Buckinghamshire
Framers Court, Lane End, High Wycombe
Lane End as one might suppose, takes its name from the “end of the lane” from Marlow, - although some say from Wycombe! Either way, Lane End is an attractive village set high in the Chilterns amongst rolling hills, farm land and beech woods. It is a vibrant, active village with its duck ponds, a collection of good village pubs, butchers, hairdresser, supermarket and newsagents, served by Holy Trinity Church in nearby Ditchfield Common. This is ideal “walking” country with a network of footpaths linking it to beautiful nearby villages. Lane End dates from Victorian times, its principle industry being chair making linked with the local craft of “bodgering” or chair turning, carried out by local men, working in the woods using lathes. The iron foundry and agriculture supplied most of the other jobs to be had – whilst local wheat and barley supplied the breweries of Marlow and Henley. The nearest main shopping centres are at Marlow on the Thames (4 miles) and the “out of town” shopping and leisure centre at Cressex (3 miles). Communications to and from Lane End are excellent The M40 at Junction 4 is less than 2 miles to the North: whilst the M4, at Junction 8/9, is only 9 miles to the South. A regular train service links High Wycombe (6 miles) to London, Marylebone. A less frequent one links Marlow (4 miles) to London, Paddington.
St Mary's Court, Beaconsfield
Beaconsfield is a busy market town, 25 miles West of London, in the Chiltern hills. The surrounding countryside is largely arable, but small beech forests still remain. “The “old town” is striking from the spaciousness of its street lined thoroughfare containing many good examples of 18th century red brick houses, many being older timber structures refaced” ( Buckinghamshire by C.E. Roscoe) It allegedly takes it name, not from the ”field of the beacon” - as many supposed – but from a derivation of the “clearing in the beeches”. In the days of the stagecoach, Beaconsfield was the first “stop” on the road from London to Oxford. A number of the former coaching inns still exist to-day. Old Beaconsfield was for many years the constituency of Benjamin Disraeli, who lived at Wycombe, and who later took the title of Earl of Beaconsfield. Edmund Waller of Hall Barn, (now the home of Lord Burnham) poet and politician, both during and after the Civil War, lived there: as did Edmund Burke and the author G.K. Chesterton all of whom are buried in the churchyard. Beaconsfield “New Town”, now the commercial centre, one mile North of “ Old Town”, was established with the arrival of the railway, at the end of the 20th century - and the creation in 1919, by local Quakers, of Bekenscot, the first “model village”. Since the mid 17th century there had been a significant Quaker influence in the area. William Russell, one of the first Quakers used Jordans farm, in Seer Green, as a Meeting Place in 1659. William Penn, founder of Pennsylvania, worshipped there regularly. His family are all buried at Seer Green. In recent times a number of films and TV productions have been filmed in the area, due to the closeness of Pinewood Studios and the former Beaconsfield Film Studio, which became the National Film and Television School, where many directors and technicians learned their trade. Beaconsfield is a complete town offering a wide range and variety of shops and cultural pursuits – and is home to the Chiltern Shakespeare Company. There is a commuter train service to London, Marylebone: fast trains take 25 minutes. By road exit 2 of the M40 is 5 minutes distant linking London to the North West.