Tea at the Tower That Was
Posted by lmphs - 16/11/11 at 07:11:23 pmLast month I wrote about how a small group of us locally raised funds to restore the Old Church Tower in Chapel Lane Long Marston.
One of the fund raising activities was Tea at the Tower. This proved to be one of the most successful and popular events of the summer and it continued to be held annually long after funds were raised sufficient to secure the safety of the Tower.
The event took place in the gardens of Old Church Cottage and Old Church Farm. It extended along the road between the two houses and also the churchyard within which the tower stood.
Games and activities for children were set up at Old Church Farm. A helpful potter gave hands on demonstrations making all sorts of vases and pots. Children were encouraged to try their hand at it and were able to take away their personal creations. Other craft attractions included spinning and basket making.
Alongside the road, beekeepers put up a large bee tent and gave demonstrations on how the hive functioned all dressed up in their white protection gear looking like space men. Naturally there was honey for tea.
Butterfly Conservation always attended promoting their activities with lots of information on how to attract butterflies to gardens and highlighting our local butterfly reserve at Millhoppers.
An important feature of our local landscape is the Black Poplar Tree. We have in this area one of the largest concentrations of this rare tree and they are under threat. A lot of information was available on work carried out to safeguard these trees and copies of the local Black Poplar Walk were distributed.
Perhaps the most eye catching stall was the fruit and vegetable display and sale. We were very fortunate to get a substantial discount from a local Pick Your Own farm as they were very sympathetic towards what we were trying to achieve. Tea at the Tower was held on a Saturday and on the day before a team of pickers set off early to dig potatoes, carrots and pick peas, broad beans, onions and many other vegetables.
On the Saturday, the day of the event, another picking party set off to gather many types of soft fruit. This party had to set off even earlier in order to get the fruit as fresh as possible. On return all the fruit and vegetables had to weighed, packed and priced. The prices were adjusted to local supermarket prices in order to make a reasonable profit. Under the gazebos the stall looked like a mini Covent Garden and it was always a sell out.
The most important feature of course was Tea; in fact tea, scones and cakes with fruit drinks for the children. All this was provided by local residents and many hours were spent making
scones to be stored in home freezers up and down Chapel Lane. Tables were set up in the churchyard and garden of Old Church Cottage and of course we always had good weather.
This all took a lot of organising and hard work but it was a lot of fun. It produced a great sense of camaraderie and what is more it was highly popular and raised a lot of money. So popular did the event become that it continued for a number of years following completion of the Tower restoration. As the money was no longer required to fund the restoration we had to find other projects that could benefit from this largesse. It was decided to split the money three ways. A third was donated to Long Marston Church, another supported the Village News, then its early days and the final third was retained to manage the trees in the churchyard and to carry out any further maintenance on the Tower.
All such events require an enthusiastic and active team. Unfortunately many of the organising team were clocking up years and running out of energy. Furthermore there were no takers to replace us so the event fell off the village calendar. This is very sad as it was a well attended event, a highlight of the summer and it raised money for good causes.
Could it be resurrected? Are there any takers? It’s hard work but a lot of fun.
Article by John Noakes.
The Old Church Tower and its Surrounding Churchyard
Posted by lmphs - 16/11/11 at 07:11:24 pmIt is now ten years since a group of us came together in an attempt to restore the Old Church Tower at Long Marston. A Grade 11* listed building, situated in its small churchyard with a few gravestones, it is surrounded by sombre old yews and dominated by a gigantic lime tree. On one side is the remains of a moat whish once surrounded the long lost Manor of Long Marston and adjacent is a 16th century thatched cottage.
The history of the church tower and its lost church is worthy of a whole article in itself but as this is the tenth anniversary of the restoration, newcomers to the villages may like to know how we approached the task and in a later article, some background about the lost church itself.
Up until 2001 the old tower was disintegrating; pieces of masonry were falling down, the glass in the windows was smashed. The small churchyard was being used as a dumping ground for people’s rubbish. The structure was infested with ivy and the roof leaked as some of the lead had been stripped. The building had been taken over by jackdaws and feral pigeons. It was a sad sight, abandoned, neglected and unloved! Equally important, it was dangerous. Some action was needed urgently.
A small group of locals came together to form a task force to seek advice, help and funding. The Parochial Church Council had no funds for such a large task but the Diocese of St Albans needed to be approached in order for us to take on this project. This they agreed. Several grant giving organisations were then approached but whilst sympathetic, the message from them all was the same- we had to demonstrate that we could raise funds ourselves, so called pump priming funds, before they would consider any requests.
Through a series of events including dinners, concerts and notably Tea at the Tower we raised sufficient funds to go back to the organisations to review their attitude to our request. Incidentally Tea at the Tower became such a popular event that it continued annually long after the Tower had been restored; some of us would dearly like to resurrect this. Any offers; most of us getting old we need younger input?
Dacorum, Hertfordshire Landfill Partnership and English Heritage all then agreed to help us. We were able to engage an architect to carry out a feasibility study and then organise the work to be done.
The work included building a new parapet with water chutes and a new lead roof. An internal ladder had to be constructed to get access to the roof and old belfry. Festoons of ivy had to be removed from the walls and lintels replaced and the windows meshed over to prevent birds getting access. Before any of this could be done years of pigeon poo had to be dug out and removed. This was almost four foot deep and was considered toxic and had to be carried out by a team wearing protective clothing.
With a final six coats of limewash the work was completed all for a sum of £47,000! If we had known this figure at the outset I doubt if any of us would have contemplated the idea of taking on this project. However although a lot of hard work it generated a lot of fun and great camaraderie. The final result is that the Old Tower is secure for centuries to come.
Article by John Noakes.
Long Marston Airfield
Posted by lmphs - 16/11/11 at 05:11:09 pmFields on the site of what would become Long Marston Airfield were used as an aerodrome in 1917 during the First World War, but activities ceased after the armistice.
In 1940, farmland worked mainly by Arthur Rees and some by William Southernwoods was requisitioned, and 1941 saw intense activity as building contractors George Wimpey flattened the land and constructed runways, service roads and buildings.
In March 1942 the new airfield (a satellite station to Wing) welcomed No. 26 Operational Training Unit of the Royal Air Force. This O.T.U. flew Avro Ansons and Vickers Wellingtons.
Then in September 1942 the facility was transferred to the United States Army Air Force. The first aircraft of the 8th Air Force 44th Bombardment Group to arrive were the nine B24 Liberators of 66th squadron, followed by those of 67th and 68th – all of which made the hazardous flight across the Atlantic.
But this first American occupation was brief; in October 1942 the group was transferred to RAF Shipdham in Norfolk, and the British O.T.U. moved back to Long Marston.
The following year the Americans returned, the airfield being handed to the 8th Air Force’s 12th Combat Crew Replacement Centre equipped with B24D Liberators. At this time the airfield became “Station 113”.
In March and April 1944 twin-engined P38 Lockheed Lightnings were based at the Airfield, flown by 50th Fighter Squadron of the 8th Reconnaissance Group, but the squadron was not made operational.
Other squadrons assigned to Long Marston in 1944 were:-
850th Bombardment Squadron (B.S.) 8th Air Force Composite Command (8AFCC) 11th – 27th May.
858th B.S. 8AFCC 19th June – 10th August.
406th B.S. 8AFCC 5th August – 16th March 1945.
36th B.S. 8AFCC 15th August – 28th February 1945.
This last squadron flew secret missions in specially equipped Boeing B17 Flying Fortresses and B24 Liberators, jamming enemy radar, disrupting radio signals as well as transmitting false information about non-existent Allied raids. Leaflets, including “Safe Passage” for surrendering German soldiers, and fake food coupons (which caused chaos in queues for dwindling supplies) were also dropped.
The airfield was not without tragedy; in 1944 the B24 liberator captained by Lt. Norman Landburg crashed, killing two members of the crew. (A memorial was dedicated to them at Ford End Farm in 2009).
In 1945, on the 19th February, Liberator 42-50385 “The Beast of Bourbon” piloted by Lt. Louis McCarthy suffered instrument failure immediately following take off, and in poor weather conditions it crashed in Upper Brade field. The ‘plane caught fire, and three crew members (all gunners) died. (On May 7th 2011 a ceremony was held in Long Marston to honour these men and dedicate a new memorial stone).
A further memorial to members of the US Armed Forces is situated at the Lukes Lane entrance, and uses an old runway light as its centre.
After the Second World War, the airfield was taken over by the British army, and closed (officially) in 1952.
However, the Great Train Robbery in August 1963 brought the area to the notice of the media, and a few weeks after the robbery, the BBC broadcast a current events programme exposing the covert activities on the airfield site.
Evidence emerged that the airfield had been used jointly by the CIA and MI6 to store weapons as part of a NATO operation code named GLADIO. In the event of Western Europe being invaded by the Warsaw Pact, these weapons would have armed “The Resistance”.
Today, although the runways have been removed for hardcore, much of the airfield is still intact. Service roads and buildings are used by an industrial estate which has an entrance off Cheddington Lane. A grass runway is still used occasionally by light aircraft.
If you have any information you would like to include, please let us know.
Flooding in Long Marston
Posted by lmphs - 16/11/11 at 04:11:55 pmLong Marston and the surrounding area are criss-crossed with streams and drainage ditches, but despite these attempts at keeping the water levels under control, the village has suffered with flooding on many occasions.
In 1978 the village flooded at least 4 times, the water rising to a depth of 3 feet behind the houses in Marston Court, and reaching from the crossroads to Loxley Farm.
Twenty five years later, at the start of January 2003, some residents of Marston Court were unable to return to work after the Christmas break as their cars were surrounded by deep water.
Here is an eye witness account by one of the residents:
“On the afternoon of 1st January, we returned from the cinema to find a very large puddle had appeared behind our houses. This was quite puzzling, as we had not had any rain that day. The puddle continued to grow, until by the next morning the area at the back of our houses in Marston Court was under deep water from end to end and many people could not get to work. One or two people even took to the water in canoes and inflatable’s!
“By late morning the main village street was under water, and the shop flooded. Many villagers went to help Tina, the owner of the shop, with bailing out, and more helpers were at the Queen’s Head with buckets and brooms in a vain battle against the flood.
“The Fire Brigade arrived later in the day, to distribute sand bags and pump out any properties that had been badly affected.”
The next day the flood water had almost all receded, leaving a very soggy village behind.
As in 1978 the cause of the flood remained a mystery, and discussions between Dacorum Council, the Environmental Agency and British Waterways, did not reveal any answers. The brook which runs through the village was investigated and cleared as a precaution against this happening again.
If you have any stories about flooding in Long Marston, please let us know. We would be glad to add new information.
Millhoppers Reserve.
Posted by lmphs - 06/07/11 at 07:07:14 am1998 Saw the acquisition of 3.5 acres of unimproved grassland by Herts. and Middx. Branch of Butterfly Conservation between Wilstone and Long Marston. Continue reading Millhoppers Reserve….
Black Poplar Update Following The Original Survey Of 1998/2000.
Posted by lmphs - 16/06/11 at 11:06:54 amA second survey over about 5 years 2002/2007 Continue reading Black Poplar Update Following The Original Survey Of 1998/2000….
B-24 Liberator “Beast of Bourbon”
Posted by lmphs - 07/05/11 at 08:05:27 am
Memorial Dedication to the crew of B-24 Liberator on V.E. day.
Organised by Chas Jellis.
There will be a memorial dedication to the crew of the B-24 Liberator “Beast of Bourbon” on Saturday 7th May 2011 at 12 noon. The memorial stone will be placed on the green in Long Marston next to the existing war memorial.
Airmen of Lt. Louis McCarthy’s crew in Liberator #42-50385, R4-H nicknamed Beast of Bourbon who died in a take-off crash at Long Marston, England on February 19, 1945 were arial gunners: S/Sgt. Carl E. Lindquist (21), Pvt. Fred K. Becker (20), Pvt. Howard F. Haley (20).
Continue reading B-24 Liberator “Beast of Bourbon”…
Local Nature – The Black Poplar
Posted by lmphs - 05/05/11 at 09:05:54 amSpecial feature: The rare Black Poplar - populous nigra subsp. betulifolia.
NEW TRAIL TO DISCOVER BRITAIN’S RAREST TREE.
Continue reading Local Nature – The Black Poplar…
Village Halls and Recreation Ground
Posted by admin - 07/01/09 at 02:01:09 pmRecreation Ground – 1930’s
The ground was loaned by the Rotheschilds for use by the villagers for sports etc. The Parish Council was responsible for the upkeep (fences, gates etc.). There were no games allowed after dusk or on Sundays. The local farmers would put ponies and some cattle to graze overnight in the Rec. When the Rotheschilds sold some of their farms and various meadows in around 1936, they offered to sell the recreation ground to the village for approximately £30.00, as the Parish Council did not want to buy it. The solicitors of the Rotheschilds in Tring were also Father Anthony’s solicitors and mentioned to him how surprised they were that the Parish Council was not taking up the offer. Father Anthony was furious, put a deposit down, called a public meeting and with full public support, money was raised to buy the ground for the village. Continue reading Village Halls and Recreation Ground…
The Railway
Posted by admin - 07/01/09 at 02:01:23 pmA railway line used to follow a route from Cheddington station to Aylesbury, crossing the Long Marston to Wingrave road at “Marston Gate” about one mile out of Long Marston. The line was built as a branch line of the London and Birmingham, later renamed LNWR in 1846. The line was officially opened on the 10th June 1839, but Marston Gate was not opened until 1860. Continue reading The Railway…
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