The Francis Frith Collection.
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Prestwood

Prestwood photos (4 available)

Old photo of Prestwood

Prestwood maps (2 available)

Old map of Prestwood

Prestwood books (6 available)

Prestwood memories

The Chequers

Prestwood, the Chequers c1965

At the age of 16 I remember picking cherries on the trees (still existing in the photo and just shown to the left of the picture) while being too embarrassed/shy to acknowledge the presence of my first "girlfriend", Valery, on her bike below.
The Chequers was my fathers local from the mid twenties until the mid eighties. He hardly missed an evening's visit during the whole of that time, so the Chequers became a rather "looming" object throughout my childhood, rather like a third (naughty) parent. But it did provide the odd Vimto and packet of Smith's crisps in the late forties/early fifties.
Contributed by Roy Taylor

Buckinghamshire memories

The Chequers

Prestwood, the Chequers c1965

At the age of 16 I remember picking cherries on the trees (still existing in the photo and just shown to the left of the picture) while being too embarrassed/shy to acknowledge the presence of my first "girlfriend", Valery, on her bike below.
The Chequers was my fathers local from the mid twenties until the mid eighties. He hardly missed an evening's visit during the whole of that time, so the Chequers became a rather "looming" object throughout my childhood, rather like a third (naughty) parent. But it did provide the odd Vimto and packet of Smith's crisps in the late forties/early fifties.
A memory of Prestwood contributed by Roy Taylor

The most interesting gents barbers in the world

Hazlemere, the Cross Roads c1960

Probably just behind the photographer was an old fashioned mens barber shop. All the old men would go there for a haircut and mums would take their sons too. What the mums never knew is that when you sat in the alcove to have your hair washed there were numerous naughty pictures that could only be seen from in there. I wonder if any boy ever told his mum what he'd seen?
A memory of Hazlemere contributed by Donald Macdonald

william russell wilson bligh

William Russell Wilson Bligh came to Australia and was living with his Uncle Sir Maurice O'Connell at Tarmons in Sydney in 1845. I have a copy of a letter written that expresses her concerns about her 18year old son and the way he is neglecting his family duty by not paying his uncle his due from his newly earned wages. He joined the Civil Service and was appointed the 1st Clerk of Petty Sessions in Armidale New South Wales in 1847. He was later dismissed by the Cowper Government in March 1859. He then went to live in Sydney and later retired to his cottage Whiteleaf Cross in the Blue Mountains, said to be named after the place where the ...read more here
A memory of Whiteleaf contributed by gloria bligh

Extracts From Prestwood & Buckinghamshire books

High Wycombe, view from the Guildhall c1955

From the arches of the Georgian Guildhall the camera looks down White Hart Street. The buildings on the right replace medieval market place encroachment. On the left the open area was until 1947 occupied by fine 16th- and 17th-century timber-framed buildings, unforgivably demolished for an aborted road improvement scheme.
An extract from from"High Wycombe - A History & Celebration".

High Wycombe, Frogmore Square 1921

The ancient open space of Frogmoor had from 1877 until the Second World War a fine cast-iron fountain and well trimmed trees. Note the four gables of the old Hen and Chickens on the left (rebuilt in 1888).
An extract from from"High Wycombe - A History & Celebration".

High Wycombe, the Abbey 1906

IN 1801, according to the first national census, the borough had a population of 2,349 consisting of 565 families living in 448 houses, while the rest of the town, the ancient ‘foreigns’, had a further 1,899 people, 397 families living in 370 houses.
An extract from from"High Wycombe - A History & Celebration".

High Wycombe, Hughenden Manor 1906

Arthur Vernon, Architect and Mayor The career of Arthur Vernon, architect and JP, born in 1846, is a good example of Wycombe’s new class of industrialists and professionals. In 1870, having finished his training with the architect E B Lamb, he succeeded his father as land agent to the Earl of Beaconsfield (the ennobled Benjamin Disraeli) at Hughenden, and was appointed JP in 1875. Elected a town councillor and alderman in 1870, he was elected to Buckinghamshire County Council at its inception in 1889 and appointed a magistrate for the county in 1895. Elected mayor for the first time in 1882, he was mayor again in 1883, 1891, 1905 and 1906. He was president of the Chamber of Commerce from 1899 to 1906, a captain of Wycombe Fire Brigade from its founding in 1868 until 1881, and President of the Surveyors Institution in 1902–03. In between all this he found time to design very many buildings in the town besides the Grammar School and Priory Road School. These included a temperance hall in Flackwell Heath, a lodge for Hughenden, schools, buildings in the town centre, churches, the former Conservative Club at No 28 High Street of 1897, and many houses.
An extract from from"High Wycombe - A History & Celebration".

High Wycombe, Wycombe Abbey School c1955

From the arches of the Georgian Guildhall the camera looks down White Hart Street. The buildings on the right replace medieval market place encroachment. On the left the open area was until 1947 occupied by fine 16th- and 17th-century timber-framed buildings, unforgivably demolished for an aborted road improvement scheme.
An extract from from"High Wycombe - A History & Celebration".