Social Snapshots

click Social Snapshot articles by Joan West about mid winter weather, dentists, VE Day Legacies.

Use Social Snapshots here for Annual Records

2022. Tuesday 6th September. Liz Truss appointed Prime Minister by Queen Elizabeth. Voted in by the Conservative Party, following the resignation of Boris Johnston.

2022. Thursday 8th September. Queen Elizabeth II died at 4.30 pm on Thursday 8th September 2022 at Balmoral, Scotland, aged 96. She came to the throne in 1952, aged 25, reigning for 70 years. Prince Charles is now King Charles III.

2022. 25th October. Liz Truss resigned as Prime Minister on her 50th day in office.

2021. Ted Janes died in December 2021. He had been Chairman of the Parish Council and the Village Hall Committee for many years. He was a J.P. He ran a youth club. He was the inspiration of Hallmark and Village Day. The Happy Wanderers Walking Club, The Horticultural Society and many other Village Hall regular events were established on his watch. Go to Ted & Jean Janes for their full history.

2018. July 2018 by The Local History Group. For our exhibition in November we plan to celebrate not only the end of WW1 but also the centenary of the Royal Air Force, formed from the Royal Flying Corps in 1918. Several men who trained in those early days had homes here during WW2, by then high ranking officers.

Please get in touch if you can tell us more or knew any of the families personally, if you know of others or have photos we could copy. Anyone in the History Group would be pleased to hear from you or ring Rosemary Mortham on 01844 345863

A full history of each will be given at the exhibition, giving photographs, details of their lifetime careers, their honours and awards, families and their association here with other details such as the planes they flew.

Also included will be the history of Bomber Command together with the controversy it provoked.

And the Suffragettes. see 1913 Saunderton Railway Station Gutted by Fire

The celebration parade of the schoolchildren will be reported. see 1918 School Armistice Celebrations

The influenza pandemic of 1919 will be mentioned. see 1919 Influenza Pandemic

2018. Brian Panter's obituary. The following is an extract from Brian's obituary printed in full in the life histories of Brian & Nell Panter :-

--- And a memory of the winter of 1962 when we'd just arrived in Princes Risborough, when Dad and I climbed the Whiteleaf Cross in two feet of snow. I've no idea why he led this expedition, apart from the sheer adventure and challenge of it.

And of course, the many, many hours spent together on horseback riding across hill and vale, through woods and field and looking after our horses in all weathers. I recognise now that my Mother and Rachel, being less horse obsessed, sacrificed other things to pay for the horses, and even then I was aware of heated discussions about money.

The other aspect of his life which runs back before my earliest memories, is Dad as an artist. There were always some of his paintings - horses or ships - on the walls of our houses. He painted and sketched all his life, and sculpted models of horses, including commissions. He also built a detailed scale model of HMS Clematis on which he served during the war, and this is now gifted to the Merseyside Maritime Museum. Drawing remained the chief joy in his later years, he always carried a small sketch pad in his pocket. It was a way for him to connect with the world, often spending hours in public places sketching the people he saw. He was never happier than at Sally's art classes at Phoenix Studios in Towersey which he managed to attend up until his stroke last year, which cruelly took away his ability to wield a drawing tool or pen.

He was devastated by my mother's death in 1990, but not long afterwards he formed a relationship with Jeanette, in which he found great joy and comfort. Jeanette was an important person in helping him engage with his grandchildren, arranging outings and treats, and even after their romantic relationship had passed into companionship, she remained a close family friend until her death a few years ago.

In 2017 at the age of 93, he was asked to speak The Immortal Words at 11am on Remembrance Sunday in the library at Princes Risborough, where he spent many hours. I was visiting and helped him put on his medals and walk round the corner. There was a small group of friends there, some librarians and a few members of the public, and he spoke the words with resonance and great depth. 'They Shall not grow old as we who are left grow old' had a special significance to him. So many of his peers and the women he loved were dead, he was finding old age intolerable and knew he was approaching the end his life. I felt very proud of him. It was the last remembrance Sunday he spoke at. By the following year his stroke had taken away his power of speech and we'd lost access to his memories and the connection to the act of remembrance.

He loved all his grandchildren : Rory, Holly, Faye and Hamish, and he loved to hear them play music. On that theme of remembrance, we ask my son, Rory, to play The Last Post for his Grandad.

2014. Notice in Hallmark for the The Local History Group. Village History Group Event to be held at St John's Church from Sat 8th to Tues 11th November 2014

To Commemorate the Outbreak of World War One and to remember those who died and show its effect on our local villages.

Sat 8th.2.00 - 5.00pm History Exhibition open. Sat 8th. Nov. 7.30 for 8pm. Concert by Lacey Green Singers

Sun 9th Nov 10.00 am. Special Remembrance Service and 2 minutes silence. Placing of crosses in memory of each local serviceman killed.

Sun 9th Nov 2.00 - 5.00 pm History Exhibition Open (Teas served). Lecture by Rev. Arthur Taylor on Oxford & Bucks Light Infantry at 3.00 pm Cost £5. Also adult church choir singing period songs and hymns. Poetry readings including works by Rupert Brooke.

Mon 10th Nov. 7.00 pm Junior Choir Concert for Peace followed by refreshments, and History Exhibition. cost £5

Tues 11 Nov 11.00 am Special School Service in church to remember the 11th day of the 11th month, when the Armistice was signed. Also small exhibition suitable for children.

2011 Home of Rest for Horses Updated. Several articles were printed in Hallmark about the Home of Rest for Horses created at Speen Farm in 1971. Click the following for more :-

Home of Rest for Horses by Walter Stein.

1982 Horses killed in I.R.A. Bombing. Copy of letter in The Horses Trust magazine

1984 Sefton comes to Lacey Green (biography)

1986 Celebrating the Centenary of the First Home of Rest for Horses. by Miles Marshall

Research by Joan West

In 2011 the following article was published in the Horses Trust Newsletter, when the Home of Rest for Horses at Speen Farm was rebuilt :-

40 YEARS ON by Peter Larson REBUILDING THE TRUST in SPEEN. The Horse Trust, the world’s oldest horse charity, has a mission to improve the lives of every horse, pony and donkey in Britain.  The Trust's Homes of Rest were established in 1886 to care for the working horses of London.   We continue to care for today’s working horses.

FORTY YEARS OLD AT SPEEN FARM. After 40 plus years at Speen Farm, our Home of Rest was dilapidated.   It wasn’t about aesthetics.   The condition of the buildings were such that the costs of maintenance and repair were uneconomic and our facilities were no longer up to the job.   Our horses needed and deserved better.   Our visitors wanted more.   It was a daunting situation, but one we had to address.

APPEAL TO REBUILD. In 2012 we started planning the rebuild to a standard where we could continue to demonstrate best practice in equine care and provide decent facilities for our visitors.   Rebuilding meant closing our gates to visitors and for a charity like. For the Horses Trust that relies wholly on public donations, that was difficult.  In October 2012 we launched our biggest ever appeal to supporters and asked for their help to rebuild The Trust.  The Home of Rest remained closed for 8 months.

PRINCESS ANNE & WAR HORSE. On a gloriously sunny Wednesday 5^th June 2013, invited guests and “Joey” from the National Theatres production of “War Horse”, gathered to see The Princess Royal perform the official reopening.

BEFORE. Before rebuilding we lacked the most basic of facilities to provide veterinary treatment.   The very nature of our herd: horses retired after years of hard work in public service and horses, ponies and donkeys rescued from terrible situations means that vet visits, regular check-ups and specialist treatment is an everyday event.

AFTER. In rebuilding we had the opportunity to create new facilities for the housing, treatment and rehabilitation of our herd.  Just like people, the horses have got taller over the years and our ex-military and police horses are some of the tallest horses in the country.   Now their stables are big enough.   Some of the donkeys and ponies are happier living together, so we have double sized stables so they can live as a group.

SAFER. We had no safe space or the equipment for our vets to assess or treat our horses.   It meant dangerous work in all weathers for the vet and in some cases (for horses don’t like vet visits!) distress.   We now have facilities to care for some of Britain’s most deserving horses.   These include :-

1.      A walk in walk out treatment clinic for our vets to assess and treat our herd safely;

2.      A basic laboratory and pharmacy to carry out tests on site, speeding up diagnosis and treatment;

3.      An intensive care unit to help with post-operative recovery and around the clock monitoring;

4.      A sand school for rehabilitation and therapeutic exercising.

FACILITIES FOR VISITORS. The second part of rebuilding the Trust provided better facilities for our supporters and visitors.   They are our lifeblood, The Horses Trust relies 100% on public donations.  Visitors can relax in the elegant Black Beauty tea room, or visit our museum and exhibit of the history of the working horse in Britain.   You can also hire Sefton's Barn, a restored 18^th century barn with modern facilities.

OPENING HOURS. The Home of Rest welcomes visitors Thursday to Sunday and most bank holiday Mondays.   Well behaved dogs are welcome.   Entry fee is £5 per vehicle (concessions available).   We are closed December and January.

2011. The Local History Group staged an exhibiton at Lacey Green School on Local History. click 2011 Local History Exhibition for report and photos