IT IS one of the most familiar buildings in Penn – so tiny it is lovingly called The Doll’s House.
But after laying empty and unused for five years The Doll’s House is looking pretty forlorn.
And its Lilliputian scale means it is having problems adapting to the 21st century world of rules and regulations.
Last month planners rejected the latest scheme to convert the former butcher’s-cum-estate agent’s into a two bedroom flat.
With no outside amenity space and with French doors and a bedroom window that would face directly onto a neighbouring apartment, the scheme would contravene a fistful of policies relating to privacy and amenity Buckinghamshire Council said. It could even contravene the Human Rights Act’s clauses about the right to privacy.
It has taken applicant Anthony Thompson years to persuade the council that the former shop on the corner of Elm Road and Church Road, Penn is no longer viable as a commercial premises. Now he has a fresh headache.
‘Lovely, warm and welcoming’: Ofsted’s praise for Tylers Green First School
THE RESULTS of an Ofsted inspection of Tylers Green First School published last month finds plenty to praise at the school but says improvements are needed in some aspects of its curriculum.
The report is the first to be carried out at the school under a new system where Ofsted – the Office for Standards in Education – does not give an “outstanding”, “good” , “requires improvement” or “inadequate” grading.
Instead it gives a resume of the schools activities, identifying what it does well and where it needs to do better. The school was rated “good” at its previous full inspection eight years ago.
The Ofsted inspector, David Harris, said the school has a “lovely, warm, welcoming feel” with “a strong sense of community within the school and beyond.”
He said pupils understand the importance of good manners and being kind to each other and relationships between staff and pupils is “supportive and trusting”. Overall, the children achieve well. Reading is “at the forefront of the curriculum” and is “taught well.”
Mr Harris said pastoral care is a strength of the school and a commitment to develop pupils’ character is strong.
However, Mr Harris said that in a few subjects pupils do not learn as well as they could. Some pupils are not able to recall what they have learned and make links to new learning.
He does not name the subjects but adds: “The school has identified this and there is a clear strategy to develop the curriculum in an organised and structured way.”
You can read the report in full on the Ofsted website on this link https://files.ofsted.gov.uk/v1/file/50264920
Local news
Editor leaves – Cathy O’Leary has stepped down as editor of Village Voice magazine after 18 years. Her son Callum, who designed the magazine, has also moved on. The Penn and Tylers Green Residents’ Society, who publish the bi-monthly, will be appointing a replacement.
Grass cutting – The parish council has agreed to take over responsibility for cutting the grass in public areas in six Tylers Green streets following an offer from Buckinghamshire Council, whose paltry efforts last year attracted criticism. The streets are: The Greenway, Kite Wood Road, Birch Way, Court Lawns, Cherry Tree Way and Chepping Close.
Farewell Judy – Mrs Judy Jones, whose husband Alan was head of the former Penn School, died last month at her care home. Judy was one of the kindest people you could ever wish to meet and devoted herself to the care and wellbeing of the deaf and severely autistic children who attended the school as well as finding time as a full-time mum of three to be involved in many village and church events.
Infilling plan – Nicholas King Homes has submitted plans to demolish Hawthorns in Hammersley Lane, Tylers Green and in its place build six houses – two detached and a pair of semi-detached.
Informal drop-in – Representatives of many of the voluntary, community and sporting groups in Penn and Tylers Green will be available to chat informally to anyone who may wish to join or find out more about their activities at Tylers Green Village Hall on Saturday 22 February, 2025 between 2pm and 4pm.
Funds donated – A donation of £5,500 has been made to the dementia charity, the Lewy Body Society, raised from last year’s Penn 7 and Fun Run. This year’s event is on Saturday 7 June. A Christmas tree festival at Holy Trinity, Penn raised £450 for the Limbless Association. Penn and Tylers Green Scouts have so far raised £1,087 from their Christmas post service in aid of the Unlock Their Words campaign.
Office plans – Plans are to be submitted to convert the existing office space at 18 St John’s Road, Tylers Green into four apartments.
Big Mac openings – McDonalds has applied to keep its new restaurant in Wycombe Retail Park – opposite the London Road/Cock Lane junction – open from 7am to midnight Monday to Saturday and 8am to 11pm on Sundays. The restaurant is scheduled to open next month.
Garage fire – It took crews from four fire engines to extinguish a blaze which destroyed a garage in Red House Close, Forty Green and stop it from spreading.
Homes denied – Plans to build nine homes on the site of the former water pumping station at the end of the narrow section of Cock Lane, Tylers Green (Wycombe end) have been refused.
Station parking – Penn MP Sarah Green has asked the Government to consider the merits of setting limits on car parking charges at railway stations in the same way it does on train fares.
Storm damage – Pre-Christmas gales flattened this tree in Elm Road, Penn, which took a lamp standard with it. The same gale also toppled a tree in Cock Lane, blocking it for a few hours while two trees fell across Holmer Green Road, Hazlemere taking nearly two days to clear. No-one was injured during any of the incidents.
Elsewhere, the gales released tons of flint in the part of the Chilterns being excavated for the HS2 railway. In fact so much debris blew onto the A413 Wendover to Amersham road from the HS2 works the road had to be closed for a short while. The council is in discussions with the HS2 contractors to prevent a reoccurrence.
Fewer staff but longer opening hours proposed for Hazlemere Library
Updated report, 2 January
STAFF attendance at Hazlemere Library, our local library, will be reduced by nearly a third under proposals agreed this month.
However, Buckinghamshire Council says that thanks to technology and volunteers the library’s facilities will be available for an extra nine hours a week.
The library will be open between 10am and 5pm Monday to Saturday (6pm on Thursdays), but only staffed for part of the day (10 – 5 Monday and Tuesday; 10 – 1 Thursday and Saturday; 1 -5 on Fridays and not at all on Wednesdays.)
When staff are not there customers will be able to use self-service technology and gain access to the building via their library card and pin number. The council is hoping volunteers will also be available to help. Security will be increased with more CCTV cameras.
Talks with members of staff will begin this month after the council’s cabinet approved the plan on 2 January. The aim is to save over half a million pounds on the council’s library budget. Similar changes are proposed at the county’s seven other main libraries.
The council aims to introduce the changes from June.
In the longer term the libraries may be used for other purposes when they are not open to the public. At Hazlemere, for instance, groups and businesses, including GP practices, have expressed an interest in using the library for training and staff meetings, while some residents have said they would like to use it as a venue for children’s birthday parties.
Sir William Ramsay School trust takes on its sixth school
THE ACADAMY trust which runs Sir William Ramsay School in Rose Avenue is expanding this month by taking control of its sixth Buckinghamshire school.
The Insignis Trust, an educational charity, has grown rapidly since it took over Sir Henry Floyd Grammar School near Aylesbury eight years ago. It now runs five secondary schools in the county and this month takes on its first primary school, Ashmead Combined School in Aylesbury.
Multi academy trusts are increasing throughout the country. They are free of any local authority control and negotiate directly with the Department for Education for funding.
There have been significant changes at Sir William Ramsay School since the trust took the reins in March last year.
The school was struggling with an “inadequate” rating from Ofsted. A new head, Neil Stocking, clamped down on bad behaviour and bullying; tightened school uniform and timekeeping rules, and appointed a safeguarding officer based at the school, a finance officer and a specialist ‘lead practitioner” for maths.
Last summer the trust obtained funding to rebuild parts of the school where it was felt bullying could take place undetected. The work included improving toilet facilities, making safety improvements and extending the canteen.
Mr Stocking, whom some parents describe on social media as an “inspirational teacher”, ensured mobile phones were locked away in special pouches during the working school day and told local MP Emma Reynolds, who visited last month, that a new reading programme is being introduced.
This year the school is expanding its intake of new Year 7 pupils from 195 to 210. There are 1,037 pupils in total.
Ms Reynolds, who lives in nearby Holmer Green with her husband and two children, and who is a government minister, also spoke with the trust’s chief officer Garret Fay.
The remarkable Mr Burrows
THE SUCCESS of Chris McCausland on TV’s Strictly Come Dancing reminded me of another remarkable blind man here in Penn.
Like Chris, Tom Burrows gradually lost his sight. Yet his determination to carry on as normal drew the respect and admiration of everyone in the village when he first went blind 100 years ago.
He ran a basket weaving business in Beacon Hill and in her diary local resident Violet Becher wrote: “A visit to his workshop finds him squatting comfortably on the floor weaving baskets with a wonderful dexterity.
“I have found him in the days of oil lamps filling the lamps in church and knowing exactly how much they needed. He was so familiar with it he would step into a pew and reach up for the lamp without making a single mistake or letting fall a drop of oil.
“He knows all our voices and responds gaily to one’s salutation as he walks fearlessly and unhesitatingly through the village with his white stick as protection. He loves to show you his garden and tell you about his plants.
“The disability of complete blindness is to Mr Burrows as if it did not exist. What a wonderful example to us all.”
‘Exceptional discovery’ in Cookham
THE ARCHEOLOGICAL dig in the grounds of Cookham’s Holy Trinity Church last summer seems to have unearthed the remains of an eight century watermill together with a leat enabling water from the Thames to turn the mill’s wheel.
Once it is confirmed – hopefully during this summer’s dig – it will, say experts, be an “exceptional discovery”.
The archeologists, led by a team from Reading University, have already established that the monastery on the site was also one of Britain’s earliest hospitals. Skeletons show the 7th and 8th century patients died from a range of diseases and injuries, including cancer, tuberculosis and broken bones.
“Our discoveries highlight the importance of monasteries as centres of healing and medical care in the Anglo-Saxon period,” said Professor Gabor Thomas, leading the dig.
“But Cookham is one of the first archaeological sites to provide detailed physical evidence for the range of diseases involved.”
Heathrow plots take-off changes
HEATHROW is preparing to allow more flights to take off over London from its northern runway, although it is not expected the move will trigger increased aircraft noise here in south Buckinghamshire.
About a third of the airport’s take-offs are in an easterly direction – when the prevailing wind is coming from the east – but at present virtually all of them use the southern runway.
That’s because of an arrangement made years ago called the Cranford Agreement banning take-offs over the Cranford community in Hounslow because of aircraft noise.
The Government abandoned the Cranford Agreement 15 years ago claiming aircraft were quieter but the airport didn’t take action to use the northern runway for easterly take-offs partly because it involved rearranging taxiways on the ground and shifting other infrastructure. When they did get planning permission for the change Covid struck, greatly reducing passenger numbers.
Now the planning permission time limit has expired while passenger numbers are back to pre-Covid levels, so the airport is applying to Hillingdon Council again. It’s also seeking permission to build a barrier, up to seven metres high, to protect Longford village, by the northern runway, from noise.
If the plan goes ahead it should slightly reduce aircraft noise over Richmond and Twickenham but increase it over Acton and Ealing.
The airport still has hopes of building a third runway north of the airport, alongside the A4, which has the potential to increase aircraft activity and noise over our area. It is asking the Government to indicate whether it wants to see a third runway or not.
Regional news
Bridge repairs – Major renovation work is due this year on Marlow’s 200 year old, grade one listed bridge over the Thames, pictured above. It will involve replacing its wooden walkways, replacing bearings that support the bridge, painting and cleaning the entire bridge; repointing its towers and installing new lighting.
Bucks space centre – A Space Hub, bringing together businesses involved in space technology, will open in Aylesbury this year. A number of companies involved in rocket propulsion, drones and servicing satellites are already in the adjoining Westcott “Space Cluster” enterprise zone.
Council tax – Buckinghamshire Council is on course to increase council tax by five per cent this year as well as cut back on some services as it faces what it describes as an “extremely challenging” financial position.
New stations – Two new railway stations are being considered for Oxford – one to service the Oxford Science Park and the other, the Oxford Business Park.
Truants double – A campaign is to be launched to improve school attendance in Buckinghamshire. In 2018/19, before Covid, there were 8,100 persistent or severe absentees in the county’s schools. The last available figures for 2022/23 put the figure at 17,175, with the 23/24 figures likely to be similar.
Libraries future – Slough Council is consulting the public over plans to close two of its four libraries to save money.
Pub closes – Chef Anthony Worrall Thompson’s former pub, The Greyhound at Peppard, has closed due to “difficult trading conditions” just 14 months after he left it. Mr Worrall Thompson bought the pub 20 years ago and built it up into a popular pub/restaurant. He now runs a restaurant in Kew.
Pub rejection – Councillors have rejected plans to convert the former Jolly Woodman pub in Burnham into a Hindu religious learning centre.
Tax row – Windsor and Maidenhead Council is asking the Government for permission to raise council tax by 25 per cent this year otherwise, it says, the council could declare bankruptcy. It’s also seeking a £60m loan. The Liberal Democrat controlled council blames previous Conservative administrations for cutting council tax in the past and building up debts – a charge the Tories deny.
Golf merger – Maidenhead Golf Club, which sold its ground near Maidenhead town centre for likely housing development last year, is to merge with Flackwell Heath Golf Club.
Undigestible
A LOT of local newspapers these days are using AI to source and write stories. But, although undoubtedly clever, AI can’t substitute (yet) a little local knowledge. A friend in Windsor picked up a local paper last month which referred in a headline to “Windsor and Eaten”.
You can contact this blog at peter@pennandtylersgreen.com. It will be updated as necessary during January but the next full update will be on 1 February.