Chesham Heritage

14/06/2025

Mr Trevor Pearce, farmer of The Lee, brought in this painting yesterday. It's of the Market Square in the days of the old Town Hall prior to 1965. A few of the buildings on the right have been demolished, but some are home to today's Skipton Building Society, Mad Squirrel beershop etc. The artist is TE Oakley (possibly Professor Oakley). Does anyone know anything about him?

14/06/2025

Today!

04/06/2025

Cutlery with the Garrett-Pegge monogram (Chesham Bois Manor) from about 1890.

31/05/2025

Clive Birch's 'Book of Chesham' was the first substantial history of the town. His final book 'World of Wheels (Birch Bros buses)' and his novel 'A Decent Man' are available at The Good Earth Gallery. He passed away in April at the age of 93. Who knew that he was so popular with the Royals?

Admirers of his ‘Town Books’ included Mrs Thatcher and the Queen Mother, while Prince Charles wrote the forewords to three of his volumes

17/05/2025

05/05/2025

While searching for another photo, we came upon this amazing photograph of Robert Hinton of Quarrendon. This was taken in 1856 and we think it might be one of the earliest photos of someone from Buckinghamshire.

The caption notes that Robert was born around 1774 and remembers being a coffin bearer at a funeral in Quarrendon.

This is actually a photograph of a photograph, with the marks from fingerprints on the original a great reminder for why we wear gloves when handling photos!

05/05/2025

On 10th May there will be a VE Day 80 celebration in Lowndes Park between 1 and 5pm. Everyone is welcome to come along and mark 80 years since World War Two ended in Europe.

There will be face-painting for kids, a fairground mini-wheel, a bouncy castle, and music and dance on the performance area. There will be a bar for the adults to enjoy, plus food representing cuisines of the allied nations, craft and plant stalls and more besides.

02/05/2025

At The Good Earth Gallery in Chesham High Street we have a stock of pewter items at old-fashioned prices (average £18), including Christening cups and a glass bottomed tankard with a 1953 Queen's shilling.

02/05/2025

As part of the VE Day 80th celebrations on Saturday 10th May, the Town Council are holding a special afternoon tea in Lowndes Park for selected members of the community who lived through the experiences of the 8th May 1945.

08/03/2025

It’s international women’s day, and this book celebrates the hidden but extremely valuable work of women in the Chilterns 100 years ago.

by Helena Chance and Lesley Hoskins Discover fascinating everyday stories of how people living in the Chilterns went about their daily lives 1st edition published 2024 ISBN 978-1-8383358-9-2 210 x 297mm softback with 7mm spine 64 pages colour + 4pp colour cover

28/02/2025

Does anyone remember Val Biro, the children's author, who lived in Germains House, Chesham about 50 years ago?

He wrote the Gumdrop series of books about his old Austin car, and often did talks at Thomas Harding School.

If you have any memories or souvenirs of Val Biro's time in Chesham, could you contact Amy Davis of Chesham Museum at:
[email protected]