I KNOW I bang on a bit about the ridiculous boundary we have in the village, so it’s rather reassuring to know that the high and mighty get confused too.
On the Friday before the Chesham and Amersham by-election my friend Ron Saunders was walking along the west side of Elm Road, Penn when coming towards him was the immaculately dressed, impeccably well-mannered Jacob Rees-Mogg MP with an armful of election phamphlets.
“Good morning,” said the Leader of the House of Commons and Lord President of the Privy Council, proffering a leaflet, “would you care for one of these?”
“That’s very kind,” said Ron, “but perhaps I should point out you are canvassing in the wrong constituency. At the moment you’re in Wycombe, where Steve Baker is the MP. The election in Chesham and Amersham is on the other side of the road.”
“Ah,” said the Mogg, as he is known to Westminster watchers, “thank you very much for that information.” And with that and a few kind words about his ‘great friend Steve’, he hailed his son Peter, also stuffing leaflets through the wrong doors, and off they went to fight a losing battle as it turned out, but at least in the right constituency.
Changes to Mary Berry’s old home
THE new owners of Mary Berry’s former home, Watercroft in Church Road, Penn, are applying for planning permission to make a number of changes to the Grade 2 listed house.
The changes are nearly all internal and involve adding a seventh bedroom, but planning advisors to the new owners, Mr and Mrs A. Patten, insist the plans will not affect the property’s key position in the Penn and Tylers Green Conservation Area. The property has quite a history. The house was built just over 200 years ago and the adjoining coach house and brewhouse around 20 years later.
Mary and her husband Paul Hunnings sold Watercroft a couple of years ago and moved to Henley. They lived in Penn for 40 years and still attend Holy Trinity Church in the village.
No doubt Mary will be relieved to learn the proposed alterations don’t affect her greatly loved kitchen with its four oven Aga and magnificent walk-in fridge. The plans are due to be considered by the council next month.
Coronavirus update
New cases leap – There has been a 35 per cent increase in the number of new Covid cases in the Wycombe area this week…a total of 454 new cases in the seven days to Friday 9 July. In the week to 4 July ten people were admitted to hospital with Covid compared to two the week before.There have been no Covid-related deaths recorded in the county since 11 June.
The latest figures for our immediate area show that in the seven days to 4 July there were 35 new cases in the area that includes Penn; 23 in Tylers Green and 17 in Hazlemere. This is a percentage increase above the national average.
Fete cancelled – The organisers of Hazlemere Fete have decided against holding the August Bank Holiday event this year, partly because of lack of preparation time.
Theatres prepare –Wycombe Swan says it will reopen with no restrictions on audience numbers on Wednesday 25 August, with a show by comedienne Sarah Millican. Aylesbury Waterside says it will make a statement after Monday, when it is expected the Government will confirm the lifting of restrictions on 19 July.
Windsor Theatre Royal says it will maintain restricted, socially distanced audiences for its production of Hamlet until 19 Juiy, but expects to make a further announcement next week.
Birth centre stays shut – The Wycombe Birth Centre, which has been closed since March last year because of the pandemic, is unlikely to reopen until the end of this year because of a shortage of midwives. The Bucks NHS Trust said it is planning a midwives recruitment campaign during the summer.
Comedy returns – The Potters Arms at Winchmore Hill is resuming its comedy nights with a three day comedy festival over the August Bank Holiday weekend.
Tea and cakes – Cream teas are resuming at Holy Trinity Church in Penn Street on Sunday afternoons between 3pm and 5pm for the rest of the summer.
Local news
Burglary concern – A council survey shows that burglary is the biggest concern amongst residents in the Penn and Tylers Green area (named by 30 per cent of respondents) even though in reality the numbers of burglaries are low.
Latest figures show there were four reported burglaries in the Tylers Green area and five in the Penn area in May, the seventh highest category of crime. Violence and sex offences were top in both areas with 34 and 46 reported crimes respectively.
Name rejected – The council has rejected naming one of the new streets on the Wilton Park estate in Beaconsfield after the author Sir Terry Pratchett, who was born in Knotty Green. Street names in honour of people can only be considered once they are dead for a minimum 20 years unless there is written consent from the next of kin.
Euro excitement – All the white mini-roundabout humps between here and Wycombe have been painted with a red cross by anonymous fans as a show of support for England reaching the finals of football’s European Championship. Most local pubs and sports clubs showing Sunday’s final against Italy have been sold out for days.
New legal threat as HS2 drilling expands
A SECOND giant drilling machine began its boring operations under the Chilterns this week to create a dual tunnel for HS2 with question marks still hanging over the danger the drilling poses to our local water supply.
The high speed rail company insists there is no danger to water supply as the boring machines take three years to drill through 10 miles of fragile chalk and water courses but the Environment Agency, who gave permission for the drilling to go ahead, is so far refusing to give details of how it reached the decision.
A group of local environmentalists have formed a company – Misbourne Environmental Protection Ltd – with the intention of seeking a judicial review into the process of the Agency’s approval.
HS2 says the drilling machines are creating a seal as they progress which will stabilise the chalk around the tunnels. But environmentalists, backed by some geologists, say the material being used to create the seal is hazardous and could pollute the local water supply. They also say the vibrations caused by the drilling could disturb water courses, putting rare chalk streams like the River Misbourne in danger of disappearing.
Preparing for take-off
Welcome to the world – these three baby peregrines survey the world from their perch high up All Saints Church in Marlow as they prepare for their first flight. Their parents made full use of a breeding platform built by a local wildlife group.
Although a good year for peregrines (another fledged from the roof of county hall in Aylesbury this summer) there’s been a noticeable reduction in the numbers of swallows and house martins in the village and in many other parts of the country this summer. Experts put it down to a major storm over Greece in April which killed thousands of migrating birds, plus the destruction of reed beds in South Africa where millions of birds roost in the winter.