Carols, lights and rubber ducks
THE NEWS earlier this week that Olive Hampton, who facilitated the first Penn and Tylers Green Carols on the Common, had died at the age of 97, prompted Sally Finch to remind me that residents did actually gather to sing carols outside before the first Carols on the Common in 1977. People gathered around a Christmas tree outside the village hall and prayers and readings were conducted by the Rev George Young, the vicar of St Margaret’s in the late 1960s and early 70s.
Sally particularly remembers because her husband Bob, who sadly died a few weeks ago, actually made the first set of light bulbs for the tree. Bob was one of the great characters of the village who loved fiddling with anything electrical or mechanical. His workshop was always full to overflowing with all sorts of bits and bobs but miraculously he knew where everything was.
He was invaluable when we launched the first village Fun Run in 1984. The first race was a half marathon then and it was vital we were able to keep in contact with the head and the tail end of the race. Bob was a great CB radio enthusiast so he roped in his CB mates to send in progress reports to him on the common. Mobiles were a rarity then and the hills and valleys around Penn didn’t make CB reception too good either.
One of his volunteers tried to follow the head of the race on his bike and Bob, standing next to me on a lorry on the common, tried in vain to contact him. “Rubber Duck to Hairy Chicken (I forget the ‘handles’), come in Hairy Chicken”, he patiently repeated. Eventually he made contact…”Hairy Chicken to Rubber Duck, what do you want?”
“Who’s leading Hairy Chicken?”
“How the bloody hell do I know Rubber Duck. I’ve had to get off the bike to answer your call.”
We put the radio man on a milk float the following year, with much more success.
Let there be light
THE VILLAGE Christmas tree is going up a bit earlier than usual this year to try and squeeze out a bit more festive cheer in these trying times. It will appear next Saturday but the fun begins on Sunday the 6th with the grand switch on of the lights.
Normally of course the lights are officially switched on at Carols on the Common with everyone clustered round the tree in the dark ready to go “ooh” or “aah” when the lights suddenly brighten up the night.
Alas, there’s no clustering this year, nor even Carols on the Common… but there will be a switch on for all to see…and, with any luck, it’s going to be a spectacular affair. Keep in touch with this blog and local Facebook pages this week for the details.
Buckinghamshire’s first Lady Lieutenant
COUNTESS Elizabeth Howe, of Penn House in Penn Street, officially became the Lord Lieutenant of Buckinghamshire on Friday, the first woman to hold the role since Henry VIII created it in 1535.
It means that she is the Queen’s official representative in the county, so she has to be on hand whenever any members of the Royal Family step on Buckinghamshire turf. And if the Royals can’t make it to any formal event in the county then she will be there to represent them.
The mother of four takes on the role when many women of her age – she was 65 this month – are looking forward to a comfortable retirement. But retirement doesn’t seem to be a word in the Howe family’s vocabulary. Freddie, her husband of 37 years – the seventh Earl Howe – is deputy leader of the House of Lords and Parliament’s longest serving continuous front bench representative, in both Government and opposition. He started as a Government whip in 1991 and celebrates his 70th birthday in January.
Young star’s Penn links
MEANWHILE. 15 year old actress Dafne Keen, star of the Sunday night BBC drama His Dark Materials, has a Penn connection and is a distant relative of the Howes. Her paternal great-grandfather was the 6th Earl Howe, a second cousin of the present Earl Howe. Her actor father William has also appeared in the series as well as a host of other TV shows ranging from Midsomer Murders to The Crown. Her grandmother, 80 year old Lady Priscilla Curzon, known as Mary, is an accomplished garden writer and designer.
Remembering the ‘wooden wonder’
LAST WEEK marked the 80th anniversary of a wartime success story with considerable local links. On 25 November 1940, the de Havilland Mosquito – the “wooden wonder” as it became known – made its inaugural flight. The bomber went on to become one of the most successful planes of the war.
Designed by Hazlemere born Geoffrey de Havilland, the largely wooden structure was partly developed secretly in Wycombe area furniture factories – including the Dancer and Hearne factory next to the Hit or Miss in Penn Street – because it needed the special skills of experienced woodworkers. De Havilland’s son, also Geoffrey, piloted the first prototype. In just a year it was one of the fastest operational aircraft in the world
Keep an eye out for evil Mekons
THE Government’s plans for a Space Command where battle commanders will direct future civilian and military operations in outer space will be centred in the bunker at the RAF’s Naphill base just over the valley. For those of us old enough to be thrilled by Dan Dare in his fight against the evil Mekons in the Eagle comic, this is exciting stuff. Never in our wildest dreams did we imagine that Dan was based in High Wycombe!