Author writes fifth book about village for VE Day

THE picturesque village of Hambleden, says resident and historian Chris Whitehead, provides an insight into Britain’s past.

The author, who is married to Jo and has lived in Hambleden for 25 years, has written his fifth book inspired by the location.

Keep Smiling Through: The story of Hambleden 1939 to 1945 looks at what happened in the village and its surroundings during the Second World War.

Chris’s previous titles are Lads, You’re Wanted: Hambleden and the Great War; To Be a Pilgrim: The life and times of Admiral Sir Alfred Ryder; Of Saints and Sinners: The history of Hambleden from year dot to 1320 and A Cruel Necessity: Hambleden, Henley and the Civil War.

He says: “In 1944, Lord Hambleden signed a contract with the National Trust that they would have management rights over development in the village and so barely any building has taken place here since.

“My first book was to do with the First World War. I walk past the war memorial every day and I thought, I wonder if anybody is going to do anything about the Hambleden war dead, so I produced Lads, You’re Wanted.

“From that, I went on and wrote a book about Sir Alfred Ryder, who was the top sailor in the Victorian Navy in 1880.

“I have written about the ancient history of Hambleden from the year dot to 1320, which is the year that St Thomas de Cantilupe, who was born in the village, was made into a saint. Then I wrote a book about the Civil War, how it affected Hambleden.

“The book is to coincide with the 80th anniversary of the end of the Second World War. I try and describe what Hambleden was like 80 years ago, the people that were there and what they did.

“Jim Tilbury is an old boy who is now over 90 and on the front cover of the book - he’s the little lad holding the fishing rod at the age of about seven. He’s still very much going and he was a very good source of information.

“I also had access to the parish magazines of the time.

“The rector was a man called Rector Wilfred Watts. I talked to a few people who knew him and he was quite the leading light in the village and a very tall man apparently.

“He used to write a little commentary in the parish magazine. He was in fact a pacifist, and I have quoted from his little snippets.

“I’ve since been told that with any problems in the village in those days, the rector would sit down with Lord Hambleden and the doctor, the three of them would go in and sit down and white smoke would come out of the ceiling and then the problem would be solved, whatever it was.

“It was a very feudal existence, I’ve met people who are alive today who said when Lord Hambleden went past, either on his horse or in his car, you stopped and doffed your cap.

“At Fawley Court, they used to train women as members of the Female Auxiliary Nursing Yeomanry. They were trained in how to operate morse code devices and then a few would go as spies into Europe.

“Before the Dambusters raid, they made Plaster of Paris models of the dams and the land around, so they could accurately assess how everything fitted together and those models were made at Phyllis Court. Then it became a recuperation centre for American airmen.”

Chris says that the village remains popular with film-makers.

“We are amused by it and of course we all take a great interest in what’s going on. You see these famous film stars floating around and when you sit down and talk to them, they’re quite normal.

“I had a conversation with Emma Thompson who was very nice, she gave me three minutes of her time. They were making a film about sheep that discover and solve a murder.

“We’ve got a wonderful little café and post office here and that’s where I sell my books.”

l Keep Smiling Through: The story of Hambleden 1939 to 1945 by Chris Whitehead is available from Hambleden Stores, priced £10.