Latimer, Buckinghamshire

Today I was in the pretty little village of Latimer in Buckinghamshire. I was on a day away with a group of women from church.

We spent much of the day at Latimer House, a mansion on the edge of the village. It is now a hotel and conference centre, as well as a wedding venue, but it was once the home of the Cavendish family who were the barons of Chesham. The 3rd Baron of Chesham was a commander in the Boer War. The present house was built in 1838, after the previous house was gutted by fire in the early 1830s. The original house was Elizabethan and was where Charles I was improsoned in 1647 and Charles II took refuge before fleeing abroad.

During WW2 German U-boat submarine crews and Luftwaffe pilots were held here before being transferred to POW camps.

After lunch we went for a walk around the village and through some fields and woods. The village was like a chocolate box, spoilt only by the many parked cars.

Note to non-British who may not know this - the 'pillar box' (mailbox) is marked with the Royal Cypher VR - for 'Victoria Regina' indicating that it is from the Victorian era. They are obviously quite rare, but there are a few more that are marked GR for either George V or George VI and ER for either Edward VII or Edward VIII and of course more are marked ER for 'Elizabeth Regina'.