Snowy Buckingham

The November and December of 2010 are the coldest and snowiest I can remember.
Motorists struggled in the snow, but most people decided to walk instead.

Damage to the front of a house on West Street today.

Shot quickly on my iPhone this afternoon about 4pm.  West street narrows through here and this lorry and a pickup truck were both traveling too fast. Neither gave way sadly and the lorry kerbed and then jumped onto the pavement taking out the front entry corner of this 17th Century brick house.  They were unable to remove the lorry for fear of the side of the house falling down.  

Luckily no injuries. It certainly could've been worse though I feel absolutely sick for the homeowner.

Buckingham charter fair

It's the time of year again when the charter fair comes to town - it's here for a Saturday evening - then the whole thing gets taken down and is built up again the next week.

Band Jam 2010

This year's band jam was a great event with lots of people enjoying the lack of rain.

You can see lots more pictures at this online gallery.

Opportunitrees

Perhaps hard to see as it was taken on my iPhone but these opportunistic saplings always make me laugh. These are above one of Buckingham's betting shops.

Lloyd's Bank

No Free Newspapers

No newspapers for the digger? This picture was taken in Chandos Road where a house was being demolished.

old graveyard

This is the old graveyard in Buckingham, the site of the original church, which was built in the Saxon times. In 1776 part of the tower collapsed onto the church and caused so much damage that it was decided to pull down the church and build a new one on Castle Hill.

tea shop

I had some nice lunch last Saturday at Connie's Tea Rooms - I can recommend their coronation chicken baguette!

only for small people

There are a lot of houses in Buckingham that feature incredibly small doors - here's an example:

Nicely kept garden

This nice garden caught my eye in School Lane.

Overgrown Entrance

I did like the look of this overgrown entrance in Castle Street - makes me wonder what's behind the door.

Bridge Reflections

This is the bridge across the river Ouse near the old railway viaduct.

Flats ahead of their time

These flats on the High Street were a bit ahead of their time: using a balcony instead of corridors was an idea that came back in 1960's and can be seen in the tower blocks and flats of the time.

13 Well Street

This house with its rounded front can be found in Well Street, just next door to the Fish & Chip shop

Nice Entrance

This entrance at 15 Castle Street caught my eye. The fact that everything seems a bit wonky adds to the charm.

Guess Where!?

Now let's see how well you know Buckingham...
Can you tell me where this house can be found?



Ok - I left you guessing for long enough - it is in Castle Street just before you enter the churchyard.

You can just see it here above/behind the florist's shop - looks like the windows are quite new or re-painted. I like the blue windows.


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Yay! New Ice-cream parlour opens in Buckingham!

A new ice-cream parlour has opened in Cornwall Place in Buckingham. This is an independent shop that makes their own ice-cream on site. They have more than 15 flavours - and that sounds like a good excuse to go into town :-)

Chestnut Cottage

This lovely cottage can be found on the Main Street in Maids Moreton:

Music in the Market 2010

Pictures of the tenth annual "Music in the Market" music festival. This is a great little festival featuring folk music as well as rock, seasoned and new up-and-coming bands. The weather was great, sunny but windy and it got cold as soon as the sun went down - as is to be expected in May. The festival attracted a good crowd from all age groups and by the evening everyone was dancing.







You can see more pictures on my flickr page if you like.

Braces Barbers

This house is situated on the corner of West Street and Castle Street. The little mini roundabout is very busy during the day, both West Street and Castle Street are very narrow, it's always interesting to watch lorries making their way through these streets.



This is a perfect spot to explore Buckingham a little further using Google Streetview: Have a go at a 360 degree turn yourself!



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Vinyl Riches

oasis

I always think how lovely it would be to have a house that backed onto the river. Of course our river floods every few years and I can't imagine the stress of my house being under threat every time the rains are heavy.

8 little cottages all in a row.

these little houses stand on a hill on Moreton Ave.

the bread man

If you're a fan of bread, rustic varieties, white loaves, cakes and other doughy wonderfulness you'll want to stop by this market stall.

the plant man

This market trader always has lovely plants and great prices.

fuchsias 5 for £5

1904

and here's where you can find this art nouveau gem...

chantry chapel book shop

On Tuesday and Saturday (our market days) Buckingham's Chantry Chapel opens its door and has a wide selection of books of every sort. It's the perfect place to pick up a novel for your holiday or a book on gardening or cookery... and its staffed by helpful volunteers.

Buckingham Railway Walk

Part of the Buckingham Circular walk, the Railway Walk is an oasis for wildlife in the middle of Buckingham. The path runs along the old railway line, which was dismantled in 1967.
The line is now completely overgrown and provides a nice wet woodland walk, with much of the original track below water. This is a nice, calm and cool place on a hot summer's day.





The walk also features a pond which is full of wildlife:


You can still see the original platform here:


You can read more about the railway line in Buckingham on wikipedia.

Chandos Road Houses

Here are numbers 16 and 15 on Chandos Road.



Detail shot of number 16:

23 Chandos Road

Chandos road developed when the railway arrived in Buckingham. It features a row of big Victorian houses.

Stratford Road

This house is at the end of a very old path that leads from Stratford Road up to Maids Moreton. The path looks like it was an avenue at some point that has now grown into woodland.

Buckingham Church

A view from Nelson Street, towards Rumbold's Street, showing St. Peter & Paul Church.

The Old Stables

This is the ruins of the old stables(?) near the Chantry Chapel in the town centre.

Saint Peter & Paul Church

looking up at the spire of Saint Peter & Saint Paul Church.

Buckingham Tuesday Street Market

This is a scene of the weekly Tuesday Street Market outside the Old Gaol. If you look closely you can see a camera woman, there to cover the general elections - taking place today.

Garden Cottage

Garden Cottage on a nice sunny morning...

Villiers Hotel

This is Villiers Hotel in Castle Street. This hotel used to be called Swan & Castle Hotel and Posting House. The term 'Posting House' comes from the days when it was a coaching inn and post horses were kept there.



You can read up on some more local history on the Villiers Hotel website

City Daily Photo: Statues

It's the first of the month and so that means Theme Day!

This is Buckingham's Concrete Swan... possibly hard to see from the photo but it depicts a swan with its head down feeding in the grasses of the river. You can one of Buckingham's resident swans in the background looking for lazy handouts instead.

Click here to view thumbnails for all participants