buckinghamshire. The gifts are distributed to local charities in time for Christmas. Details of both campaigns, including collection points, can be found on www.bucks.radio.

Bucks Bear visits events throughout the year, while the presenters host events including Business Awards and charity fundraisers. They will be in Wendover on 30 November for the lights switch on at Manor Waste. Go along and say hello!

Bucks Radio staff toured Wendover in October. L-R: Richard Carr, Melanie Bird, from a little bird told me gallery; Carolyn WhittenBrown, Bucks Radio sales & marketing manager; and Simon Eccles from Wendover News.

Simon Eccles

Wendover Shed

Shedders build for growth

It’s been an active autumn for members of Wendover Shed. Apart from Shedder’s own construction projects and social get-togethers several times each week, they’ve been taking on more “social” building and repair tasks for local community needs.

On 19 September Greg Smith MP paid his first visit to the Shed since he was elected to the new constituency in July. He met about 12 of the regular Shedders (the full membership count is 66), who showed him progress on the off-grid site on the Hogtrough Lane allotments, that was started up early in 2023.

“This visit provided us with an incredible opportunity to showcase what we’ve been up to and discuss how the Shed benefits Wendover and its surrounding areas,” said Shed chairman Bob Duggan. “Having our MP here was a real chance for us to highlight the value the Men’s Shed movement brings to local communities, from reducing isolation to promoting hands-on skills and intergenerational knowledge-sharing.”

The month before Wendover Shed had a stall at Picnic in the Park in Witchell, meeting potential recruits and selling small hand-made wooden . “It was a fantastic day filled with laughter, connection, and a whole lot of fun,” said Bob. “I’m proud to announce that we raised over £200 for the Shed that day. This success wouldn’t have been possible without the generosity of everyone who stopped by to chat, donate, and learn about what we do.”

Over the summer a wooden winners’ dais was constructed for the National Paralympic Heritage Trust at Stoke Mandeville Stadium. The most recent projects have included the renovation of four community noticeboard cases, for Wendover, Aston Clinton, Chartridge and Buckland. Next on the list is a rather more unusual request from Wendover Parish Council for a set of village stocks!

Shedders have agreed to build 50 owl boxes for the Bucks Owl & Raptor Group (www.giveahoot.org.uk), a volunteer organisation that places owl and kestrel nesting boxes all over the county.

Wendover News went to press a few days before the second Annual Wendover Shed Quiz at the Memorial Hall – last year this raised more than £1,200 for funds. The next public appearance of Wendover Shed will be on 30 November, at the Wendover Lights switch-on at Manor Waste.

If you’d like to join the fun, see www.wendovershed.org.uk for more details and regular opening times (on Tuesday and Saturday mornings and Thursday afternoons). The shed is located on the allotments on Hogtrough Lane, off Hale Road. Simon Eccles

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Greg Smith MP (centre) met the Shedders in September.

Forgotten 2,000 year old settlement found under new Cricket Club site

By Simon Eccles

This year a previously unknown ancient settlement has been uncovered between Wendover and Halton, dating back at least 2,000 years to the Late Iron Age, then through the Roman era and possible a little beyond into the fifth century AD.

If you’ve visited Wendover Heights vets on Tring Road in the past year, you’ll probably have noticed what looks like a construction site in the field beside and below. It was actually a large archaeological excavation carried out between January and April, on what will soon be the new Wendover Cricket Club ground.

The final report on the archaeological works is not expected for two more years whilst analysis and assessment takes place, but the archaeologists commissioned to examine the site earlier this year say they found traces of the eastern corner of a previously unrecorded settlement, close to the ancient Icknield Way (now called Tring Road in parts). The full size of the settlement isn’t evident.

They believe it that it was not a Roman-founded settlement, but rather a native British settlement of the Late Iron Age (about 100BC to 43AD) with some hints of Early Iron Age too (about 500BC

or later). This had continued well into the Roman era (after 43AD), when it was extended and adopted some Roman influences and building practises, though it was likely still run by native landowners and aristocrats.

This 180 degree panoramic view shows the whole width of the Cricket Club site excavation. The kilns are at the far right. The dark line in the foreground shows one of the boundaries, which is straight – only the camera distortion makes it curve.

Antoni Nowak shows the archaeologists’ site map.

It may have lasted some time after the Romans withdrew in the early 400s AD, but it had gone before historic records began.

The new cricket ground is being built because the HS2 railway construction forced the closure of the old one opposite Wendover Station. HS2 is funding an equivalent cricket ground facility but to modern standards and complying with the planning permission received including conditions. The site will be graded to new levels and the cricket pitch will be sited at the lower end of the land.

As a condition of Buckinghamshire Council’s planning permission, an archaeological survey of the new site was undertaken in July 2023. As a result of finds made, a much more extensive survey followed this year between January and April. Although the site has never before had a planned dig, organised metal-detecting groups have

on several occasions explored the land with the farmer’s permission, and made small finds.

As the dig was being completed in late March, members of the Cricket Club, together with Wendover News, were invited to a tour of the site, led by archaeologists from Cotswold Archaeology, the company engaged to undertake the works.

The dig phase ended in April and all the finds have been collected and taken away for analysis.

Once the construction phase starts, the archaeology site levels will be raised to create the new cricket ground.

It has to be said there were no major physical finds, according to the archaeologists on the spot. But once the overlying soils had been removed, evidence was found of disturbed ground that had once formed boundary ditches, tracks, building boundaries. There were post holes for buildings. A few trenches were dug in areas that merited further investigation.

More than 100 iron nails were found, that would have held

Antoni Nowak shows visitors one of the pits that were excavated.

One of the coins found on the site – this is broken.

Roman era pottery shards.

together wooden buildings that have long since disappeared, plus pottery that could be dated to pre-Roman and Roman times, animal bones and carved bone items, metal objects such as buckles and a small copper alloy spoon, and “industrial waste.”

More precise dates could be given to the 48 metal coins found, plus at least two types of distinctive Roman red (Samian ware) or greygreen pottery (sadly all broken), which would have been imported over long distances from continental Europe.

Smelly things like the iron working, the kilns and middens (rubbish pits) would have been kept outside the settlement boundaries, and downwind in prevailing winds and some of these were also revealed by the survey.

These included the outline remains of two Roman-style stone structures, that are thought to have been drying kilns for grains, showing stone-lined channels that would have taken hot air from a fire into a domed main chamber where there would have been drying racks.

A hand-dug well going at least 7m into the chalk was found, and a camera was lowered down which revealed it to be mostly unlined, with tool marks still visible on the chalk walls.

Two human “inhumation” graves were uncovered last year during the preliminary survey, plus one for a dog over what had previously

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A later site visit showed further progress with excavating one of the kilns.

been a rubbish dump; the human graves were inside the Roman-era boundaries. Generally graves would have been outside settlements when they were first dug, suggesting they were quite old and had been lost and forgotten when the settlement was later expanded.

A straight track was found heading from the settlement across to the boundary of a wooded area on the edge of the RAF Halton site.

The whole settlement was a few hundred metres downhill from Upper Icknield Way (the B4009), which follows the route of the original ancient Icknield Way between Wiltshire and Norfolk. It’s unclear exactly where Icknield Way would have run when the settlement was active, but nothing showed on the dig to indicate it was any closer to the settlement then, while the uncovered track seems too narrow to have been a major roadway.

This find is marked ‘copper alloy buckle.’

99 year-old Margaret Seabrook examines a Roman coin with great interest, in March 2024. See tribute, page 31.

There’s little evidence of postRoman activity, apart from a few coins that may have been lost at random, so the settlement may have been abandoned around the time that the Romans left (430AD), or soon after.

Wendover News’ own research has found that the old manor map of Wendover dated to 1620s (a section is here at right) shows an intriguing hint. A now-lost track labelled “Rudgeway” [sic] led from a crossroads on the ancient “Wellhead Lane/Chesham Way” (today’s Hogtrough Lane), next to today’s rifle club, straight across Halefield and Hale Lane, then below Boddington Hill to join the old section of Tring Road roughly where Beechwood Lane joins today.

At that junction it pointed in the direction of the newly discovered settlement site on the other side of Icknield Way, although by 1620 the site itself was long gone. Could that track and other lost tracks leading through today’s Hogtrough Lane date to pre-Roman routes over the Chilterns to and from the ancient settlement?

Any surface traces of those tracks were long ago ploughed under the farm fields, though parts of it show on lidar surveys. Lidar doesn’t seem to show evidence of the ancient settlement, unfortunately.

So remember, as you watch or play cricket on future summer afternoons, people very much like us once lived, loved, laughed, worked and died beneath that newly laid turf.

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Local News

Chiltern Rail Vision 2030

At rather short notice, Chiltern Railways sent some staff to Wendover Station on 19 September to explain the company’s vision of the future to travellers along the line. This was set out in a brochure called “Rightroute 2030 vision.”

Afternoon/evening rush hour passengers were told that new rolling stock (carriages to most of us) is at last expected on Chiltern. That means passengers on this branch (via Amersham to Aylesbury) can look forward to longer trains in the future, but no firm dates have been given. Old rolling stock will be brought back onto our Marylebone-Aylesbury line, while Marylebone to Birmingham will have the benefit of the new. The staff were polite and took copious notes of the comments of residents, travellers and our new MP, Greg Smith.

For more information on the plans see www.chilternrailways.co.uk/ chiltern-railways-2030-vision. The decarbonisation plan includes the introduction of hybrid-battery or battery-only trains in the long term. Meanwhile, in early 2025 the Class 165 trains on our route will be refreshed. The Class 168 trains on other routes will be refreshed over the next 18 months.

The response to the visit is available at Wendover station on a card which states, “We are sometimes required to prioritise major events including Wembley fixtures and engineering work on other operators’ routes;” and “We sometimes reduce services on the Aylesbury route and use bus replacements to connect to routes.”

It is unfortunate that Marylebone through to Aylesbury (via Amersham) does not feature in the “popular routes” statistics provided in the “Rightroute 2030 vision” booklet. Chiltern Rail does however acknowledge that Aylesbury has the biggest predicted growth among the communities served from Marylebone. Several local interest organisations, including Shakespeare’s England, Experience Oxfordshire and Chilterns Conservation Board are also quoted in this document.

Wendover needs to attract commuters to supply passengers on a regular basis to ensure healthy numbers and Chiltern Railways needs to ensure that the attractions of Wendover and similar small communities are promoted. If you are a commuter, how does the service affect you? How crowded are your rush hour trains? Do you experience standing room only from Wendover all the way into Marylebone? Let us know at editor@wendovernews.co.uk.

Jane Larkham

Local News

New car parking charges

Wendover Parish Council has expressed its disapproval of the new parking charges which affect the main public car park in Wendover. Previously, the first hour was free, making it very easy to ‘pop in’ to local shops to make a quick purchase. New regulations, implemented by the County Council against objections from the parish council, impose charges from the moment you park.

In an interview with Bucks Radio, Wendover Parish Council’s Estates and Events Manager, Phoebe Sharps said: “Since the new charge was introduced, shop keepers and local businesses in the Wendover High Street say they’ve noticed a drop in weekly takings.”

“One car park user couldn’t understand why Bucks Council has made these changes, saying they should be encouraging people to shop local, not force them to out of town retail parks”

When Bucks Radio visited the car park they found both machines were out of order, while one shopper couldn’t get her RingGo phone payment app to open. Another car park user told them this wasn’t the first time he’d been

unable to pay for parking.

Wendover News writer Simon Eccles adds: “The 50p is a nuisance, but worse is all the faffing about: queuing to use the one unbroken ticket machine while others struggle with it and often need help, then tapping in your registration and times on the machine, only for it to announce your payment is rejected. So then you have to try and get the RingGo app to respond. You could have been in and out of some shops in that time. Still, at least you get to meet people as they gather round to discuss the broken machines.”

Wendover Evening WI Christmas Fair

Sandra Borns writes: We are fundraising for the Little Princess Trust, Aylesbury Women’s Aid and our own WI. The Fair will be held on Saturday 16 November at the Memorial Hall. There will be a wide variety of stalls with a chance to buy early Christmas presents. We will have activities for children who can also meet Santa in his grotto. We are looking forward to a very merry morning! See ad p4.

The Village Midwife

A company founded by Sophie Hiscock, The Village Midwife holds regular antenatal and postnatal classes, as well as refresher courses, hypnobirthing courses and sling library meets. The courses are held at different locations in Wendover and Great Missenden. See: www. thevillagemidwife.co.uk

Wendover Society Talk

Ron Peterson, chair of Wendover Society, writes: On 8 November the speaker, Gordon Rogers, will be talking about ‘Churchill’s Toy Shop – the fascinating array of weapons and other instruments of war that flowed from Churchill’s fervent brain as we approached the Second World War – from floating tanks to portable harbours and beyond. Gordon lives in Long Crendon and is a renowned public speaker on topics from science to history. He is also an amateur astronomer, with his own observatory in his back garden!

The meeting is in St Anne’s Hall, and starts at 7:30pm. Tickets for the evening will cost £5.00 per person – and that entitles the ticket holder to a glass of wine or juice, email thewendoversociety@outlook.com

Beacon Hill – Scheduled Monument Restoration Works

Daniel Hares writes: There are some hardened enthusiasts who make a daily hike to the top of Beacon Hill, Butlers Cross, in pursuit of fitness goals and mental health. No doubt it’s good for the soul. For others, simply admiring its beauty from a few metres lower is good enough. But if you have managed to get up there recently, you’ll have noticed the groundworks taking place.

The ‘bowl barrow’ at the point of the hill has been gradually eroded over time. This area is listed not only as a scheduled monument, but also an area of SSSI (Site of Special Scientific Interest). At Historic England’s request, Natural England, the Chilterns Conservation Board, Buckmoorend Farm and the Chequers Estate have been involved in a project to repair the erosion at the site.

The eroded areas have been built back up using sandbags filled with soil from adjacent fields. These were overlaid with a protective hessian mat, before a final layer of sterile topsoil was spread over the top. This will be reseeded with grass and flower seeds harvested by hand from the same field.

A fence has been erected to keep livestock and people from damaging the area while it settles. Please have respect for this boundary whilst the site stabilises.

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Get ready for Christmas...

Rotary Santa Eco-Sleigh

Jane Larkham writes: Many thanks to everyone who attended the annual Duck Races on Sunday 20 October by the Heron Stream. These happened after Wendover News went to press so more about the winners another time.

Minds are now beginning to focus on December and how we can enjoy the Festive Season to the full. Why not join our Rotary Santa Eco-Sleigh for an evening or two? Volunteers are very welcome. Rotary in Wendover uses an Eco-Sleigh. Basically it’s an e-tricycle to carry the sound equipment with a little help for the hilly parts of Wendover. This is a major fund-raising event for Rotary in Wendover and we go out every weekday evening if we have enough volunteers. This year the beneficiaries will be Florence Nightingale Hospice Charity and 14 Aylesbury Sea Scouts, based in Weston Turville. We do not go out if the weather is dangerously icy or deluging rain.

All our members and volunteers enjoy going out with the Eco-Sleigh, which residents in Wendover and Weston Turville really love, as it is a bit different but in a climate-friendly way. We bring joy to children of all ages. For some of our senior citizens it is a demonstration that they are included in our community. Why not join us for some Christmas sparkle! Email rotary.md3@gmail.com

Parish Council Christmas Celebration event (and bra bank!)

The festivities really kick off on Saturday 30 November, 4pm – 7pm, on the Manor Waste in the middle of Wendover. Phoebe Sharps, Wendover Parish Council’s estates and events manager, explains: “The Council has organised the most localised group of stall holders and food and drink vendors in the event’s history. With eight out of the 14 stalls and vendors being Wendoverbased and the rest being within an eight-mile radius of Wendover, we have a range of stalls raising money for local and national charities. So please come along and support them at the event on the 30th – we can’t wait to see you there!

“We have a bra bank in The Clock Tower collecting unwanted or unloved bras to support the Against Breast Cancer bra recycling scheme this October, so this is your last chance to donate. Thank you to everyone who has donated so far.”

Best dressed window

If you run a shop in Wendover High Street, by now you should have heard from Phoebe Sharps about the best-dressed window competition. An email entry is required. If you haven’t yet heard from her or need clarification, call into the Clocktower or contact her at estates@wendover-pc.gov.uk or

Charity Christmas Cards

Rennie Grove Peace Hospice Care has revealed its 11 Christmas card designs ahead of the festive period. All proceeds from sales of Christmas cards will be used to fund the charity’s work in the area. Rennie Grove Peace Hospice Care provides care and support for adults and children with a progressive life-limiting illness, and those who care for them, in Buckinghamshire and Hertfordshire.

The Christmas cards can be bought at https://shop.renniegrovepeace. org or from Rennie Grove Peace Hospice Care charity shops. Each set of cards features 10 of the same design and cost £3.75.

Christmas is Coming Early with Wendover Choral Society!

Rebecca Kinnarney writes: “Join us on Sunday, 8 December, for a joyful afternoon of festive music to start your holiday season.

This year, we’re breaking tradition with a relaxed family celebration instead of our usual Saturday evening concert. Whether you’re a regular concertgoer or joining us for the first time, we invite you to experience the magic of live music in a welcoming and friendly atmosphere.

Under the baton of our new conductor, Kenton Brigden, we’ll present Britten’s ‘A Ceremony of Carols,’ an enchanting work with moments of both brilliance and tenderness. Our Baroque ensemble will perform Corelli’s Christmas Concerto, and we’ll take a fresh look at The Twelve

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We’re thrilled to welcome acclaimed soprano Sian Dicker, described by BBC Music Magazine as ‘A Rising Star.’ She’ll treat us to selections from Purcell’s The Fairy Queen and other pieces of her choosing.

If you’d like to stay up to date with exclusive content, including rehearsal insights and behind-the-scenes videos, be sure to sign up for our newsletter. Simply send an email to info@wendoverchoral.co.uk to get all the latest updates straight to your inbox!

Tickets are available now, so gather your family and friends and join us for a festive afternoon of music, mince pies, and merriment on 8 December!

Wendover

Singers to host Christmas Concert

Jo Durden-Moore writes: “Wendover Singers are proud to present their first Christmas concert to celebrate everything that the festive season brings. Don your festive hats and jumpers and get into the festive spirit and come and watch this wonderful community choir in action.”

Jill Neenan, musical director, comments, “We had the most beautiful concert in the summer, showcasing our singers and support musicians, and I am so thrilled that we are now expanding our concert offering to celebrate the festive season. There will be something for all ages, some toe-tapping classics, moving ballads and beautiful carols.” Established only three years ago, the community choir boasts a full membership of a 100-strong

adult ensemble and a 20-strong children’s ensemble. They are deep into rehearsals now, practising many well-known festive songs and Christmas carols in unison and four-part harmony. The concert at St Mary’s Church, Wendover on 14 December will commence at 5pm and end with mulled wine and mince pies.

Tickets available now, so grab them quick and join us for a festive evening of Christmas joy for everyone. Children of all ages most welcome. For more details see www. wendoversingers.com.

CribFest 2024

A reminder that Wendover Free Church is planning CribFest 2024, free and open to all, on Friday 13 December from 3-6pm and Saturday 14 from 10am-3.30pm. It is inviting community groups, organisations, and individuals to provide home crafted cribs or treasured nativity scenes (all scenes can be collected after the event). Home-crafted cribs can be made from any material but should depict the Christmas story of the birth of Jesus.

Why not get together with friends, family or a group to which you belong? For questions, or to reserve a space please email christmas@ wendoverfreechurch.org.uk or ring Remco on 01296 622354. The deadline for registering your interest is 30 November.

The cribs will be displayed in St Anne’s Church, and in the Christian Centre there will be craft, home produce and second-hand book stalls, plus refreshments. All proceeds to ‘Embrace the Middle East’ whose humanitarian work is vital at the current time.

45H x 65W

Where’s Alex?

We thought we might be in for a salacious headline when we interviewed Alex about his latest adventures in the quest to do triathlons in all 79 cities in the UK.

He started by saying “I had just driven all the way down to Plymouth after an incredibly early start to the day. As I was preparing for the day’s triathlon, I was mortified to discover that I had not packed my swimming trunks. I looked in the boot of the car, then at the entrance to the swimming pool. It was early – there weren’t many people in there. In the end I bit the bullet and managed to find a local shop where I could buy a pair of trunks.”

Having completed triathlons in 22 of the cities when we went to press, we calculated that during his quest, he has already swum 33km, run 220km, and cycled 880km. The whole project will involve him swimming 118.5km, running 790km and cycling an incredible 3,160km. Allowing for family and work commitments, he anticipates he will complete the last of the triathlons in about October 2025.

Our earthworks activities have progressed well over the summer months, moving material north towards Aylesbury where it will be used to form landscaping bunds. However, recent wet weather has slowed down our progress. Specialist piling activity continues to form a ‘low permeability wall’ as part of the early works to build the Wendover Green tunnel.

The remaining pier for the Small Dean Viaduct is being constructed adjacent to the A413 and once complete this will enable us to form the deck of the viaduct in early 2025. The large steel structure that is now visible adjacent to the A413 forms the viaduct deck and spans the piers. These steel beams will be ‘pushed’ over the road and railway line. This specialist activity is expected to take four days to move the large steel beams across into position and will involve

Some of the cities Alex has visited recently include: Wolverhampton - Early morning swim in the 25 metre pool and ventured into the fast lane and held my own. Using The South Staffordshire Golf Club as a base I slipped on the trainers to run along the Staffordshire and Worcester Canal & West Park Boating Lake. The bike ride was along a similar canal route heading north clockwise cutting onto the Birmingham Canal Navigations then to complete full circle I headed up the Staffordshire and Worcester Canal north. Taking in some lovely countryside and what looked like an intense game of cricket at Beacon Cricket Club not sure how many cricket balls they must lost in the canal!

Bath - Good 1500 metres swim at the Sports and Leisure Centre in Bath got overtaken by some rather speedy swimmers… Followed by scenic 10k run along the River Avon and Kennet & Avon Canal, taking in Bath’s stunning architecture like the Royal Crescent, Bath Abbey & Baths. Sadly, no time to stop and fully enjoy! A spot of networking with Business Buzz, great fun as all ways meeting some new contacts and old. Then onto my bike for 40k over some very big hills some of which turned into a mountain bike routes ( thanks Strava) but my bike took on the challenge.

Alex is raising money for the National Paralympic Heritage Trust, The Oxford Hospitals Charity and AutoRaise, which works with the vehicle industry to get young people into apprenticeships. He hopes to raise more than £15,000 for these charities.

Richard Byford

a one-day road closure. Details for these works are being finalised and will be given in the next edition of Wendover News.

The long-standing traffic lights management on the temporary Ellesborough Road will be lifted once our utility partner has removed the high voltage cable encased in concrete in late October. Following the removal of the cable, we will be required to close Ellesborough Road for a few days in November to complete the east tie-in works.

In October and November, we will be completing utility diversion works in preparation for the construction of the Nash Lee overbridge. The areas affected by these works will be Nash Lee Lane, Nash Lee Road, and the A413 Wendover Bypass. The works will commence with a weekend closure of a section of the Wendover Bypass in October. Further dates for traffic management in this area will be shared via our advance works notices.

If you would like to read more about the works and view the advance works notices and maps, please go to HS2 website www.hs2.org. uk and click the “in your area” section to view the interactive map.

Information supplied by EKFB, the local contractor for HS2

Youth without limits

In the October issue of Wendover News, we heard from 14-year-old Isabella Banks about her experience completing her Bronze Duke of Edinburgh (DofE) Award. For this issue, Jane Larkham spoke to Matthew Rush, a teacher at Wendover’s Chiltern Way Academy, about the students at his school taking on the challenge.

Did you know that students at the Chiltern Way Academy in Wendover are entered for the Duke of Edinburgh’s Award every year? That includes all three levels up to Gold award.

Matthew Rush, a teacher at the school, has been preparing all Year-10 students for this teenage “Right of Passage” at Bronze level for seven years. Supported by colleague Charlene Martin, Matthew is “so pleased” to be able to offer these students a qualification which is rigorously non-academic, focusing instead on on developing social skills – especially in the expedition section.

Chiltern Way Academy offers education and care for up to 176 young people with a primary diagnosis of Autistic Spectrum Condition (ASC) aged between 11-19. In Summer 2024, 22 bronze, 15 silver and one gold were awarded to students of the school. This latter always includes a trip to Buckingham Palace.

Everybody is in awe of the expedition section of the Duke of Edinburgh’s Award, but Matthew insists that all four sections are vital to students’ development:

• Expedition – this is particularly challenging for Matthew’s students, some of whom have speech and language issues so communication is not always easy at first. Some also have problems staying away from home overnight, but Matthew sees nothing as a barrier. Bridges can be made over barriers. Preparation starts in the autumn term with long walks from the school premises in Church Lane.

• Physical – Caldecotte Xperience in Milton Keynes offers fun packed sport, adventure and outdoor learning activities.

• Skills – these can be catered for at the Wendover Academy site.

• Volunteering – you may see Matthew and a team of students volunteering in Wendover, for example, litter picking. If you have a small project which you think might be suitable for students looking to complete their volunteering hours, contact Lee Beagle on LBeagle@chilternway.org. Any non-profit making organisation can offer volunteering experience, St Mary’s Church is a beneficiary from time to time.

The section most difficult to place for the Gold Award is the residential. Recently, student Ethan Thomas had a placement at the British Racing School in Newbury. He hadn’t even met a horse close up until then but was able to spend the week learning how to look after these very temperamental horses and was even taught to ride one!

At the 2023 This is Youth Awards ceremony, Matthew was selected as a special mention for the Inspirational Adult: Life-Changer of the Year category for Duke of Edinburgh presented by Baroness Tanni GreyThompson, in recognition of his work in SEN provision. Matthew’s new role within the Trust/Federation is to introduce DofE provision for all members.

Well done, Matthew, and well done to all 38 Chiltern Way Academy students who were awarded this summer!

Over the next few months, we’ll be exploring awards on offer for young people to take part in locally. We’d love to hear from local young people about your experiences completing awards and challenges like DofE. If you’ve got an experience you’d like to share, get in touch at editor@wendovernews.co.uk.

The Duke of Edinburgh Award at The Chiltern Way Academy

Students meeting the Duke of Edinburgh at Buckingham Palace

Haul road

During September a significant amount of clay was moved from Small Dean to a stockpile just north of the Ellesborough Road, which is going to be used as “backfill” around the Wendover Green Tunnel.

However with the very wet weather the dump trucks stopped running, as the haul road would get rutted with the 100 ton loaded weight of the dump trucks. Even in good weather, grader machines are needed to maintain the road surface. This is the reason why we don’t expect any further significant dump truck activity between November and April.

Big hole at Bacombe Lane

During September a massive hole was excavated next to Bacombe Lane, which doubled the number of dump trucks crossing Ellesborough Road. The hole, which required 42,000 cubic metres of excavation, is over 4,000m2 in area and is about 15 metres deep. This is in preparation for the mining of the “Grove Farm Culvert;” a 2.4m diameter storm drain which will run for 800m alongside the Green Tunnel and take 12 months to create.

Working with MPs

The Wendover HS2 Mitigation Group has been working with our new MP Greg Smith. One of the issues he’s been dealing with is the removal of the traffic lights on Ellesborough Road which have been causing rush hour gridlock for commuters since April. UK Power Networks has now told him that their works should be finished by “mid-October” so hopefully this will have been resolved by the time you read this.

We’ve also talked to Laura Kirke-Smith, the new Labour MP for the Aylesbury constituency (taking in Weston Turville), about how she can help us influence her colleagues who are now Ministers in the

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The spoil stockpile which is visible from the Ellesborough Road temporary bridge

One of the graders employed to maintain the haul road in serviceable condition

Photo: Murray Cooke

Photo: Murray Cooke

Department for Transport, as they now dominate the Transport Select Committee on matters that affect both our constituencies.

WENDOVER MOTOR SPARES

HS2 procurements

Following on from the Government’s decision to cancel Phase 2 last year, there is a significant reorganisation happening inside HS2 Ltd, including a rumour in the Financial Times that the company might get absorbed into the Department for Transport.

The contracts for “Railway Systems” (such as the track, traction power systems, the overhead catenary system, operational mobile radio network and train management systems) were expected to be placed in September. We understand that the companies and products have been selected but the funds have not yet been approved by the Treasury. However, HS2 managed to place a six year contract for the evaluation of the archaeological artefacts, leading to their eventual distribution to local museums.

HS2 announced that “The outcomes of the research and knowledge gained will be shared across a range of media, including books, lectures, exhibitions, social media and other online resources. The vast digital archive generated will be deposited with the Archaeology Data Service providing an unparalleled and free-to-access resource for everyone.”

Issues with HS2?

If you’re affected by the construction activity, please contact the HS2 Helpdesk team on 08081 434 434 (which is available 24 hours a day) or email hs2enquiries@hs2.org.uk to get your issues resolved. It helps if you have photographic evidence and please get a complaint reference number so that we can follow up issues as needed.

Need

our help?

If you need further help, want to join us, or have ideas and suggestions that would mitigate the community impact, then get in touch at enquiries@whs2.org.

Laura Kirke-Smith (centre), met with Andy Band (left) and Murray Cooke (right) Photo: courtesy of Laura Kirke-Smith’s office.

The ‘Big Hole’ at Bacombe Lane

Photo: HS2/EKFB

Club Corner

Pickleball has landed in Halton!

It’s always good to have a cryptic headline somewhere in Wendover News. We’ll just throw this one out here and leave you to ponder. What is pickleball? Clues: It’s not a scotch egg with Branstons smeared all over it. Neither is it a ballgame so confusing that you get into a bit of a pickle when you play it.

Photo: Alan Hutcherson

For those well-read people who know what it is: classes in pickleball are now available at Halton Tennis club. You can sign up for a class by calling 01296 623453 or going to www.haltontennis.co.uk/pickleball For those readers to whom it is a complete mystery, we will explain in full in the forthcoming Bumper Christmas & New Year issue. It might be something you want to put on your list of New Year’s resolutions.

Wendover Cricket Club

Wendover Cricket Club ended the season on 21 September with an inter-club tournament at Witchell. Afterwards the season’s awards were presented to:

James Harrington – Batting (672 runs at average 61); Jonathan Seabrook – Bowling (30 wickets at average 15); Andy Glazebrook – Fielding, (11 catches and five stumpings);

The Ibrahami brothers receiving their Clubman medals from club President Iain Digby

Nathaniel Clark – Young Player;

Marc Weltenius – Silver Bail for personal best batting of 60 & 111; Clubman – jointly Ahmed, Faisal and Sahil Ibrahami. Individual team awards were:

1st XI – Tom McPartlan; 2nd XI – James Harrington and George Jackson; A XI – Nick Roberts & Faisal Ibrahami.

Wendover Swimming Pool

Would you like to see public sessions available more regularly at The Wendover Swimming Pool? Could you spare the weekend of 23-24 November 2024 to qualify as a NRASTC lifeguard? The pool will pay for your training in exchange for your commitment to help at two sessions per month for the duration of your qualification (two years). We have session times weekday mornings, weekday evenings and weekend afternoons. If you are interested, email mel@ wendoverswimmingpool.co.uk

Wendover Bowls Club

Don Knight writes: Having said that the gentlemen were well beaten by the ladies last year I’m happy to report that order was restored this year with a handsome win for the men. I expect that the ladies will demand a handicap against the men next year, but for the next

Swimming in Wendover!

Did you know that Wendover has a swimming pool on the schools campus at Wharf Road? It’s a volunteer-run charity and has public swimming sessions every day. here are free and paid memberships available, and bookings are fully online ore information, membership and booking at www wendoverswimmingpool co uk

Photo: Chris Hunt

12 months they can enjoy the huge wooden spoon trophy that hangs above the ladies’ changing room door. The final fling of this trying outdoor season was a win for the Chairman’s team against the Captain.

Our poor green is looking very sad at the moment with quite a few bare patches. We took expert advice and a fairly drastic course of work will be carried out over the winter. It is such a shame as just a few years ago it was as good as any in the County. Let’s hope that the work will mean that we will bowl on grass next year rather than a mix of grass and sandy patches. I just hope the foxes, squirrels and rooks read this and give us a break.

Now we go into a full fixture list of indoor matches against local clubs. Colonies of spiders have been made homeless as our indoor mats are reinstated in the clubroom. It takes a while to get used to sending your bowl ten or twelve metres on a mat rather than thirty odd metres on grass. The indoor season also puts additional strain on the Social Secretary as he thinks up ways to keep our members entertained. Next time I hope to be able to report on the work in progress on the green and also how the start of the season has gone.

Wendover Youth Centre

Veteran marathon runner Jolanta Kam has signed up run the London Marathon to raise money for the Youth Centre next April. If you would like to find out more about her, or pledge suppport, go to https://bit.ly/4halohJ.

Why not write about your club, society, group or section?

Our Club Corner section every month is often filled with lively and fun accounts of what our local interest groups have been getting up to. Whether it’s a sports club, youth organisation, craft group, book club or tiddlywinks society – there’s usually something interesting or exciting going on. When people gather for a common interest or hobby, good things happen. People will be interested in your achievements and successes. Often, they will want to know a bit about a group before they are prepared to pluck up the courage to make contact or attend a first meeting.

Do please consider sending your club or group news for inclusion from time-to-time. For ideas of how to get started, email newsdesk@ wendovernews.org.

into my harness. We all got into the plane and climbed to 13,000 feet. There were 10 people doing the dive and I happened to be the first one out of the plane. As I jumped out, I was in cloud, but once through that it was so clear you could see for miles. The instructor started twirling me round but I asked him to stop as that was bit

too much. The landing was easy and all the family cheered. It was a great experience and I’m glad I did it. I managed to raise over £3,500.

Your local Aerial and Satellite Specialist Old Aerial & Satellite removal service including old cables and clips. Call Rob: 01296 330621 / 07816 659644 rob@justaerials.co.uk Skydiving for a cause:

Sue Tichener writes: Over Christmas dinner last year, I mentioned to my son that I had always wanted to do a skydive. Before I knew it, he had persuaded me to do one and I decided to do it for charity.

On 13 July this year, which happened to be our wedding anniversary, I did the Tandem Skydive at Hinton Skydiving Centre, with all my family there to support me. The day was cloudy but fine and after our 20 minutes training I was introduced to my partner and was fitted

FRANK FENNELL

The reason I chose Wendover Dementia Support as one of my charities is that they give people like Dave and myself so much support on our journey of dementia. They are always there to listen and help you through a bad day. All the volunteers are so caring and supportive. Thank you, Wendover Café, for everything you do for us all.

If you know someone living locally with dementia who needs support, contact Wendover Dementia Support: www.wendoverds.org or 07732 342409

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Tribute: Margaret Seabrook

Margaret Long was born in Lichfield in 1925, the second of three children, who lived above the family drapers shop in Market Street. She attended the local school and in 1943 went to study Domestic Science & Education at Atholl Crescent College, Edinburgh. In 1943 she attended the VE Day celebrations in Edinburgh, attended by Winston Churchill, the King, Queen and Princesses Margaret and Elizabeth. Many years later she attended her cohort’s 50th reunion and, prior to her death, was still in touch with the last other remaining student from her year group.

In 1946 Margaret visited Oxford to see her brother John, where she first met a fellow student – a politically-minded, WWII veteran called Tony Seabrook. Later they all attended farm camps to help with the harvest; memorably the group of 12 once cycled to see sunrise at Stonehenge on the Summer Solstice. Subsequently four couples in the 12 got married, including Margaret and Tony at Lichfield in December 1948. Margaret’s first job was at Watford Grammar School for Girls and she was later head of department at Tottenham Girls Grammar School.

In 1954, Tony took over a solicitor’s practice in Aylesbury and they moved to Wendover. In 1959 they moved to New Orchard in Ellesborough Road, which became the family home for the next 35 years. Philip and Jonathan were born in 1954 and 1955, followed by Mary and Alexandra in 1960/62. Margaret’s father also lived with them for 29 years.

domestic science/ home economics, but later switching to teaching Humanities. After her retirement, she took pleasure in meeting people whom she had taught.

The family were long-standing attendees at St Mary’s Church, also Wendover Cricket Club (where both sons play/played) and the Wendover Society. They volunteered for all three organisations. In 1994 and with the children living elsewhere, Tony and Margaret downsized to a smaller house in Wendover and enjoyed a happy retirement together until Tony’s death in 2008. They loved spending time with their three granddaughters.

After Tony’s death, Margaret spent more time with her brother John, going on European holidays with him and visiting her children in Chingford, Wivenhoe and France, and on visits with family and friends. She took an active part in community life in Wendover, including volunteering for years with Noah’s Ark, a church-run playgroup for young children, where she loved meeting the children and their parents. She was also part of the Church’s flower arranging group, remaining an active member on the rota until her death. During the Covid lockdown, she participated in the Youth Club’s pen pal scheme.

In 2023, aged 97, she had a knee replacement, which allowed her to regain full mobility without pain, and to resume driving. Margaret was generally lucky with her health and retained amazing energy and enthusiasm for life right until the end. She stayed in her own home, supported by family and friends, continued to enjoy gardening and was still cooking delicious meals for visitors in her last week. She kept up with all the widespread family, remembering birthdays and anniversaries, and using WhatsApp to talk to her goddaughter in Australia and other family. She died peacefully at home on 7 September.

Margaret loved cooking and gardening, which was fortunate with a large garden and family to feed, and she also entertained many friends and family. 1n 1967, Margaret resumed her teaching career at Halton Junior School, where her daughters started their education and she taught needlework. She later moved to John Colet, teaching

Margaret’s family has been touched to read/hear of so many tributes including from former pupils still cooking the recipes she taught them; this would have delighted her. More memories of Margaret’s life can be found at https://margaretseabrook.muchloved.com

The views expressed by contributors are their own and not necessarily the views of the editor. If you have a complaint or concern about content in Wendover News, please visit www.wendovernews.co.uk/complaints Postal address only – no visitors: 11 Manor Road, Wendover, HP22 6HL

When you have finished reading this edition of Wendover News, please pass it on to a friend or recycle it responsibly.

Jonathan Seabrook

Wendover Parish CouncilView from the Clock Tower

Looking for new Councillors

As mentioned in the last edition of the View From the Clocktower, we are looking for new councillors. In the early part of November you will see formal advertising and application dates to be part of Wendover Parish Council, but if you are interested please visit www.wendover-pc.gov.uk/vacancies for more information on being a councillor. We welcome all interests, but would be particularly interested to hear from people who can represent Princess Mary Gate or who would like to support our Skatepark team.

Shop Local this Christmas

Wendover High Street and Wendover-based businesses offer a wide range of high-quality products and services. As the lead-up to Christmas is starting, we want to urge Wendover residents to shop locally where they can this year.

The Council, through the Welcome to Wendover website, will be sharing information about events and opening hours for Wendover businesses this festive season, so keep an eye out for that on www. welcometowendover.co.uk.

Vandalism

It is sad that we have to write about this again. At the October Parish Council it was

Wendover Local Produce Market

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reported that the direct cost of vandalism in repairs since 1 April 2024 is now very close to £6,000. This does not include the staff time in ensuring the repairs are made and making repairs to equipment that do not require

purchase of materials. In total we estimate that this year vandalism will have cost us close to £20,000 in direct staff time, materials and external contractors. If this trend continues it will reach £34,000 for the full year.

It is easy to demonise a certain demographic, but there is a great deal of evidence that it is our teenagers who are involved. As a Parish Council we respect their rights and needs

Sunday Church Services in Wendover

• St Anne’s: 9am Mass • St Mary’s: 9am and 10.45am • Wendover Free Church: 10.45am

and are desperate to upgrade our facilities to give young people a focus (the skatepark) . In return it would be appreciated if they respect their responsibilities to the community in which they live.

As a raw cost this would add 8.75% to the bill (about £10 a year) but in reality what it does is take away time and money from other projects for positive improvements to the community.

Library in the Clock Tower

Moving on - It has been wonderful to share our Clock Tower with the community again as the Library operates a click-and-collect service three days a week – Tuesdays, Thursdays and Fridays only, from 10:00am to 14:00pm.

The fantastic staff and volunteers have been kept very busy as the Community Library building is being refurbished. Can we just ask that you take a note of the opening hours as we can’t take books on behalf of the library and some books have been damaged being pushed through the letterbox. Do feel free to come down and have a chat with the library staff about the services they offer and have a good nosey around our little base.

Parish Council Meetings Tuesday 5 November, 7:30pm St Anne's Hall Aylesbury Road HP22 6JG Information about upcoming meetings: www.wendover-pc.gov.uk

Parish Council, The Clock Tower, High Street, Wendover HP22 6DU www.wendover-pc.gov.uk clerk@wendover-pc.gov.uk 01296 623056