
Great Missenden in old picture postcards
Levertijd: 2-3 weken (onder voorbehoud). Het getoonde omslag kan afwijken.
Levertijd: 2-3 weken (onder voorbehoud). Het getoonde omslag kan afwijken.
39 Trees were transported by special carts called timber bobs and drawn by harses right up until the 195 Os. If there was a steep hill to be negotiated - and
this is a land of hills -
as many as eight harses would be harnessed to pull one laad of three large trees trunks. It calmot have been easy to ensure that
each horse shared the burden. Even after the Second World War small children would stand on the hills and cheer as the harses strained to pull the enor-
mous weight. The timber would be taken to sawmills, bought and distributed from there.
40 This is Great Missenden High Street fadng west towards Wendover in about 1920. It was a time of change for the village and for everyone. The First
World War with its lang shadows was over, clothes were about to change to a more modern appearance and cars were on the edge of multi -ownership,
The revolution of personal transport was about to begin, but nevertheless the sign just below the roof above the car shows that there were still stables at
the back of the Red Lion. Most people are slow to accept changes and in any case cars were more expensive than harses if you lived in the country.
41 Here is a close look at the Red Lion, one of the many original old coaching inns on the High Street, in the early 1920s. The proprietor at this time was William Lacey. The Laceys have lived in Great Missenden for generations and still live here. Robert Louis Stevenson stayed at this inn but sadly neither inn nor man any langer exists, In the Second World War there was a small factory behind the Red Lion making armatures for generators. It was run by Mr. Butler and employed mainly girls. Nowadays there is a flower shop in the building and different
scents waft across the High Streel. Because of their great age most of the houses in the High Street are Grade 2 listed and the village is a protected area.
42 Almost opposite to the Red Lion in the High Street there was a vegetable and fish shop called Rippingtons, which also sold chickens and game
birds. This photograph was taken around 1920 plainly around Christmas time, as witness the rows of turkeys that are hanging up for sale. It was a great blow
to the village when first the fish shop and then the vegetable shop gave up trading around 1980. Through the decades people had come daily to
get fresh vegetables at Rippingtons and their closing meant fewer people came to shop in the High Street.
43 In the mid-twentieth century there were several turkey and pheasant farms in and around Great Missenden. Turkeys were bred in Church Street bath behind the Pound and by the children of the Church of England Combined School the other side of the Square. The turkeys for sale in Rippingtons shop probably came from here. Pheasants are hard to raise, but there was a farm in the next door village of Prestwood that was run by people called Eltringham. One brather lived in Prestwood and the other in Great Missenden. This pic-
ture is an advertisement for their farm called Gaybirds.
GAYBIRD
PHEASANT FARM,
(PROPRIETORS, GAYBIRD, LIMITEO)
GREAT MISSE OE , BUCKS.
'Phone : 58 GREAT :1ISSE"DE:-I.
PHEASA:-IT EGG ?
HUNGARIAN PARTRIOGES, DAY-OLD PHEASÁNT CHICKS, WILD DUCKS,
ADULT PHE.SA"TS.
FA:-ICY PHEASANTS. all varieties,
VILO DUCK EGGs. PHEASANT POULTS. 'vVILD DUCKLINGS. GA 'IE FOODS,
GA 'IE :1EDICINES. GA 'IE ApPLIANCES.
44 One of the coaching inns in the High Street was the Buckingham Arms. It closed in the 1930s. Other than the main bar it had the aak Lounge, which is shown in this postcard. It looks very warm and comfortable. Les Payne, whose family have lived in Great Missenden for generations, remembers that his father was a boot-boy at this inn when he was young and his mother was a cook. Almast opposite to the Buckingham Arms there were two butchers shops, Porky Colgroves and Stevens. Between them was a narrow alley that is still there today. In the Second World War a Tiger
Moth aeroplane flying from R.A.F. Halton crashed nose down straight into this alley. Debris was scattered all over the village. There was nothing left of plane or pilot, except for
one leg wearing a stocking. Maybe the young pilot was giving his girl friend an ill-fated ride?
45 This is the High Street in the 193 Os and there have been some changes from a decade ago. For instanee the Buckingham Arms has gone and the
National Westminster Bank has taken its place. Eventually the bank was also to close its doors. The house with its buildings behind where Gerhardys plating
works had their canteen and Meals on Wheels were onee eooked has been bought by the Dabl family. A museum dedicated to the works of Roald Dahl is
to be set up here, and there will also be a shop. a literature centre and a leeture room.
46 Here is Mr. C]. King at the grand old age of 91 serving petrol in the High Street in 1954. Kings were the village ironmongers for as long as anyone can remember. People bought garden fertilizer here as well as the more usual wares and there was a lawn-mower repairer at the back of the shop. Sadly they ceased trading in 1999. The premises now sell smart office furniture, but the two petrol pumps are still there, protected against removal by the Council. Perhaps Great Missenden is the only village to have Grade-2-listed petrol pumps?
47 This is a photograph of the High Street facing east towards Amersham just after the war. The court yard seen on the left leads to yet another old coaching inn, the White Lion. The stagecoach used to stop here on its way to London. The proprietor at that time, George Oakes, was quick to see the coming revolution ofthe petrol engine and turned his stables into a garage. The inn is still there but it is no longer a garage. Opposite, with the car outside, is a shop ca1led Hockeys. They sold old si1ver, china, carpets and any qua1ity goods Mrs. Hockey could lay her hands on. They were part
of the High Street scene for decades and only ceased to trade at the millennium.
48 If the winter was cold in [anuary 192 8 Douglas Fraser the High Street draper was plainly ready to do samething about it. Waal Chemise Vests for
1 / lId, Ladies Fleecy Lined Directoir Kniekers 1/ 6d
(a modern dictionary does not list the word 'directoir') , Meri's Army Grey Soeks 9d. Meri's Odd Tweed Trousers from
5/1 1 d. This advertisement plainly reached people outside the village, because it informs the reader that the shop is opposite Stevens the butcher. The years do not change the fact that the entire world loves a bargain.
A
Great
{Nt'O.
Winter
Sater
DOUGLAS FRASER,
Draper and Gents' Outfitter.
High Stre~t Great Missenden,
will ceecececce a SALE of LADIES' AND GENTS' WEAR, ETe., on
FRIDAY, ]ANUARY 27th.
FOR 14 DAYS O:'LY.
Wonclerlul 0&'1l&11'I" IEnorm, ??? R.cIr,ooUon,. "Ult. tew ot t.h ???. I'9~n ??.?..? O""m.rAt", o.r....... Com. _nd &66 t.he IUrlJlng Volu ?? dloplaytd In Ulo W'lnc:owo trom day to da)'.
DRAPERY DEPT.
LADIE . ART rLK 5TOCKIN"GS. all thc Intest sh3de~
(1adderproof) 1/6, 1/11. 'lIG pa i r
LADIES' COLOt;RED COTTO=' nOSE fr-om S~d. p3ir
A L:U-.l:t QU.:llltit,y of LADIE ... · ALL WOOL CßE)(J-E VE TS l/IU
A peci:ll PUr~b:sc of TWILL SBEETl:'G, a Y:lrds wide I/Gi:L yard
~ bl"ge Qtr.1Dtit)' o! LADJE' FAST COLOt:R.E-D OYERALLS;L.,'ltcstSh::.,:.-s 1.'6, 1'~!:
ALL-PELT tlAT'::, leU (jYé:r IrQn1 season , must be clc;red at J:- eacb
LADlES' FLEECY LI~ED DIRECTOIRE R:"iICKERS, ~II eereurs lr6!, wortb Zl6
2 prECES O~LY (:t.boutl SO Y:l.l:d~) of CREA:l C,SE)s'ENT cunr.uxrxs
Lace Insertion, 36jn, wide IOd :t ,'arel
BAl'H TO,V.EL , extra I:u'gco anel he:1YY, 'whi te nnd coloured u. coach
To tl.rst>culltomer rcquidngsnmc on Frld.:ay QorQtl)~. :a L:adICll' Blnci.:
Cloth Wlrltc:r CoAt. Grc,' qulrrcl Collnr (we: se:1l :at 6S;·) for ZOf·,
Ever:-' Article in tbc Sllop Reclue:ed, Rcmn:llts. Rem.n:l.ots. Remnen ts.
GE:'"TS' DEPT.
:lE!"ïS ALL·WOOI~ TWEED crrs JIEN'S ODD TWEED TROt: ERS. froOl
A L4rge Qu::tntity of PANTS A:"iD VESTS. from
A peeial I?u~ch:l.:)e of )o1EN'S AR.'lY GREY OCJ.S ~EX' ODD WOR.KIN'G JACKE'l'~
EXTRA :REA l'l' SlIIRTS, Winccrette Other Make:--
)oIEN' COLLARS. TIES AND BR:ACE'"
'15/~. wor-tb 40/Sill '2/11 9d nnd l/~ a Pair 14/6 3/9 cach 4/6, 5r6 eaeh , t;sU:ll prices 5/6, 66 ~t Prices th::tt wilt a steuud YOl,
Safe <3ommences friday, January 27th.
Dcne fOt:gct Ieme and Address-
DOUGLAS FRASBR, High Street, Gt.lIli senden.
<Oppo.it<" Stcv('~. du::: Butdier), l':ul(Q<lJ'ror>o-.~l',~