Amersham, Maidenhead & Runnymede

A mini heatwave gave me the opportunity to get out on Ginny without fear of getting wet. The fact it coincided with Battle of Britain Day, 15th September, was a bonus, as this enabled me to go to Amersham, to try and find the grave of Flying Officer, Peter Cape Beauchamp St John, killed in the Battle of Britain.

I set off about 9:45, arriving in Amersham about 11:10. Amersham is an historic market town, with one of those wide main streets, full of timber framed buildings, coaching inns, etc. It also boasts a market hall, constructed in 1682. 

Amersham Market Hall

I parked Ginny on the main street. A sign said limited to 1 hour. That would be enough time to find Peter, I reckoned. Along from where I parked is the memorial gardens, a beautifully laid out gardens, with a fountain, WW1 soldier memorial, a stainless steel flower bed, in the shape of the Battleship Dreadnought, and most interestingly, 2 stainless steel miniature SE5A WW1 aircraft.

SE5As

The leading aircraft is that of Albert Ball, VC, DSO & Two Bars, MC. He was an English fighter pilot during the First World War. At the time of his death he was the United Kingdom's leading flying ace, with 44 victories. This is a depiction of his personal SE5a aircraft A8898. He was just 20 when he was killed.

From the memorial gardens, I made my way through the church yard, across the river Misbourne, which is no more than a stream, about 10-15 feet wide, and into the graveyard. I'd done some research on google maps/streetview, so I had a good idea where I was going. A picture of the grave, had also given me a clue, as it showed some trees nearby. My research paid off, as I quickly discovered Peter's grave. It was looking a bit unkempt, with plenty of wild grass growing on and around it, so I set about pulling up all that I could, to make it look presentable. The least I could do for one of our fallen heroes. Tidy up complete, I took some photos.

 

The last resting place of Flying Officer Peter Cape Beauchamp St John

Whilst doing my research, I'd come across something most unexpected, that being, famous people buried in the cemetery. One was a Welsh author, Arthur Machen . Machen was the pen-name of Arthur Llewellyn Jones, a Welsh author and mystic of the 1890s and early 20th century. I must confess, I'd never heard of him. The second person buried there and the one that really grabbed my attention, was Ruth Ellis. For those that don't know, Ruth Ellis was the last woman to be hanged in the United Kingdom, after being convicted of the murder of her lover, David Blakely. Originally buried in Holloway prison, she was exhumed and re-buried in Amersham. Apparently, her grave had “Ruth Hornby 1926-1955” inscribed on her marker, but this marker was destroyed in 1982, hence her grave is now unmarked, though photos I saw showed a few stones to mark where the grave was.

Once again, my research came in handy. Next to her burial place, the pictures showed a quite distinctive grave, close to a wall. I had a hunch that they would probably have stuck her somewhere out of the way, so I made my way over to the far corner of the cemetery. My hunch paid off. There was the distinctive grave from the photo. Though no markings remain, I can claim to have stood by the grave of the infamous Ruth Ellis.

In this patch of ground lies Ruth Ellis

I made my way back to the high street. Time was moving on and as I still hadn't walked the high street, I decided to move the bike, rather than risk a ticket. Just around the corner, was a car park with a motorcycle bay, just big enough for about 3 bikes. There was nobody in it. Parked up, I walk the length of the high street. It really is very nice, with several little mews leading off it. Judging by some of the artisan shops, it is a wealthy area, so rather than head in one of the pubs or restaurants/cafes, I walked back to the other end of the high street and went in Tesco to get a meal deal for my lunch.

 

The Kings Arms Hotel

I ate my meal deal in the memorial gardens, a beautifully presented place, with plenty of bench seating around the edge. With the sun blazing down it made a very pleasant place to have lunch.

Amersham Memorial Gardens

Lunch over, I made my way back to the bike. A big Harley had parked up next to me. There wasn't much room left for anything else in the bay now. I set Tomtom for my next destination and off I rode. The Maidenhead Heritage Centre is barely more than a big house. There's a car park right alongside it but no motorcycle bays, so I popped Ginny in a car bay. The sign board by the pay and display didn't even mention motorcycles, just ways to pay by phone, etc, so hopefully, I won't be getting a fine, as I don't expect to have to pay for a bike!

The reason for my visit to the heritage centre, was to visit the Air Transport Auxiliary (ATA) Museum. I've read Mary Ellis' book, Spitfire Girl and was keen to find out a bit more. The museum consists of one upstairs room. There are photos on the walls as you go up the stairs and in the room itself a cabinet down one side, with uniforms and other paraphernalia, donated by various ATA members' families. It costs £3.50 for a ticket that lasts for one year. To be honest, it probably isn't worth the £3.50 for a few photos and half a wall of 'stuff', so the year long ticket is probably to make you think you are getting you monies worth. I can't see myself ever going back, so it's a bit of a gimmick. 

There was a 2 minute video before I went upstairs and then I had a personal guide. Nice chap, not sure if he does this for all visitors but he talked me through a few bits and pieces, some of the history, etc. He also gave me a demonstration flight on the Spitfire flight simulator they have in the room. He used to fly, so made it look pretty easy. Reminded me of watching Catherine's son on his computer games years ago. It costs £20 for 30 minutes if you fancy ago or £30 for an hour. Not really my thing. Who needs a fake cockpit, when I'm in and out of the real thing each week? 😉 It was an interesting visit but apart from seeing personal items, log books of some of the pilots and the Pilot's Notes books they used to use (1  page/2 sides per aircraft), you probably won't learn anything that you can't find on the internet. I didn't learn anything over what I already knew, still, that's that ticked off my list. 

I was soon back on the bike and making my way to Runnymede and the Air Forces Memorial. This memorial contains the names of over 20,000 air force personnel, who perished during WWII and have no known grave. As always with these places, it's a very sobering place to visit, as you walk around the cloisters with the walls covered in the names of those who died. One of those names being that of Amy Johnson, who was killed in January 1941, whilst on duty for the ATA, when her aircraft crashed into the Thames Estuary in bad weather.

For those thinking how clever to find Amy in amongst 20,000 names, I must point out that I had a leaflet, that guides you to four names, hers being one. 

By the time I'd walked around, found the four people in the leaflet, taken my pictures, it was 15:45, time to head for home. The memorial closes at 16:00 incidentally, in case you fancy a visit.

 

Runnymede Air Forces Memorial

Back on the bike, it wasn't long before I was on the M25 and on my way home. I arrived back home about 17:10, just short of 7.5 hours after I'd left. It had been a very nice day. The weather was superb, the ride not too bad and I'd accomplished my mission of trying to find the last resting place of my second pilot.

I don't have any other adventures planned as yet, though on my list of To Dos is to pay a visit to the ATA Memorial at Hamble in Hampshire. Maybe I can incorporate that into a visit to the Solent Sky museum, which amongst other exhibits, has a Schneider Trophy winning Supermarine SB6.

That's all for now.

Stay Safe everyone.

 

 

Phew!

What a few weeks this has been, to see out August.

It started with me assisting/riding shotgun, as my brother Paul trailered his Suzuki GT750 up to Telford, for refurbishing. Setting off around 9am from Hythe, the whole task took about 12 hours! With one stop on the way for a coffee/pee, and to tighten the straps, it took us about 5 hours to get to Telford. Bizarrely, Phil the Suzuki 2 stroke guru who is undertaking the restoration, hadn't given Paul his address, only a postcode. As we pulled into the street, wondering how on earth we'd turn round, if it wasn't right, Paul started to send a text message. Just then, a kid on a bicycle (Phil's son) stopped alongside and told us to follow him. 50m down the road, was Phil's house. After some shenanigans with the trailer, Paul can't reverse one, the bike was off the trailer and wheeled through to Phil's workshop. It's a big shed, basically, but he had about 5 different bikes in there, in various stages of repair.   

With a cuppa in hand, they went over what needed to be done and what Paul wanted to be done, not necessary the same things, with Phil giving estimates as to the cost, as they went along. Suffice to say, to get it back running and looking decent, won't come cheap.

With that all sorted, we were back in the car and making our way, slowly, back to Hythe, arriving back, as I said, somewhere in the region of 12 hours after we'd set off. Claire, my sister-in-law had some food for us when we got back, so I scoffed that pretty quick, then rode home. I'm looking forward 😧 to doing it all again when the bike is finished!

Step forward a couple of weeks and the day finally arrived, when Catherine and I tied the Civil Partnership knot. It's been a bit of a rollercoaster since we first announced our intentions in April but in the end, it all worked out fine.

The ceremony, if you can call it that, took place in a small room within Rochester register Office. Present, with us, were Catherine's son and his fiance Jenny, as our witnesses, and the registrar. The registrar went though questions we had been asked when we booked our ceremony, and we signed a piece of paper. All done in about 5 minutes. With a civil partnership, you don't even get a certificate to take away, as that is posted out to you a few days later. Not quite what we had hoped for or originally planned but a sign of these strange times.

Rochester being a lovely historic town, lends itself perfectly to photos, so we had a few taken in front of the castle and cathedral, before heading down the high street, to the restaurant we had booked for our wedding breakfast, Oliver's. Waiting for us there, were Paul & Claire, my daughter Jen, with husband Chris & baby James, my daughter Elly and her partner Ross and Catherine's daughter Natalie, with her partner Mark & baby Emma-Rose. Just 12+2 of us, at socially distanced tables. We had a lovely 3 course lunch and would thoroughly recommend the restaurant, as the food and service were excellent. All in all, we had a very nice day, and both agreed that, though we had never imagined we would, we somehow felt different, having tied the knot after 24 years!

The Happy Couple

A week on and it was Catherine's son Alex and fiance Jenny's turn to get married. Like our wedding, Covid-19 had played merry hell with the plans, and it was an 11th hour deal, to get the wedding on at the local church, in Rottingdean. The rest of the plans, have had to be postponed until 2021, so they will for all intent and purposes, be having two weddings.

We drove down to Rottingdean in the morning, arriving about an hour before the ceremony. The church is only about 150m from Jenny's parent's house, so very handy. Nevertheless, Nigel, Jenny's dad, had his MKII Jaguar ready to ferry her to the gates, with her brother Andrew as chauffeur. In the church, we were all spaced out and wearing white face masks, so it was unusual to say the least. Following the ceremony, there was the usual photo session (the photographer never stopped in about 5-6 hours), then we walked around the corner to the house for the garden party/reception. In the meantime, Andrew took Alex & Jenny for a little drive but not before a slight scare, as the Jag struggled to start. Another lovely afternoon. 

Another Happy Couple

Not sure the weddings count as 'adventures' but certainly worth a mention as they both signify new phases in our lives.

On the Sunday before Bank Holiday, I (we) completed my 2020 Virtual Spitfire 10k. Last year, Helen and I went to the RAF museum in Hendon to run/walk the Spitfire 10k, and having already completed the Virtual Hurricane 80k earlier in the year, it was clear we would both enter this virtual event too. As with last year, we both had a label with the name of a pilot who died in RAF service and even though we were just completing the challenge locally, we both wore the labels. Helen completed her effort on the 29th and bettered her time from last year. I was about 30 minutes slower but then I walked the whole way this year, and I had a slower partner to consider. Helen and I both logged our times on the official timing website and now just await our medals. Mention should go to Catherine, who, although not signed up for the event, walked with me, 11.3k in all. Maybe I'll let her put my medal on when it arrives 😉

A True Hero

My next adventure, weather allowing, will be to find the grave of the pilot, whose label I wore, Flying Officer Peter Cape Beauchamp St John. He is buried in Amersham. My plan is to find his final resting place, then visit the ATA Museum in Maidenhead, before rounding off the trip with a visit to the RAF Memorial at Runnymede. Watch this space for details of that trip and photos. Hopefully it won't be too far in the future.

That's all for now. Sorry there's a lot of text to get through (and I didn't even mention Ginny's gearbox recall) but hope you have enjoyed the update nevertheless. 

Till next time.