Chalfont and Latimer

I am trying to visit the last three stations on the Metropolitan line before the weather is just too cold and miserable. I made an early start a couple of weeks ago for the 2 hour journey to the next station at Chalfont and Latimer. The station is named after the four villages of Little Chalfont, Chalfont St Giles, Chalfont St Peter and Latimer. Chalfont means chalk spring. The railway came here in 1889 but it was 1961 before the steam trains were totally replaced by electric locomotives. The station serves the Metropolitan Line and the Chiltern Railways. 

At the back of the waiting room was the labyrinth which is 2/270 so the next station should be number 1.

The outside of the station looks just the same as many of them at this end of the Metropolitan line.

As there was no map of the area outside the station  I decided to turn left and see what I could find. 

This took me along a very pleasant road of large detached houses. 

One road ended with a path into the woods, which I did follow for a short way but soon realised my footwear wasn't really suitable as the paths were so muddy.

The path was part of the Chess Valley walk which is a 10 mile trail from Chesham to Rickmansworth, following the River Chess. A walk to remember for another day.

I decided to walk back to the station and walk in the opposite direction which took me to the village of Little Chalfont. 

Little Chalfont is in the county of Buckinghamshire, on the edge of the Chiltern Hills. The development of the village really began in the 1920s when land was released for housing. Prior to this Little Chalfont was a collection of farmhouses with most of the land split between families such as the Dukes of Bedford and the Cavendish's.

It is a small village centred around a Green with a village Hall

 It looked very pleasant but not much there. I spotted a coffee shop and before going in I asked a young lady sitting outside if there was anywhere I needed to visit before moving on to the next station. This led, as it often does, to a longer conversation. She was just waiting with her dog for her partner who was inside the shop buying coffee before they continued their walk. They were both eager to find places for me to visit but most of the interesting places they mentioned were a bit too far away from the station. Eventually they decided they would like to show me the way to another local village with a manor house, Chenies Manor house. So my visit to a station today ended up with a guided walk through the beautiful Chilterns countryside.

 Walking through some woodland we could just about see this manor house in Latimer which has now been converted into a hotel. A Manor House here was first recorded in 1194AD. The estate was then passed down through various families of note before becoming a top secret centre for military intelligence during World War II.

It was a beautiful walk to Chenies village. A place I had never heard of but seemed to be steeped in history. I was very grateful to my new found friends. We exchanged phone numbers as they invited me to come again with walking boots and they would take me on a day's walk which was so generous of them.

After they had said goodbye I wandered around the village with its 15th century Manor House.

 

The village of Chenies seems to date back to Saxon times when it is believed there was a wooden church on the site of where St Michael's church stands today. The name Chenies is thought to come from the family name Cheney who were once the Lords of the Manor. One of the more famous of Chenies residents was John Russell who was made a gentleman usher under Henry VII. This was followed by an Earldom and the great Bedford Fortune. Under Henry VIII he became the Lord High Admiral of England and also went on to serve under Edward VI and Queen Mary Tudor as Lord Privy Seal. He must have been exceptionally good at his job to serve four Tudor monarchs and have a peaceful death. 

 

 Russell enlarged the Manor House so that he could entertain Henry VIII. At  the same time the village grew and became a lot bigger than it is today.

In 1954 the Duke of Bedford sold his Chenies estate in order to pay death duties, bringing an end to Russell family's long tenure of the estate. The connection has not been completely cut as the family still show an interest in the affairs of the village and it is still in the Bedford Chapel in St Michael's church that the Dukes are laid to rest among their ancestors.

This is the village school.

 

The triangular village green which has the village pump in the centre.

The small tiled roofed building sheltering the 19th cent pump is now a Grade II listed building.

There were numerous old buildings. This one has wonderful Tudor style chimney pots.

 I then found my way to the Red Lion for a small lunch before walking back to the station.

 I was lucky to just arrive at the station in time to catch the mainline Chiltern service to Marylebone station which is a much quicker way of returning to London  as it only stops at a couple of stations compared to the Tube train which stopped at 12 on the way here.