Buckinghamshire Places (15) : Cheddington

Cheddington is a village at the eastern edge of the county, north east of Aylesbury. The village is listed in the Domesday Book as Cetendone which means Cetta's Hill in Old English. There has been settlement in the area since at least the Iron Age with the remains of a fort found near the village.

Cheddington has remained a small-ish village in a mainly agricultural area. The parish church of St Giles has Norman origins. Cheddington railway station opened in 1838 on what is now known as the West Coast Main Line. 

In more recent times Cheddington has become known due to crime. Cheddington was close to the location of the Great Train Robbery in 1963. A couple of decades later in 1984, Cheddington was the location of the first attack by the violent rapist known as The Fox. In happier news, in more recent times Cheddington has won awards for the best kept village in Buckinghamshire!

Kenilworth

Yesterday i headed to Kenilworth for the first time in a couple of years. I needed to update my images of the station for my forthcoming second railway book (on Warwickshire stations). I thought i'd also take some other photographs around the town, including a few things i have not seen before. You can see my photos here.

Churches (227) : St Denis, Morton

The parish church of St Denis in the village of Morton in Nottinghamshire dates from 1756. The church has a nave and chancel with a small apse. There is a west tower with four stages and a vestry on the north side of the church.

The church is built from brick with a stone dressing.

Two down, three to go

Project deblogification continues, the Typewriters blog has now had it's last update. Instead, fans of retro office technology such as typewriters, calculators and dialphones can get their fix at my dedicated website.  I have three more blogs to retire and transfer to the website though there will probably be a bit of a gap before the next retirement.

Through Boxhill

An idyllic Surrey scene as a Southern train heads through Boxhill & Westhumble.

Buckinghamshire Places (14) : Woburn Sands

The town of Woburn Sands is near Milton Keynes and is also on the county's border with Bedfordshire. The name is derived from nearby Woburn in Bedfordshire and local sandy soil in the area. This name is a fairly recent change though as the original name of the village was Hogsty End but by Victorian times the name was considered inappropriate!

Settlement has been in the area since the Iron Age at least, remains of a fort from about 500BC having been found nearby. The settlement grew very slowly, and was not mentioned in the Domesday Book. For most of Woburn Sands' history the mining of Fullers earth was the major industry in the area.

Woburn Sands (or rather Hogsty End) was a hamlet of nearby Wavendon and became a separate parish in 1867. It became a town in the early 1970s. The church of St Michael is over the county border in the area known as Aspley Heath and was consecreted in 1868. Woburn Sands railway station was opened in 1846.

Great Missenden

For this week's trip, and for the third week in a row, i headed off down to Buckinghamshire. This time i went somewhere new, the rather lovely village of Great Missenden. This is a jolly place full of nice looking (and no doubt very expensive) houses and cottages as well as a rather fine church. You can see my photos here.

Churches (226) : St Peter, Wolverhampton

The Collegiate church of St Peter is a large church in the centre of Wolverhampton. The church has Saxon origins though the oldest parts of the current church date from the 13th century, the crossing and south transept (of the cruciform layout). The nave dates from the 15th century, as does the tower and north transept and chancel. The church has a six bay aisled nave and a four bay chancel.

The church was a chapel royal for many years and a royal peculiar which meant it was independent of the local diocese and even the Province of Canterbury. 

Double Denham

Last weekend i headed down to Buckinghamshire again, but this time the weather wasn't too bad. I went to Denham to visit Denham Golf Club railway station for the first time, and then i walked (mostly public footpaths) to Denham Green and the other Denham station (though this one i have been to before). You can see my photos here.

Evero departure

A new Avanti West Coast Evero 805 unit on test at Stafford.

Buckinghamshire Places (13) : Saunderton

The village of Saunderton is near to Princes Risborough, though also occupies an area a few miles away where Saunderton railway station is located. The village was listed in the Domesday Book as Santesdune which may mean the name is derived from the Old English for Saint's Hill. The oldest settlements in the area date from the Iron Age such as on Lodge Hill. Traces of a Roman villa have also been discovered near to the parish church.

The oldest building in the village is the parish church which dates from 1227. The church was dedicated to St Mary with a second parish church dedicated to St Nicholas. The other church fell into decay and was demolished in 1452, St Mary's was rededicated to St Mary and St Nicholas.

A workhouse was established in Saunderton in the 18th century, this became the main workhouse for the Union of High Wycombe in Victorian times.

Saunderton railway station was opened in 1901. It was opened over two miles away from the centre of the village, housing has now been built around the station. The station's main building was burned down by the Suffragettes in 1913.

Deblogification begins

After a number of years of heavy duty blogging on a number of blogs, including this one of course, i have decided to cut back my blogging activity dramatically. Indeed, i plan to only keep updating this one in the long-term. I am going to replace the other blogs with sections of my new web site, starting with the Calling At stations blog which had it's last update this week. Going forward, new stations and updates will only appear on my Railway stations website.

There are a number of reasons for this process of deblogification (is that a word?) Blogger only really changes for the worst, making things harder or more tedious to do. I also do not have as much control over the blog, even with a lot of CSS customisation, as i do over my own website. Plus, i want to try and keep my web design skills relevant and fresh as i do not do this much at work anymore.

So, by about the end of next year the deblogification process should be completed. Until then updates will continue on the blogs though the website is where the real action is.

Church update : St John the Baptist, Henley-in-Arden

The church of St John the Baptist is on the Henley-in-Arden high street next to the Guild Hall. On a recent visit to the town i was delighted to discover that the church was open and so was able to look inside. It in fine condition inside, just liike the outside really.

Departing Oxshott

Heading for Guildford.

Model week : trouble-shooting

The second attempt at the track layout seems to be working well with some derailments and uncouplings being fixed by some minor changes and improvements to how the track lies on the board. The Class 22 and the Class 33 are both being used for testing. Next step will be to finalise the sidings and nail those down too.

Monks and Princes Risborough

On Saturday i headed down to Buckinghamshire. Its been some time since i last visited Monks Risborough, so i did. Unfortunately, the weather was terrible with heavy rain at times but never mind, i was still able to get some photos in both Monks and Princes Risboroughs! You can see my photos here.

Buckinghamshire Places (12) : Bow Brickhill

Bow Brickhill is a village in the east of the county and also an outlying part of Milton Keynes. Bow Brickhill is much older though, it's name derived from the Brythonic and Old English for hill (breg hill), the Bow is Saxon and derived from the name Bolla.

The village's name has changed over the centuries, the earliest records from the 11th century list it as Brichelle and Bolbryghyll in the 15th. The oldest building in the village is the parish church All Saints which stands on a steep hill which overlooks the village, the church dates from the 12th century. A somewhat newer building in the outskirts of the village is the Red Bull Formula 1 team's headquarters!

The village is served by a railway station on the Marston Vale Line.

Church update: St Mary Magdalene, Tanworth-in-Arden

A few weeks ago i had the opportunity to return to Tanworth-in-Arden and see again it's fine medieval church dedicated to St Mary Magdalene. The church was open so i was able to have a look inside. I particularly enjoyed the tiles!

Ambergate

It's been some time since i visited Ambergate in Derbyshire, one of my favourite places, so at the weekend i did just so! I had a walk along the Cromford Canal and also around near the station. Nothing new though enjoyable all the same. You can see my Ambergate photos here and the Cromford Canal photos here.