This blog is due to be updated on Saturday 19 June
Yonder Lodge for sale after family tragedy
THE CLANCY family, who suffered a tragedy 21 months ago when Dermot Clancy, joint chairman of the Clancy construction group, was crushed to death by his tractor mower, have put their Penn home, Yonder Lodge, on the market.
The Grade 2 listed mansion sits in a 10 acre site at the junction of Elm Road and Common Wood Lane. It has nine bedrooms, seven bathrooms, a separate gym, an outdoor heated swimming pool, a tennis court and an extensive paddock. Offers are invited of not less than £5m.
The house was built in the early 1800s but throughout its 200 year history has had only five families living in it. The name was changed from Penwood Lodge to Yonder Lodge in honour of a racehorse called Yonder, owned by a previous occupant.
Sir Oliver and Lady Delia Millar lived in the house for over 40 years from the 1950s. Sir Oliver succeeded the infamous spy Anthony Blunt as the Surveyor of the Queen’s Pictures, responsible for the care and maintenance of all the pictures in the Royal Collection.
Mr Clancy, 67, died after the mower he was sitting on tipped over on a steep bank in a hollow in a field by his home in September 2019. His wife Vicky and their five children issued a statement after his death saying: “His huge personality, his smiles, cheeky disposition and bigheartedness will be a loss to the hundreds of lives he touched.”
An Englishman’s home is his castle…if he’s rich enough
THE COMPLETION of his mock medieval castle in Manor Road, Hazlemere, hasn’t dented the finances of owner Peter Kelly one bit. In fact, according to the Sunday Times Rich List, the computer magnate added £307m to his wealth in the past year, making him a billionaire for the first time.
His total wealth, according to the magazine, is £1.035bn, placing him the 163rd richest person in Britain, 34 places higher than last year.
Mr Kelly, 63, is a self-made businessman who worked as a salesman for Xerox and then formed a recruitment company before founding the computer company Softcat in 1993, working out of his garden shed.
Softcat is now one of the country’s top IT companies providing computer services for the public and private sector, and, like most companies supplying internet services in the pandemic, did very nicely thank you during the lockdown.
Mr Kelly retired as company chairman nine years ago and left the board three years later, but remains a majority shareholder. He described himself to Forbes magazine as a “weird and eccentric entrepreneur” which, if his much-talked about “castle” in Manor Road is anything to go by, he very much remains…
White guys – young and old – rule
MARTIN TETT, re-elected leader of Buckinghamshire Council following last month’s elections, didn’t take long to shuffle the pack when forming his new cabinet.
The 10 person cabinet, where the power lies, comprises eight men and two women and no-one with a black, Asian or minority ethnic heritage.
Tylers Green councillor Katrina Wood, the former leader of Wycombe District Council and the deputy leader of Buckinghamshire Council before the elections, finds herself on the back benches without a significant role.
In fact, none of the nine councillors representing Penn, Tylers Green or Hazlemere has an influential position in the new council, which is a tad concerning with important and controversial issues like the Gomm Valley development and the redrawing of local boundaries in the pipeline.
We can claim some fame after Tylers Green and Loudwater voters elected the youngest councillor in Bucks.
Nathan Thomas, from Hazlemere, is 18 and a sixth former at Holmer Green Senior School.
He’ll be rubbing shoulders in the council chamber with the oldest councillor, nearly 70 years his senior. The wonderfully named Sir Beville Douglas Stanier Bt – who Wikipedia tells us got engaged to the granddaughter of the 6th Earl of Clarendon when he was 75 – celebrated his 87th birthday in April.
Out of the blue
MEANWHILE, a shock result down on the south coast for David Shakespeare, who represented Tylers Green as a county councillor for 40 years.
David retired to Selsey where he was selected as the Conservative candidate for the West Sussex County Council in last month’s elections. But he failed to hold the safe Conservative seat. Instead the Labour, Lib Dem and Green parties all stood aside enabling an independent Local Alliance candidate a clear run against him.
It’s a tactic many non-Conservative party members are increasingly urging as a way of breaking through in solid Conservative seats.
On 17 June there’s a by-election in the Chesham and Amersham constituency, which includes Penn. But the only question is how big the Tory majority will be.
Commentators like Labour’s Polly Toynbee and former Lib-Dem MP Philip Lee, together with correspondents in the left-leaning New Statesman magazine, have all said in recent days that the Chesham and Amersham by-election would have been much more unpredictable if the main opposition parties had swallowed their pride and agreed a single candidate against the Conservative shoo-in Peter Fleet.
Not that it would have worked in the last general election when the late Dame Cheryl Gillan won with 55 per cent of the total vote. In fact, the Tory candidate for Chesham and Amersham has never won less than 50 per cent of the vote in any parliamentary election.
Community notices…
Open Gardens – The Penn and Tylers Green Open Gardens event, in aid of Village Care, takes place this Sunday, 6 June, when a number of gardens in the village centre are open for public view.Tickets from the front of Tylers Green Village Hall from 1.30pm
British Legion – The Royal British Legion Hall at Hazlemere Crossroads has now reopened for public events. For inquiries about booking call Jack Allen on 01494 716567.
Litter pick – There’s a village litter-pick on Saturday 5 June, starting at the Red Lion from 10am. Bring gloves and high-viz jacket if possible.
Classic car show – Hazlemere Golf Club is hosting a charity classic car event on Sunday 27 June between noon and 6pm. For details call 01494 719300.
Camera Club – The Hazlemere Camera Club resumes its regular activities from Tuesday 8 June, 2.30pm at the British Legion Hall. Call Ken Allen on 01494 713801 for details.