Q is for Quirky

Why should you want to explore the quintessential quirky, uncrowded, rolling green English countryside of the Chilterns, with pretty villages, local pubs and tasty restaurants?

That question may well have all answers you need.

The Chilterns are not a place that is on the tip of everyone’s tongue, despite being located in the distinctive green space between London’s Metroland and Oxford to the north west of London.

I have spent almost six years capturing local moods, the magnificent and the mundane, searching for what makes this region distinctive and special. I never go for the obvious: instead, I look to capture a moment that will most likely be gone the next time I visit. I delight in the fact that I keep discovering new and wonderful things - no two visits are the same. I wander through historic landscapes, try not to hurry through busy town centres, mooch around castles and country houses, stop in quiet graveyards and tucked-away churches. A masterplan there is not, only to listen, look and share the stories that are all around us. This week, is the turn of the letter Q for Quirky in our A to Z journey of discovery. In no particular order, the places included below have captured my imagination.

Saved by the Crash!

Once an important stop for weary travellers heading too and from London by stagecoach along pitted and muddy roads, West Wycombe high street was packed with 17 hospitality options, although chances are you’d have had to share your bed with a stranger or two. Today you can still enjoy a glass of something local in the one of the tea shops or pubs. At least that hasn’t changed, along with the potholes!

This tiny village that hugs the hillside, manages to miss the High Wycombe sprawl. It looks just like a film set; steep lanes, wobbly windows festooned with impressive cobwebs, doorways for tiny residents and unexpected passageways. All authentic, medieval properties, re-purposed for 21st century life. How come there are no ghastly 1960’s office blocks or betting shops along this delightful high street? Through a fortunate chain of events that started in New York and the Wall Street Crash of 1929, West Wycombe village was sold by the Dashwood family to the Royal Society for the Encouragement of Arts, Manufactures and Commerce (better known as the Royal Society of Arts), as part of the Society's "Campaign for the Preservation of Ancient Cottages". In 1934, the Society handed the village to the National Trust, which is why so many original 16th - 18th century facings still exist. Some of these cottages are available to rent too. Just imagine!

Keeping quirky and local at Bekonscot

The Chilterns in miniature

In 1928, Mrs Callingham made a short but moving speech which suggested that either the indoor model railway went, or she did. The model railway moved outdoors, and the rest as they say, is history.

If you could take some of the wonderful buildings that make up the Chilterns, and placed them in a reasonably-sized garden in Beaconsfield, to be enjoyed all in one afternoon, you’d have all the ingredients for a magical model village called Bekonscot. Bekonscot’s rural idyll harks back to the bucolic days of the 1930’s, when the green fields of England were just one big glass of warm beer and fuzzy summer days on the village green playing cricket. And that is the time warp in which the model village has made its home.

Created by local resident Roland Callingham with the help of his gardener, cook, maid and chauffeur, they created a world of what was local and familiar which he named Bekonscot Model Village. It was never intended as a commercial visitor attraction, but more a hobby. It was only after 1930 that it really caught the wider public’s imagination, fed by Pathé newsreels, extensive press coverage and a Royal visitor or two, that ensured a steady stream of visitors ever since. Over 2.5 million I believe.

We, the Nation, are grateful

Goblins Glen, Deadman’s Lane, Rotmoor Shaw and Drunken Bottom are some of the place names that surround beautiful Nuffield. A place rich in character and typical of Chilterns history, this modest, intriguing and tucked away home is in a beautiful place you have probably near heard of. Designed by Oswald Partridge Milne, this Arts and Crafts house was built in 1914. When Lord and Lady Nuffield purchased the house in 1933, they renamed it Nuffield Place after the nearby village. Refreshingly unpretentious, very personal and seems to have escaped being ‘done over’ to appeal to the historic house visitor demographic who often needs tips on lifestyle enhancement and all-round heritage self-help. This is a fairly recent acquisition by the National Trust and came very close to being sold, but for Nuffield College (the college he founded), who handed the house to the nation in 2011. We are grateful!

This great philanthropist who gave upwards of £600 million in today’s money to big medical research projects, also gave quite touching donations locally. He bought a supply of wedding dresses that he kept in one of his shops for wartime brides who, for whatever reason, could borrow to wear for their wedding. You can read the letters from grateful couples who told of what would have been an otherwise drab day had been sprinkled with glamour.

Fresh as paint

Described on TripAdvisor as ‘fresh as paint’ I was interested to see the Maharajah’s Well in nearby Stoke Row and discover why a 19th century Maharajah felt compelled to make such an extraordinary gesture to ensure a free, clean water supply to a small Chilterns community. Hang on, shouldn’t that be the other way around? Wasn’t Britain usually the one dispensing largesse to the less fortunate in far-flung colonies? Apparently not. Read about the Well here.

Adults and cygnets are weighed and counted

The King’s Swan Marker

The historic Swan Upping ceremony has to be included on this list. It dates from the 12th century, when the Crown claimed ownership of all mute swans – a dish once prized at banquets and feasts. No longer eaten, the Crown retains the right to ownership of all unmarked mute swans in open water, but The King only exercises his ownership on certain stretches of the Thames and its surrounding tributaries in this annual July swan census. On a five-day trip between Sunbury and Abingdon, once rounded up, the birds are weighed, measured and examined for any sign of injury caused by fishing hooks and line. For this year’s dates and times.

Why should you visit our quintessential, uncrowded, rolling shades of green English countryside, with its impressive selection of museums, villages, pubs and restaurants? That question may well have all the answers you need. Enjoy your time discovering our best bits.

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The next A to Z instalment is R for the Royston Cave.

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