FINAL preparations are underway in and around Penn and Tylers Green to ensure the celebrations to mark the Queen’s 70 years on the throne are memorable. Here’s a run-down of what’s on…
(Please note, this blog will be updated throughout May as more events are announced and finalised, so keep checking back to find out the latest.)
Thursday 2 June
Beacon lighting – Beginning at 8pm on the back common, Tylers Green there will be music and song from local performers. Lady Elizabeth Howe, of Penn House, the High Sheriff of Buckinghamshire and the Queen’s official representative in the county, will be presented with a commemorative Penn (and Tylers Green) Tile by children from Tylers Green First School. The children will also sing, for the first time in public, their new school song at 8.30pm. The Beacon Lighting ceremony will begin at 9pm with the beacon lighting at 9.15.
Jubilee concert – There’s a brass band concert at Beaconsfield United Reform Church between 1pm and 1.45pm. Details from Elaine Tudor-Williams on 01494 671303
Comedy festival – The Potter’s Arms at Winchmore Hill has a comedy festival tonight, tomorrow and Saturday. See the pub’s website for details.
Lindy Hop dancing – An American “Jeep, Jump and Jive” session today and tomorrow at 11am, 1pm and 4pm at the Chiltern Open Air Museum
Street party – Hazlemere Community Centre is hosting a street party between 1 and 4pm (tickets £5 in advance from the community centre.)
Tea party – The Three Horseshoes at Hazlemere Crossroads is holding a tea party from noon with live entertainment from 3.30 to 8pm. Proceeds to charity.
Model village – Bekonscot model village in Beaconsfield will be decorated and holding jubilee teas and children’s craft displays from today until Sunday.
Friday 3 June
Sports day – Penn and Tylers Green Sports and Social Club has an open day between 10am and 4pm. The football club is hosting a series of exhibition matches; the cricket club is holding a 10 over competition and the tennis club is organising a “beat the pro” competition and has open courts for anyone to come along for a game.
Tea dance – Penn and Tylers Green choir Local Vocals and village hall dance teacher Suzanne Lear lead the entertainment at a tea dance in Tylers Green Village Hall between 2.30 and 5pm. Afternoon tea is also provided. It is all free for Penn and Tylers Green residents but tickets must be obtained in advance from Jan Carey on 07514 807131 or email jancarey1610@hotmail.comn UPDATE: This event is now full.
Jubilee joust – Today, tomorrow and Sunday, medieval entertainment at Stonor Park. See their website for details.
Pub celebration – The Old Queen’s Head, Tylers Green, has live music between 3pm and 6pm with ‘hot Corgis and burgers’ and a Pimms Shed.
Tea party – Tylers Green Methodist Church, Coppice Farm Road, is holding a tea party between 12.30pm and 4pm. Admission free.
Saturday 4 June
Day at the Races – It’s Derby Day so race-themed fun and games on the front common, Tylers Green between 2pm and 4.30 pm. From 2pm there’s a hobby horse event for children aged 11 and under and at 3pm pantomime horse events and races for all those 12 and over. Details on https://pennandtylersgreen.org.uk/qpj-day-at-the-races/ Any questions call Sally Wood on 07813 838502
In addition there’s a cup cake competition with a racing theme for three age groups. Details on https://pennandtylersgreen.org.uk/cupcake-competition/
There’s also side stalls and games, fancy dress competitions and refreshments.
Jubilee Bash – The front common remains the location for a party night. The stage is in a different location for this jubilee to make best use of space and the natural amphitheatre shape of the common.
From 5.30 there’ll be an eclectic mix of entertainment culminating with local band Black Sheep of Penn topping the bill. The line-up includes Room 22, Small Town Heroes, Katy Simpson, Last Seen Alive and special guests. Barbecue and bar all on hand.
Sunday 5 June
Open air service – A church service of Jubilee celebration on the front common, Tylers Green at 10.30am. This will mark the farewell appearance of the vicar of Penn and Tylers Green, the Rev Mike Bisset, before his retirement.
Street parties – A number of individual roads and streets in the area are holding their own festivities during the afternoon.
Family day – Hazlemere Community Centre from noon. Toys and games for children; BBQ from 12.30; Steel band between 2pm and 4pm
Cricket – Penn Street v The Lee on Penn Street Common from 1pm
Jazz festival – The Wycombe Jazz Festival is being held all day at Wycombe Arts Centre.
Jubilee picnic – Ashridge House is inviting people to bring a picnic, play historic royal games, meet Tudor kings and queens and dance around a Maypole. Noon to 4pm.
Jubilee concert – Cellist Adrian Brendel and pianist Simon Crawford-Philips perform a classical concert at the appropriately named Jubilee Hall in Seer Green from 7.30. Tickets from the Jordans Music Club website.
Beaconsfield Sings – All are invited to a Platinum Jubilee Festive Hymn Sing at St Mary and All Saints Church, Beaconsfield from 7pm, with donations to help Ukranian refugees settling in the area.
Local news in brief…
New bin dates – Refuse bin collection dates are being changed in most of the village from the week beginning 9 May. The reorganisation has come about in part because the council needs to accommodate new housing developments which are being built or planned in the area.
Fake cops – Thieves pretending to be police officers conned an elderly woman in the area into handing over her personal details. They then attempted to make a £29,000 purchase online, but the fraud was spotted and stopped before the money left her account. Local police are investigating. Penn’s MP Sarah Green is calling on the Home Secretary to set up specific online fraud units within the police to tackle this increasing type of crime.
Vicar review – The Diocese of Oxford says it will be taking evidence in its safeguarding review into Michael Hall’s ministry at St Margaret’s, Tylers Green (see last blog) until the end of June.
Post delays – Penn’s MP Sarah Green says she is receiving a number of complaints about delays in postal services in her Chesham and Amersham constituency. “It is nothing to do with committed postal workers; there is something going wrong at a higher level,” she told MPs. There were some severe delays in postal deliveries at the end of last year, put down to changes in delivery rounds, but Royal Mail said they were solved by January.
Heritage Society – The first meeting organised by the new Penn and Tylers Green Heritage Society is being held on Saturday, 21 May in the grounds of the former Penn School, the Victorian country house Rayners. The event includes an illustrated talk on the history of the Rayners estate and a tour of the grounds. There are three timings – 9.15am, 11.15am and 1.15pm – and admission is free but tickets must be booked in advance at https://tinyurl.com/Rayners-Talk Donations to help pay for the Platinum Jubilee celebrations would be appreciated.
Soccer festival – Penn and Tylers Green Football Club’s first team finished mid-table in their first season in division one of the Spartan South Midlands Football League. More than 1,000 young players are taking part in six a side matches at the club over the Early May bank holiday weekend.
School trips – Pupils from Manor Farm Junior School are joining hundreds of others in their age group to appear in Young Voices at the O2 on 6 May. Year six pupils from Tylers Green Middle School will be visiting Sky TV’s Academy Studio this month where they will be able to make and edit their own TV report.
Birdsong walk – A woodland song walk through Kings Wood, Tylers Green is being organised as part of the Chilterns Walking Festival on Saturday 28 May. The one and a half mile circular walk will include several stops to listen to and identify birdsong. It’s free and begins at 2.30. Meet at the entrance to the wood by the Dolphin pub in Totteridge Lane.
Identity of Hazlemere murder victim remains a secret
THE identity of a Hazlemere man who was one of three people killed in a knife attack in a Bourne End flat on 19 April has not yet been revealed.
Police, who are treating the incident as a murder investigation, have named two of the victims – Jeff and Sue Farrance who lived in the flat in Spring Gardens – and say they are not looking for anyone else in connection with the crime.
However, they have declined to name the Hazlemere man, whom they describe as in his 50s. They say the Buckinghamshire Coroner, to whom they have sent a report, will confirm his identity. The coroner’s office has so far not responded to inquiries from the media.
It is quite rare for murder victims not to be named once immediate family has been informed, and reasons can range from very sensitive personal reasons to high security. Identifications can often assist police investigations… and police have said this investigation is “very complex”.
UPDATE: On 13 May the coroner’s office named the third victim as Lance John Oldale, aged 51, but gave no other details.
Bucks services falling short for children with special educational needs says report
AN OFFICIAL report into services for children with special educational needs and disabilities in Buckinghamshire has identified “significant areas of weakness.”
A joint inspection by Ofsted and the Care Quality Commission says: “The current realities for too many children, young people and their families still fall short of what they deserve.”
Although the report praises some strengths in the service and acknowledges that management does not shy away from areas where improvement is needed, its main findings show:
- Capacity is unable to meet demand for speech and language therapy and occupational therapy
- Too many children are waiting too long for assessments for possible autism or attention deficit disorder
- A lack of suitable places in Buckinghamshire schools means a “notable minority” of pupils are sent to schools outside the county
- It’s taking too long to make important changes to education, health and care plans for children once agreed
- Too many parents are struggling to get the needs of their children recognised and met. A waiting time of 62 weeks to see a community paediatrician, for example, is “not acceptable”.
The report acknowledges that difficulty in staff recruitment and the consequence of the pandemic has exacerbated the problems.
Ready to welcome Ukranians
THE FIRST Ukrainian refugees are beginning to arrive in Buckinghamshire. So far 859 refugees have said they would like be settled in the county because of family links or personal invitations. The council has prepared an information and welcome pack in Ukranian and Russian.
Council leader Martin Tett said that in the four weeks since the launch of the Government’s resettlement scheme, council officers have undertaken 282 home checks and 313 safeguarding checks. The Probation Service has undertaken 530 checks. More than 100 council staff are voluntarily taking on liaison roles in addition to their normal work.
A group comprising people representing education, health, fire, police, safeguarding, housing and the voluntary sector has been formed which will meet regularly to resolve any issues as they occur.
220 year old map on display
AT FIRST glance it looks like a close-up of someone’s intestines. But in fact it is one of the first maps drawn of the Penn area.
The print was featured in an exhibition by the High Wycombe Society last month and the original was drawn in 1800. Local historian Miles Green, who used a section of the map in his book Mansions and Mudhouses, says it was drawn by an army major on horseback using a compass.
At the time the Royal Military College – the forerunner of today’s military academy in Sandhurst – was based in Wycombe, and the army was keen officers should learn map-making skills in preparation for future battles against Napoleon.
It’s not the easiest of maps to read – south is at the top of the page for a start – but it does give a good idea of how sparse and remote we were 220 years ago, with Holy Trinity Church, Town Farm, Church Knoll and Penn House clearly marked.
The name’s Green. Tylers Green.
MEANWHILE another local historian, Ron Saunders, has unearthed a link between Tylers Green and the James Bond writer Ian Fleming.
It transpires Fleming’s great grandfather was Sir Philip Rose who built Rayners, later Penn School, in Church Road and was prime minister Benjamin Disraeli’s friend and lawyer. Sir Philip’s second son was Bateman Lancaster Rose and the Lancaster name stuck. The spy author’s full name was Ian Lancaster Fleming.
By the way…
Making a point
MUCH puzzlement over the sudden appearance of “Private, No Public Right of Way” signs at either end of the track that runs alongside the Penn and Tylers Green Sports and Social Club on Penn Estate land near Puttenham Farm.
Could it be, wonder some (ex) regular users, that it must be nearing 20 years since dog-walkers, runners and walkers began using the track on a daily basis…and if it can be proved that walkers have been using a track on private land for 20 years they can apply for it to become a public right of way. The Penn Estate has so far been silent on the issue.
UPDATE : The Penn Estate has now been in touch (3 May) to say the land is used for agricultural production and is not, and never has been, any formal right of way.
A spokesman added: “There are very many kilometres of public footpaths and bridleways across the estate, including several well-used permissive horse paths which we have specially created for local riders, but this is not one of them. Nor have we received an application to create a new right of way along here.”
Ostrich councillors
THE Boundary Commission is considering adjusting ward boundaries in Buckinghamshire but in this area Buckinghamshire councillors are recommending no change.
In an email to the commission the council says it is “mindful” of community identity and says its proposals provide a “strong balance” of this.
In other words, our elected representatives think Tylers Green has more in common with Loudwater than it has with Penn (for Tylers Green and Loudwater form one ward) and that Penn has more in common with Old Amersham than it has with Tylers Green (a separate ward is Penn and Old Amersham).
To which one can only conclude that our councillors are either completely out of touch or completely off their trollies. Or both.
Sniper in the ranks
WYCOMBE (and Tylers Green) MP Steve Baker told the House of Commons that the time has come for the Prime Minister to resign. In a subsequent interview with the Telegraph the former military man recalled rather proudly how his backstage manoeuvrings had helped lead to the eventual departures of former PMs David Cameron and Theresa May. Now he has Boris in his gunsights.
Labour and the Lib Dems must secretly love him.
Regional news in brief…
Pinewood’s future – Pinewood Studios is amending its plan for a massive expansion to include more studio space. It has already received permission for a £450m redevelopment, which will include a visitor attraction, The Pinewood Experience.
New service station – Plans have been unveiled for a £90m motorway service station on the east side of the M25 between junctions 16 and 17 near Chaflont St Peter.
Out of steam – Carter’s Steam Fair said this summer will be the last tour of sites in Buckinghamshire, Berkshire and Surrey. The Carter family are selling the collection of well-preserved steam-powered traditional fair rides and hoping that a permanent static site can be found.
More cops – Thames Valley Police has exceeded its recruitment target in the last year, taking on 368 new officers, nearly half of them women and 13 per cent from ethnic minority backgrounds.
Bat tunnel – HS2 has invited contracts for a 900 metre long bat mitigation tunnel by Sheephouse Wood near Aylesbury. The wood is a Site of Special Scientific Interest which contains rare Bechstein bats. The hope is the bats will use the tunnel instead of flying in front of speeding trains.
Meanwhile, the company has withdrawn its controversial designs for the ventilation shaft head house on the Hazlemere Road at Amersham after many complaints that the industrial-style design was completely out of keeping with an Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty.
African visitor – Congratulations to Jenny Baker for spotting a Black winged Stilt in a pond near her housing estate in north Bucks last week, only the fifth ever sighting in the county of this rare African visitor. The bird attracted scores of birdwatchers. In a more familiar sign of the coming of summer a flock of around 100 swallows, house martins and sand martins were spotted at Little Marlow lake last week, including a rare Red-rumped Swallow.
A new blog will appear monthly on the first of the month over the summer period, although it will be updated as and when should a major event occur. There’ll be updates this month of Jubilee events and the next scheduled new blog will be on 1 June.
You can contact this blog at peter@pennandtylersgreen.com