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In 2005, as part of the activities to celebrate the 40th anniversary of the designation of the Chilterns as an Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty, the Chilterns Conservation Board commissioned the Chiltern Society PhotoGroup to re-take 1930s’ photographs that were published in H J Massingham’s book Chiltern Country. The aim was to show what has changed, and what hasn’t, in the last 75 years.

The photos reproduced here are a selection: they are about half the complete set.

Monochrome photographs were taken pre-1940 and have been copied from H J Massingham's book "Chiltern Country" published by Batsford. Colour photographs were taken from similar viewpoints in 2005-6.

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By kind permission of the copyright owners, Amersham Museum, we are able to publish photographs taken by George Ward between 1880 and 1920. We contrast them with photographs taken in recent years from the same locations. High resolution prints of George Ward’s pictures are available from the Museum Curator@AmershamMuseum.org.

George Ward was born in Old Amersham in 1863 and died in 1943. The photographs have been digitised from his original glass plate negatives. George Ward was a man of many parts: in addition to being a talented local photographer he was the first manager of Amersham Gas Works, he founded the Amersham Brass Band and he set up Amersham’s first car repair business.

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Amersham museum organises walks through the town to tell the story of the Protestant dissenters called the Lollards. Edna Sansom went on these walks in 2006 and 2007 and most of the photographs were taken by her.

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Alison Beck last visited the Chiltern Open Air Museum for the PhotoGroup in 2012, so returned in April 2022 to see how much had changed. She writes that it was a delight to revisit old favourites, like the Iron Age Roundhouse, Arborfield Barn, and her personal favourite, the Caversham Public Convenience. There are new acquisitions like the WW1 Nissen Bow Hut, and the Haddenham Croft Cottage, under scaffolding on her previous visit, now fully operational with interesting interiors and garden.   The Museum's Family Guide gives details of all the buildings' histories, and sometimes of the families who lived in them. There are also Experience Days, Group visits, school trips, filming and parties, and you can even get married there! The website, www.coam.org.uk, gives further details.

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In March 2020 the government imposed regulations requiring citizens to stay at home to limit transmission of the coronavirus. There were a few exceptions: going out for essential shopping and to take exercise. We asked Chiltern Society members to photograph examples of the effect these rules had while they were out following them. The photos were taken in April and May 2020.

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The cement works at Chinnor closed in 2000. Prior to its planned demolition the PhotoGroup was given access to the works in 2006 so that this distinctive Chiltern landmark could be recorded. Thanks to Les Westcott for help with the captions.

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Ford End Watermill, near Ivinghoe, has been restored by Pitstone Local History Society and is the only working watermill in Bucks. More information can be found on www.fordendwatermill.co.uk. The photographs were taken by John Fitzgerald in April 2007.

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The oak machinery inside dates from around 1650, making it the oldest smock windmill in England. The body of the mill was rebuilt in the early 1800s and it was a working, commercial enterprise until 1915.

In the 1920s the mill was used as a weekend cottage, but in the following years its condition deteriorated very badly. By 1935 some locals and enthusiasts had shored up the rotting building but a long period of neglect followed. From 1940-44 the windmill became an observation tower for the Home Guard and after the war the adjacent farm used it for storage.

By the 1960s the windmill was twisted, tilted and close to collapse but in 1971 the Chiltern Society stepped in and volunteers, led by Christopher Wallis, began restoration work. The fully restored windmill near Princes Risborough is open to the public on certain days: for details www.laceygreenwindmill.org.uk

Michael Hardy, Honorary Secretary of Lacey Green Windmill Restoration Committee, kindly provided these photographs and information about the history of this major Chiltern Society project.

Click here to see location on a map.

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Owen Dean was the last itinerant chair bodger to work in the Chilterns. The first two of the photographs in this album were taken by David Whitehead in 1952. Frank Ghysens took the colour pictures six years later. The workshop illustrated was in Monkton Wood, Great Hampden.   Mark Latter, Owen Dean's grandson living in America, saw the photographs on our website and contacted us with more information. Mark grew up in Princes Risborough with White Leaf Cross nearby and Monkton Wood his playground. Great Hampden was where all Mark's adventures started when he stayed with his grandfather most weekends at the thatched cottage that Frank Ghysens photographed. With Mark's kind permission we can now publish more details of Owen Dean's life and work.   Like his four brothers, Owen was always a chair bodger. He would buy a stand of beech trees from the local landowner and set up his shed and equipment close by. Owen moved around the local woods: Great Hampden (near where he lived), Speen and Naphill. It is rumoured that he had two near misses during the 1939-45 war when the German air force dropped bombs trying to find RAF Bomber Command.   Owen packed sacking in the window cracks of his workshop to keep out draughts and he made incredibly strong tea in his breaks from bodging. He smoked heavily.   After 1958 Owen closed down his workshop as he could not make it pay. He spent his last years working as a forester on the Duke of Buckingham's estate and died in 1960.   Owen had one daughter, Mark's mother, who is probably the person on the horse, Ben, in the picture at the end of our sequence taken in Monkton Wood.   A film was made about Owen Dean, the craftsman, in the 1950s. His tools are in the chair museum at High Wycombe.   Quiller Barrett

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2019 was the centenary year of RAF Halton, one of the largest RAF stations in the UK. It is scheduled for 'phased withdrawal' and ultimate closure by 2025. Halton's RAF history is fascinating and worth recording in photographs before the station disappears as a Chilterns feature. It contains a number of listed buildings and structures that have statutory protection.

The photos were taken by Alison Beck and Bob Smith in 2019, unless otherwise indicated.

Click here to see location ona map.