The original Village News, known then as the Parish Paper, was produced by the vicar, and consisted of a single sheet of paper containing news of births, marriages, deaths, church services and local fund raising events. In 1939 production was suspended due to the war, but was resumed in 1947 on a quarterly basis, at a cost of 6d per copy. The first issue after the war was proud to announce that tenants had moved into the new council houses in Wilstone. The houses had all mod cons, but no pig stys!

Gradually the newsletter began to contain more news of other village events, and local firms were invited to advertise. By the 1980s the Parish Paper had evolved into a small magazine, the Long Marston, Puttenham and Wilstone Parish News, and was available to subscribers for an annual fee of 1.40, or 15p per copy.

Enlarged

In the ‘90s and early 2000s the magazine, by now enlarged to A4 size, had very attractive artwork on the front and back covers but it was in June 2003, after a change of editor, that the Village News became the publication that we know today.

In February 2004, through the financial support of the ‘Horti’ the subscription charge was dropped and the village News was distributed, free of charge, to every household in Long Marston, Wilstone and Puttenham. Under its new editor the magazine expanded, to include lots more local news, as well as recipes, readers letters and general interest articles.

June 2004 saw the first colour edition, and the magazine continues to go from strength to strength, having been voted 32nd out of 620 in the National Parish Magazine Awards of 2011.

Article written by Maggy Winship.

Acknowledgement: Christine Rutter.

In 1997 Long Marston residents Chris and Jan Longhurst, with the support of Rev. Martin Nathaniel, decided to set up a local branch of the Brigade. Both Jan and Chris were experienced Brigade officers, having helped to organise a number of groups over the years.

A  Boys’ and Girls’ Brigade were formed and the two groups joined together for the weekly meetings. The group was open to boys and girls aged between 5 and 11, and was held at the Victory Hall, Long Marston, although later moved to the Cecilia Hall, Puttenham. At its height the membership was twenty four children.

The weekly meetings would involve a lively mixture of games and stories, rounding the evening off with prayers. During the summer months camping trips were arranged and an annual open day organised to attract new members. This would include stalls, outdoor activities and a barbeque.

Sadly, the Long Marston Boys’ Brigade came to an end in June 2000 when Jan and Chris moved out of the area.

Article written by Maggy Winship.

Acknowledgements: Chris and Jan Longhurst.

For more information see The Boys’ Brigade Website.

The cricket club played at various locations around the village including The Brade (field behind Marston Court) and latterly the Long Marston Recreation Ground on a coconut mat over concrete, but in 1961 moved to its existing site.  This move came about when it was heard that the Rev. Anthony was prepared to sell the Marlin’s allotments.

The cricket club had weekly committee meetings and the chairman, Len Dean, instructed Treasurer Chris Proctor to find out from his wife Jenny (who was Father Anthony’s housekeeper) if it was true that the site might be available.  The result was positive, a whip round of club members for the £40 deposit was held and the balance required was accrued by the committee. Trust deeds signed in 1961.

Terry Clay was one of the people who signed the deed and became a trustee.  Apparently this was by accident as, at the time, Terry a young boy working in the yard at Deans was asked to come in to provide an additional signature as legally required.  To this day he remains a trustee.

The club completed its pavilion in 1965 and the building was officially opened in 1966. Several extensions over the years have bought the clubhouse to its current state.

In the late 80’s extra land was purchased from the estate of Little Farm, Long Marston.  The club negotiated the purchase of this land, which enabled increased boundaries to be established, eventually bringing the pitch up to county standard.

The Long Marston Cricket Club has hosted matches in the National Minor Counties Championship every year since 1994, the first of these matches against Suffolk in that year, with international star Derek Randall as their pro. 

2010 saw Long Marston Cricket Club hosting games in the ECB Trophy National 40 Over competition, played by the second elevens of the top county sides, as well as the MCC Unicorns A (combined Minor Counties side containing many top level players).

The Cricket Club continues to thrive and currently boasts three teams playing in the Oxford Cherwell League.  In order that all three teams can play when two are scheduled to be at home, the Cricket Club has come to an arrangement with Mentmore Cricket Club to use their ground in exchange for Long Marston providing pitch maintenance, guidance and support.

A bore hole to the original allotment well was recently sunk.  Fortunately the borehole struck water but unfortunately, much to the players’ disappointment, not beer! 

Article was written by Paul Dumpleton.

For more information, visit the Long Marston Cricket Club website.

The Curry Club was formed almost by accident. Shortly after becoming landlord in 1988 Simon noticed a group of gents coming into the pub each Thursday and leaving mid way through the evening. When he found that this was because every Thursday they went into Tring for a curry he offered to prepare them a curry at The Queen’s Head the following week. When this was served several other patrons asked if they could order one but Simon had only prepared enough for the original group. However he declared that from the following week Thursday night would be Curry Club night. 

A none too tasteful cartoon logo of Queen Victoria on the porcelain throne showing a tattooed buttock was quickly devised and The Curry Club went from strength to strength. These were not boil in the bag or mass produced curries but were prepared from scratch on the premises. The Curry Club soon became a World Tour as Simon sourced recipes not just from India but from Thailand, Malaysia, Indonesia, Singapore and the whole Asian region.

Finding a table on a Thursday night became harder and harder as word of the Curry Club spread and so every night through the week was declared curry night and a curry buffet was installed on weekday lunchtimes.

After winning several runner up titles in 1995 The Queen’s Head proudly won the Curry Pub of The Year award.

Sadly for Long Marston the Curry Club outgrew The Queen’s Head with Simon moving to the larger Grand Junction Arms at Bulbourne and later The Hawthorns Hotel in Glastonbury where the Curry Club is alive and well today (2012).

Article was written by Ian Nicholls.

For more information, visit the Hawthorn’s Hotel.

Duncan Mead, the pioneer of the current farm shop with a stall outside his house, very generously allowed the youth of the village to play on his court at Highover, Gubblecote one evening a week, in the same way that Major Stoddart allowed the Cheddington youth to play on his court at the manor.

But naturally our aspirations were higher than this so with the support of the Sports Association an open meeting was called in the new village hall for anyone who was interested.  A good turnout ensued and a small committee was formed with Bill Milsom: Chairman, Michael Tomlinson: Treasurer and yours truly as secretary.  The year was 1960, I remember it well as I was heavily pregnant with my third offspring so there was not going to be much action from me!  We kicked (or rather served) off with a handful of members at a subscription of £1 pa.  The first subscription came in from Miss Calder the village Headmistress as a sign of support, I don’t think she ever played.

Fund raising began, aided by small grants from Dacorum Council and the LTA.  The one from Dacorum came with the proviso that the courts should be open to all on payment of a fee, and this pertains to this day.  Visitors to the village and inhabitants are all welcome to use the courts.

So the court was built on the recreation ground, just the one, not enough money or room for two, and no clubhouse.   And the Long Marston Tennis Club was born, and very quickly Badminton was added and played on Thursday evenings in the winter as an alternative to tennis

Soon friendly tennis matches with other local clubs were arranged and we all got very competitive, but our Chairman was a bit appalled by the apparel some of us turned up in and insisted that whites should be worn for matches!!  However, this was not always welcomed by all players especially on one memorable occasion when we all turned out in our whites, a bit like an advertisement for Daz!!  to find only 3 players from the opposition at the venue, which was a grass court in the garden of a local farmer.  Once we had knocked up and being assured that their fourth player would appear, a young man strolled out of the nearest cow shed, jeans and bobble hat in place, this will be easy we thought until he proceed to stroll round the court hitting balls we had never seen the like of before, I don’t think anyone got a game off him.  It was quite difficult after that to insist on the white rule!!  And look at the top players today, anything but white, the exception being Wimbledon of course

Of course, as today, players do like to make up their own double or single games and there was one memorable mens four who played on a Sunday morning at 10am.  Organised by Archie Bracher who extracted 10p a minute from each player who was late on court.

We all took our tennis extremely seriously so seriously in fact that I well remember one couple who reached the semi final of the ladies singles only to toss a coin to see who should go through to play the clubs leading singles player in the final!!!  No one would get away with that today.

The next milestone was the move to Emma’s orchard in Cheddington Lane where we play to this day.  We leased the Orchard from a Mrs. Harrington for £20 a year for 28 years this expired in 2005 and was renewed for a further 20 years at £200 pa which is now paid to her daughter.  Mrs. Harrington didn’t live in the village, but had a great attachment to Long Marston through her family.

Fund raising began in earnest in 1977 and great initiative was shown including bowling for a pig at the Tring Donkey Derby, although I gather the pig changed into a lamb when it was discovered that a licence had to be obtained to move a pig!!  (the winner could have it alive or ready for the freezer)! Grants were also obtained again as follows:

Dacorum Council – £2,680.00

Herts Playing Fields Association – £200. 

Loans were also obtained from:

Herts Playing Fields Association – £500

National Playing Fields Association – £600

Dacorum Council – £600

The members also provided loans of £975 (the majority of which were never called in).

So after three long years of fund raising the courts were eventually laid down in 1980.  The first clubhouse was a caravan and the second a wooden shed which was burnt down, these were used whilst planning permission for the current clubhouse was applied for, this was erected in 1983 and is the envy of every club in the league who plays here, spotlessly kept by the current members.

So the Tennis club thrived and prospered to where we are today with 60 adult members and 33 children. The adult subscription is now £65pa.  We put out four teams in the winter and six in the summer in the Aylesbury and District League (we are founder members of this).  For a village side this is no mean feat, playing clubs three times our size: Berkhamsted, Great Missenden, Halton and Aylesbury to name but a few. 

The big challenge at the moment is getting permission from Dacorum for floodlighting the courts.  We are the only club in the league without floodlighting and it is desperately needed to in order to bring the facilities up to standard and to remain competitive with all the other local clubs.  This has been ongoing since 2000, unlike in neighbouring counties, the planners have not been sympathetic.

This memoire sadly does not have room to record the generations of Chairmen, secretaries, Treasurers and committee members who have contributed so much over 60 years, there would just be too many to mention.  Suffice it to say that our current Chairman, Jane Dean: Secretary, Margaret Kelland: Treasurer, Andrew Screech and all the committee members are acutely conscious of the huge debt we owe to our forerunners who have made the Long Marston Tennis club the success that it is today.

Article was written by Joan Dean.

For further information see the Long Marston Tennis Club website.

The branch line that passed through Marston Gate ran between Aylesbury and Cheddington station linking with the main London and Birmingham railway. The almost dead-straight course is still easily identifiable on an aerial view, running roughly West-South-West from Cheddington station to the north end of Railway Street in Aylesbury, just across the road from B&Q.

Opened in 1839, the Aylesbury Railway proved profitable and successful and was originally intended to extend to Oxford. That ambition was never realised however and, quite accidentally, the railway gained distinction as the first “branch line”, a seven mile, single track cul-de-sac.

This was a very early railway, conceived as it was within only 10 years of the opening of the world’s first railway, the Stockton & Darlington line. It was also a simple one, with negligible earthworks being required with no tunnels and no bridges, save a footbridge subsequently built at the Park Street crossing in Aylesbury after an accident in which an old man was killed in 1883.

Perhaps surprisingly, the impetus for the investment in the line came not from the prospect of passenger traffic but of freight.  Nevertheless it was well used by passengers from the outset, despite the first class fare to London being eight shillings and six pence (42½p) and the second class fare five shillings and six pence, at a time when a labourer’s wage was six shillings (30p) per week! 

The journey from Aylesbury to Cheddington took about fifteen minutes, at around 30mph, and the whole trip to London about two hours.  That must have seemed almost supersonic compared with the pre-railway era coach journey, which necessitated leaving Aylesbury at 6am and arrived in London at about 10pm – a striking example of the effect the railways were to have on travel.

Freight was however important too.  By the early 1900s, up to fifty churns of milk were being loaded at Marston Gate each day, all of which was destined for the Nestlé’s factory in Aylesbury.  The branch line also enabled fruit from the area’s orchards to be sent swiftly and efficiently to London and elsewhere.  Among loads coming in the opposite direction was horse droppings cleared from the streets of London, much valued as manure by the farmers of the locality! 

Whilst the introduction of the railway inevitably led to unemployment in the carting business it created many new jobs in the community. Cheddington Station had upwards of a dozen staff well into the twentieth century, whilst even Marston Gate boasted a stationmaster and deputy.

Passenger services continued on the line until 1953 when a bus service took over – a rather better service, it has to be said, than exists today with five or more return trips running each day from Monday to Saturday. There were no buses on Sunday however which was still, for most, in the pre-Sunday trading era, a day of rest!

The Aylesbury/Cheddington railway continued to carry freight traffic for another ten years or so, with coal coming in to Aylesbury for the town’s gasworks and significant volumes of agricultural machinery being transported from the New Holland factory in Aylesbury. In December 1963, however, the branch line station in Aylesbury finally closed and British Railways (as it then was) focused its attention on the other station there. A programme to lift the tracks between Aylesbury and Cheddington was put in place and the process completed by mid 1965. Contrary to popular belief, the branch line did not fall victim to Dr Richard  Beeching’s now infamous railway closure plan as it had been closed a full year before Beeching wielded his axe.

The station house at Marston Gate lay unused for a period but was later rebuilt as a private house, named by its new owners after Dr Beeching – somewhat ironic as he was not actually responsible for the station’s closure, if only because somebody else got there first!

Article was written by John Kaye.

Acknowledgment – this article draws on the book “The Aylesbury Railway” by Bill Simpson, ISBN 0860934381, which is highly recommended for further reading and contains fascinating photographs.

This group subsequently agreed that Butterfly Conservation should become the owners of the site but maintained their momentum to complete the purchase and contribute directly to the creation of a management fund. Now that the site has been secured, the group’s role has become one of direct participation in the management decisions and actions proposed for the site by Butterfly Conservation.

The original aims of the group were to:

1. preserve and manage with expert help/advice one of the very few remaining tracts of ancient countryside for the benefit of wildlife 

2. maintain and encourage the development of natural flora and fauna

3. create a permanent amenity on behalf of the locality, seeking active community involvement in its future.

Millhoppers is a rare example of remnant ancient countryside encircled by arable land. Some of its hedges are thought to date back to Tudor times. It possesses a pond fed by the stream known as Ashen Brook and a public footpath provides access through part of the north-eastern boundary.  The site supports a wide variety of birds and mammals, both enjoying protection from the dense cover.

As the site has not been farmed within living memory, it is likely to contain a rich diversity of native plants, supporting many species of butterfly. In addition, a recent pilot survey revealed 16 old black poplars and possibly three saplings, a species rare in the rest of the county.   

Some say that the strange name of Millhoppers originates from a stream crossing to an old mill – the remains of which are no longer traceable. Others contend that it derives from mill-stones laid in times past (when the entire neighbourhood was much wetter) to enable people to cross the stream more easily.

Over the years, people of all age groups from the surrounding villages of Long Marston, Puttenham, Wilstone, and Gubblecote have visited Millhoppers as a special place in which to enjoy unspoilt countryside – a secluded oasis within a fairly intensively farmed landscape. Their continued access to the site will now be assured.    In addition, the group were delighted to have the enthusiastic endorsement of the project from the eminent naturalists Brian Sawford, and indirectly from the late and sadly missed Gordon Beningfield. 

This local initiative fell within the spirit of Agenda 21, sponsored by the Government, which encourages community involvement in locally significant environmental projects. Support from Dacorum, who generously provided 75% of the purchase price with the remainder coming from Butterfly Conservation, ultimately enabled the site to be acquired consistent with the original objectives. Hemel Hempstead Solicitors Picton Smeathmans were also much appreciated for their economic support. 

We hope that a visit to Millhoppers will be one that remains in your memory for many years to come, and that this wonderful habitat will come to welcome you as a regular visitor, and friend.

Article by the 8 interested individuals.

April 3rd 1961. Yuri Gagarin was selected by the Soviet space agency to make the first manned space flight, comedian Eddie Murphy was born and I Berg leads a closely contested race at a rain sodden Easter Monday kart meeting at the Long Marston track.

The Keelekart Company was founded by racing driver Michael Keele in the 1950s in Tring, with the engineering workshop being set up on the old gasworks site. Another resident of Tring at the time was ‘Mr Motor Racing’ Stirling (now Sir Stirling) Moss who invested in the company and became a partner, racing the karts in such exotic locations as the Bahamas. Through his contacts 20 Keelekarts were sold to the King of Jordan.

Meanwhile, the world-leading company was looking for somewhere more local to race and in 1959 it was announced that part of the airfield at Long Marston was to be set up as a dedicated kart track, with events being run by “The Three Counties Kart Club”. Racing started at the Long Marston kart track the following year and was an immediate success, the local papers carrying details of race results and photos of winning drivers and their trophies.

Stephens leads the Class IV field on March 12th 1961.

Michael Keele’s son Roger had joined the business and soon became a successful racer, and was the top driver at a meeting held in March 1961, when the track record stood at 34.4 seconds.

Keele, the son of Keele Kart founder Michael is pipped at the post by L Brown at a soaking Easter Monday meeting in 1961. Roger went on to a successful single-seater race career, tragically cut short by the onset of MS.

Another notable competitor at the Long Marston kart track was a certain Roy ‘The Weasel’ James. James had dreams of being a Grand Prix driver and progressed from karts to Formula 2 where he became one of the formula’s ‘coming men’. In August 1963, though, James hit the headlines not for his racing exploits, but as one of the perpetrators of ‘The Great Train Robbery’ using his racing skills as the gang’s getaway driver. The train was, of course, held up at Bridego Bridge near Mentmore, just a mile or two from the Long Marston kart track so perhaps James was using the karting as a cover for “casing the joint”!

The race meetings were held on Sundays and, as a result of the noise, complaints were made about the disturbance. Berkhamsted RDC granted permission for the kart track to continue operating for another year in October 1961, but even then court proceedings were pending under the Noise Abatement Act. In fact, meetings continued until 1964, when racing ended, but for a few years Long Marston had its own rival to Silverstone!

The crowds were out for the 1962 Whit Monday race meeting at Long Marston kart track.

Article by Martin Winship.

Acknowledgements:

Mrs Jill Fowler

All photos courtesy of Karting Magazine.  Captions by Chris Mann.

For more information on Karting:

http://www.mykartingworld.net/

Recording of butterflies I do on a weekly basis from the beginning of April to the end of September each year and I now have records going back to 1998.  (This I can only do when the temperature is above 13C and between 11am and 4pm) a universal recording template to which all recorders adhere.  

Over this period there has been a management plan in place which we have tried to maintain, sometimes with difficulty because of lack of manpower. That management plan included grazing, which initially was provided by cattle and in the last three years, by sheep. But much cutting has been done by the use of a huge cutter driven by hand and involving removal of cut material. That is very hard work indeed!

The reserve provides excellent habitat for grassland butterflies, including meadow browns, marbled whites, large, small and Essex skippers and a large population of the beautiful ringlet. These seem to do well whatever the weather in the winter, but the impact of long periods of heavy rain in the spring and summer can be felt with the success, or lack of, butterflies like the common blue and the Vanessa’s (e.g. the peacock, the red admiral and the tortoiseshell)

2010 showed a huge increase in the common blue where hitherto numbers had been relatively low. The winter of 2010/2011 was particularly severe and may well have had an impact on the common blue in 2011, although a rather poor summer could also have played a part in a lower count for that year.

We also see certain migrants, like the painted lady, which visits us from the continent when warm and strong winds bring thousands to England.  In all I have recorded 21 species of butterflies in both 2010 and 2011.

There are many moths to be recorded, which sadly we have had no opportunity to record in the last 6 years or so, but the day time flying moths such as the carpets, the cinnabar and the 5/6/spot burnets are commonly recorded. Dragon flies, such as the white legged damsel and the hawkers are common.

Black caps, sparrow hawks and many other birds nest on Millhoppers and many plant species, such as the marsh marigold and some orchids add to the diversity on our reserve. And we must not forget that we have 16 Black Poplars, which need careful management.

I am sure that I miss a great deal but would be delighted for any sightings that anybody has to be added to the ever growing list.

Article by Margaret Noakes.  January 2012.

Mr. Williams was a great benefactor of Puttenham and in 1917 he made the village a gift of the building, together with a parcel of land with an area of approximately 10 poles (about 300 square yards). A formal Indenture gifting the ‘Mission Hall’ and land to the parish of Puttenham, was made on 27^th November 1917, making the Parish Vicar and the two Churchwardens (and their successors) Trustees of the building and the land.

It was arranged that two Puttenham farmers, Thomas Chapman of Grange Farm and Mr. Deverell of Potash Farm, should take a horse-drawn dung cart into Tring and collect the building. Having been erected on its new site the hall played a considerable part in village life providing, amongst other things, a home for the village men’s club and local dances (with tales of the floor having to be watered to keep down the dust). In 1931 the first Puttenham Jumble Sale took place in the hall. This was organised by the then Churchwarden, Miss Edith Chapman and raised an impressive £3.13s.9d! In the summer of 1935, the hall was used for a grand party to celebrate the golden wedding of Mr & Mrs Henry Turner of The Old Rectory who at that time were prominent Puttenham residents and land owners.

During the Second World War, the Parish Hall became the temporary local school after the Long Marston School was bombed. The hall continued to house the school until 1952 when new school premises were built in Long Marston, at which time the Parish Hall closed. It remained unoccupied until 1967 when much work was done to renovate the hall and bring it back into use. This work included the clearing of a fox’s earth and the hacking down of a wilderness of overgrown weeds. The structure of the Parish Hall had suffered during its period of inactivity and Acrow props had to be installed to make it safe.

Electricity was also laid on and the first Puttenham Harvest Supper held there. The old hall had an atmosphere all of its own despite (or possibly because of) the lack of sanitation and running water. Harvest supper guests squeezed in, elbow to elbow, and ‘a good time was had by all’. The Jumble Sales and Harvest Suppers continued until 1991, when the new Cecilia Hall, sited close to the Church, was opened. By this time the Parish Room was in a somewhat dilapidated state and, following a survey carried out on the instructions of the Puttenham Trust, further renovation work was carried out in 2003 by a team of local volunteers which included David Kelland, Dave Jenkinson, Oliver Matthews and Ken Crawford. The walls and floor were in a bad way and much of the woodwork needed replacing, whilst the building was also sprayed against woodworm.

The Old Parish Room continues as a valuable and picturesque parish amenity, its continued existence a testament to the quality of Victorian materials and design, and the continuing dedication of local volunteers over the last ninety-five years.

Article was written by Ken Crawford.