Basic HTML Version
26
City & Village Tours: 0845 812 5000 info@cityandvillagetours.com
ONE TO DO ON YOUR OWN
Bodgers & Barmy Baronets
In 1962 the local Chilterns newspapers announced:
Samuel Rockall, the last of the Buckinghamshire
Bodgers is dead. The Bodgers were woodsman who
made the rungs, stretchers and legs of chairs to
supply the local Windsor Chair industry in High
Wycombe. Traditionally bodgers worked in the
woods, building temporary wicker or wattle sheds
to house their foot powered lathes. Start your day
out with a visit to the
Wycombe Museum
in High
Wycombe where there’s an exhibition on the
bodgers including films of bodgers at work in the
local beech woods and examples of locally made
chairs. Call Grace Wilson, the Visitor Services
Officer on 01494 421898 or email Grace at
to arrange
morning coffee and biscuits plus a ten minute
introductory talk for £3.00 a person which includes
a donation to support the work of the museum
which is otherwise free entry. The museum is open
daily from 10.00am until 5.00pm but doesn’t open
until 2.00pm on Sundays. It’s best to avoid the
school holidays and groups larger than 30 people
will need to be prepared to have morning coffee in
two shifts.
Wycombe Museum, Priory Avenue, High
Wycombe, Bucks, HP13 6PX.
A short drive away the entire village of West
Wycombe is owned by the National Trust, who
bought it in 1929 to save it from demolition.
The High Street is clustered with fine examples of
historic buildings from the 16th to 18th centuries.
Architectural walking trail leaflets are available
from shops on the High Street. Through a cobbled
archway you enter an attractive coaching inn built
three hundred years ago. You could book a group
lunch here at
The George & Dragon
on
01494 53534
West Wycombe Hill, looming above the village,
is crowned by an Iron Age hill fort and a church
topped with an enormous golden ball, large enough
to hold 6 people. It was created, along with caves
inside the hill by Sir Francis Dashwood for his
Hellfire Club rumoured to involve drunken orgies
and pagan worship. Despite all sorts of funny
goings on Eton educated Dashwood later became
the Chancellor of the Exchequer! Dashwood lived
on the edge of the village at
West Wycombe Park
a mansion that is among the most theatrical and
Italianate in all of England. Lavishly decorated,
it has featured in films and television series,
including Little Dorrit, The Duchess and Downton
Abbey. The house is open in 2013 from 2 June to
29 August Mondays to Thursdays and Sundays
from 2.00pm to 6.00pm. Entrance is by timed ticket
for a guided tour (except Sundays when a free-flow
system operates). Group rate (15+) is £7.20.
There’s no café but you can buy tea at the Garden
Centre opposite. Call on 01494 513569, see the
National Trust website or send an email to
westwycombe@nationaltrust.org.uk.