Ronnie Barker in Aylesbury

David Jason & Ronnie Corbett

Laugh if you may but Aylesbury, the County Town of Buckinghamshire, is not unknown to the stars of stage and screen. Part of Clockwork Orange was filmed in our concrete underpasses, Laurence Olivier and Vivian Leigh lived nearby at Notely Abbey, David Jason lives by Coombe Hill and Sir John Gielgud lived in the South Pavilion, Grendon Underwood House, now Tony & Cherie Blair’s country house. Many made their way to the Prime Minister’s country house at Chequers 2 miles from our modest cottage and Burton, Taylor and many famous luvvies used to wine and dine at the Bell in Aston Clinton when it was a rather top restaurant. And then there was an actor who began his acting career in Aylesbury more than 60 years ago.

A bronze statue of the late comedy legend Ronnie Barker was unveiled today in Aylesbury. The Porridge and Two Ronnie’s star, who died five years ago, was born in Bedford and Aylesbury Vale District Council commissioned sculptor Martin Jennings to design the statue as part of its Waterside development project. It now takes pride of place in the new public space in Exchange Street. The statue was officially unveiled by Mr Barker's widow, Joy.


Ronnie Barker's widow Joy at the unveiling

The Waterside development is an ambitious project to redevelop Aylesbury town centre, creating a new shopping area in Exchange Street (including a department store and food store) and a 525 space multi-storey car park and more than 200 homes in Walton Street. Further east at Circus Field there will be a mix of residential development and a new canal basin with residential moorings. Aylesbury has its own branch on the Grand Union Canal, which links London and Birmingham.


Aylesbury branch of The Grand Union Canal

Although only a two-minute walk from the centre of town, Aylesbury Waterside theatre is conspicuous to passing drivers on its site next to a roundabout on the ring road. It’s one of several cultural, retail, infrastructure and residential buildings planned as part of the Aylesbury Waterside development, an urban regeneration project intended to transform a rundown area of the town. The theatre enjoys a wonderful location adjacent to one of the town’s greatest assets – the canal. The canal basin itself is to be redeveloped and opened up to restaurants and homes. A new public green space will provide an attractive interface between the theatre and a new canal side Waitrose store and hotel.


Waterside Theatre

The £35m theatre, which has a 1200- seat auditorium, was commissioned by Aylesbury Vale District council and replaces the civic theatre in the town. The auditorium is housed inside a reinforced concrete block at the core of the building, which is surrounded on three sides by the timber and glass facade. The space between the facade and the auditorium block functions as an acoustic buffer, keeping out traffic noise and at the same time providing light, spacious public areas and views of the adjacent exchange Street and uphill towards the town centre.


Aerial view of Aylesbury Waterside Theatre under construction

When architect Norman Bragg was struggling to come up with a concept for the proposed Aylesbury Waterside theatre in Buckinghamshire, the last place he expected to find inspiration was driving down the A41 dual carriageway. “I was heading towards Aylesbury to visit a possible site, when I noticed thousands of sleek dark pine trees covering the horizon, a really impressive sight,” explains Bragg. “Then, as I approached the town through Aylesbury Vale I was awestruck by the beautiful, undulating green hills that dominate the scenery.”

She was joined at the ceremony by some of her husband's former colleagues including long-time comedy partner Ronnie Corbett and Open All Hours co-star David Jason. The Two Ronnies teamed up in 1971. Sculptor Martin Jennings has depicted Mr Barker in his role as prison inmate Norman Stanley Fletcher, in the classic 1970s' series Porridge, sitting on a stone bench looking up at the new theatre.



The Two Ronnies

Mr Jennings, whose work includes the statue of poet Sir John Betjeman at St Pancras station in London, said: "It's been delightful to make this statue of Ronnie Barker. He was a comic genius and he was a wonderful shape to sculpt. I've depicted him in his Porridge character glancing up approvingly at the new theatre as if looking back happily over a long career to the days when he began it all in Aylesbury."

Ronnie Barker was born in Bedford in 1929 and worked in a bank before joining the Aylesbury Repertory Company. He made his professional debut on 15 November 1948, at the old County Theatre in Aylesbury's Market Square, with a small role playing Lt Spicer in JM Barrie's Quality Street. By 1955 he was in demand in the West End and appeared in a number of productions including Mourning Becomes Electra, Lysistrata and Irma La Douce. During the 1960s, he became well established as a radio performer, leaving his theatrical career behind.


The theatre sits alongside Aylesbury's canal basin and is the centrepiece of the town's Waterside development

He teamed up with Ronnie Corbett in 1971, and their sketch show, The Two Ronnies, ran for 12 series over 16 years. His many accolades include four Baftas and he was appointed an OBE in 1978. Councillor John Cartwright, Leader of Aylesbury Vale District Council, said: "The sculptor Martin Jennings has created a wonderful work of art. The statue is a fitting tribute to a great man and one of Britain's best loved performers. I'm sure it will not only delight theatregoers, but will also be an attraction to Ronnie Barker fans throughout the country and perhaps even further afield."

Gargelgate – A very Irish tragedy

Our very own Brian Cowen

Some years ago when the in laws retired to Co. Offaly in Ireland their TD (Member of Parliament) was a local auctioneer, Brian Cowen. Cowen was born in Clara, County Offaly, the son of May and Bernard Cowen, a former Fianna Fáil TD and Senator. The family owned a public house in Clara town, located adjacent to the family home. His father also worked as an auctioneer. Now it has been observed that languages invent words because they need them and Irish is sprinkled with words like Gombeen, “a pejorative Hiberno-English term for a shady, small-time "wheeler-dealer" or businessman who is always looking to make a quick profit, often at someone else's expense or through the acceptance of bribes”, Sleeveen “somebody who is sly, plausible, and ingratiating” or Spalpeen “a rascal.” You get the idea the Irish language had to invent these words / descriptors because it needed them, no more so than for the Irish Political Class who contain a fair proportion of Gombeen Men (and Women) who previously followed noble callings as Publicans, Auctioneers, Bookmakers or general multi-purpose shysters!


Tom Byrne's satirical depiction of Taoiseach Brian Cowen performing 'Lakes of Pontchartrain' at the Fianna Fail “Think-in” on display in the Apollo Gallery, Dublin.

Cowen became Taoiseach (Prime Minister) in May 2008 following the resignation of his predecessor Bertie Ahern after he was found to have received over £200.000 in unaccounted cash from “Benefactors.” Somewhat embarrassingly (for he was Minister of Finance for much of the time) he hadn’t accounted for tax on these “donations.” Indeed such was his faith in ready cash that he didn’t have a bank account for much of the time either! However, even if every allegation against Bertie Ahern was true it all pales into insignificance against the low standards set by his predecessor, the late Charles Haughey who, in his time, pocketed £8.4 million in “donations”. Although an Anglophobe by birth and conviction, Haughey cultivated the most elaborate tastes and mannerisms of the Anglo-Irish gentry. He had mansions, estates and a private island. He liked antique furniture, and fine art, horses, clothes and wines.


Charlie "The Squire" Haughey

Haughey’s Minister of Justice, Ray Burke, has previously been found culpable of receiving large sums of cash and indeed having his own house and its land “donated” by Brennan and McGowan, developers who benefited from wide scale rezoning of land. Liam Lawlor, another Fianna Fail T.D. (Irish Member of Parliament) was also found to have corruptly benefited from payments from developers who had agricultural land rezoned for development, often at great cost to the public purse in providing the infrastructure.


The Bold Bertie in typical heroic pose

Even squeaky clean former Prime Minister Garret FitzGerald was found to have a 320,000 pound loan from Allied Irish Bank to invest in the shares of Guinness Peat Aviation (of which he was a director) written off by the bank when the investment went wrong, as you or I would in similar circumstances. Dr. FitzGerald had previously been Prime Minister when the same bank had been bailed out to the tune of £121 million when their investment in the Insurance Corporation of Ireland went wrong.

http://daithaic.blogspot.com/2007/12/bertie-ahern-and-poverty-in-ireland.html

Since Cowen became Taoiseach the Irish economy has nose dived, its sovereign debt rating has been cut and he has launched a 4 Billion programme of cuts which has copper fastened his unpopularity. Cuts are not easy in a statist country like Ireland where Gombeen Pork Barrel politics are the order of the day. With the same population as Greater Manchester the country supports no less than 380 Quangos once again proving the truth of Brendan Behan’s saying “The Irish are very popular with themselves!”



Now to economic misery has been added National Mortification in the scandal of the allegedly drunken interview known as Gargelgate - Brian Cowen's now infamous early morning interview came five-and-a-quarter hours after he left The Blazers Bar in the Ardilaun Hotel following a night of drinking, singing and telling yarns.

It was a night typical of any party gathering, enjoyed by TDs, senators and assembled journalists. At the time, no one could have foreseen the political storm that would envelop the Taoiseach in what would become one of the most damaging episodes of his political career which has been picked up in America by Jay Leno on NBC’s Tonight Show.



US chat-show host Jay Leno says he is not going to apologise to Taoiseach Brian Cowen for mocking him as a "drunken moron" on his prime time show. Leno displayed a photo of Mr Cowen and asked his audience to guess if he was a bartender, a politician or a "nightclub comedian", before revealing he was the "Prime Minister of Ireland" to loud laughter. "He's Brian Cowen, the Prime Minister of Ireland. Oh God, it's so nice to know we're not the only country with drunken morons, isn't it?" Leno joked.

Mr Cowen has featured in the international media since it emerged he was singing and drinking in the early hours of the morning at the Fianna Fail party think-in (In itself a strange concept!) in the Ardilaun Hotel, Co Galway, two weeks ago. He was criticised for his performance on an RTE 'Morning Ireland' interview several hours later. He admitted afterwards that he needed to be more cautious in his social life but strongly denied he was drunk or hung-over during the interview.


Dublin - capital of a very free Ireland

But this national embarrassment doesn't stop even at Cowen's door – Irish State Broadcaster RTE's initial refusal to repeat the phrase 'drunken morons' proves that while Cowen can't control the antics of an NBC employee, he still holds sway over the national broadcaster.

Brian Cowen called a "drunken moron" in NBC Tonight Show segment from Sept 22, 2010



The Irish PM Brian Cowen has refuted claims that he sounded "halfway between drunk and hungover" in a radio interview.



Brian Cowen Drunk Live Radio Interview (audio slowed) before his breakfast on RTÉ News Morning Ireland, Tuesday, 14 September 2010. Taoiseach Brian Cowen drunk interview live on air.

Bekonscot Model Village and Railway

This is an ordinary everyday tale of a wealthy accountant living in Buckinghamshire who was slightly obsessed with trains and whose wife gave him an ultimatum to declutter the house! In 1927, Mr Roland Callingham, a London accountant, instructed gardeners to dig a swimming pool at his home in Beaconsfield. The pool and tennis courts were used for garden parties, attended by the high society of London. Politicians, minor royals, aristocrats and the movers and shakers of the era would come out for a breath of country air. In 1928, Mrs Callingham made a short but moving speech which suggested that either the indoor model railway went, or she did. The model railway moved outdoors.


Entrance


General Vista of Bekonscot Village

Bekonscot was first created by Beaconsfield resident, accountant Roland Callingham (1881–1961), in the 1920s. Roland developed the master plan for his miniature empire as an addition to his large back garden, drawing in help from his staff: the gardener, cook, maid and chauffeur. Together they developed the model landscape portraying rural England at the time. The swimming pool became the first "sea" and the undulating rockeries were built up as hills. Bassett-Lowke, the well-known large-scale model railway manufacturers, were commissioned to build an extensive Gauge 1 railway network, which exists to this day. Callingham named the village 'Bekonscot' after Beaconsfield and Ascot where he previously lived.




Roland Callingham in Bekonscot, c. 1930






Maryloo Signal Cabin

Bekonscot is the oldest model village in the world. Portraying rural England in the 1930's, time has stood still in this wonderland of make-believe, which is 81 years old. Visitors meander through six villages, each with their miniature population going about their daily routines. There are many moving models including a fine Gauge 1 model railway which runs throughout the 1.5 acre site. There is also a sit-on railway running weekends and school holidays (small extra charge). Bekonscot has been run by the Church Army since 1978 and donates large amounts of money to charity. It has raised the equivalent of almost £5,000,000 so far and has been visited by more than 14,000,000 visitors.


Cricket on the green


Zoo


Village Market


Coal Mine


Castle

These days Bekonscot is a popular visitor attraction in Buckinghamshire and if you go by car you park in the grounds of St. Theresa’s Catholic Church opposite which has a memorial window to a Catholic convert, the writer G K Chesterton

.

Interestingly there is a model of the church in the model village which was actually completed before the real thing! Chesterton had come to Beaconsfield in 1909, and he lived here until his death on June 14 1936. Some of his best-know books, therefore, were written from there. His coming to the town had been the result of chance. He took a ticket at Paddington Station for the next train that would be leaving. It went to Slough, a strange place even for a train to go to, he remarked. From there, accompanied by his wife, he walked to Beaconsfield. They both decided that that was the place where they would like to live. His gravestone by the sculptor Eric Gill, being damaged by the weather, was replaced by a replica and the original is embedded in the side wall of St. Theresa’s.


G K Chesterton memorial


Gypsy Camp


Clark College


Bekonberry Castle

It was not conceived as a commercial visitor attraction but as a plaything to entertain Roland and his guests. It was only after 1930 that its existence became widely known, catching the imagination of the press and public alike. Frequent newsreels such as Pathe, international and national newspaper coverage ensure a steady stream of visitors, all of whom were invited to make a donation to the Railway Benevolent Institution. Early visitors were neighbours from nearby Windsor, Queen Mary and her granddaughters the Princesses Elizabeth and Margaret Rose.


Bekonscot c. 1930


Queen Mary and her granddaughter the Princess Elizabeth visiting the village

Bekonscot is acknowledged to be the inspiration for many other model villages and miniature parks across the world, including Babbacombe, Southport, Tucktonia, Madurodam, Bourton-on-the-Water, Wimborne, Great Yarmouth, Clonakilty and Mini-Europe. As such, it is regarded as the "grandfather" of the model village and miniature park movement.


Coal Mine




Pier and Pavillion

The village expanded in size throughout the first half of the 20th Century. Callingham sold off much of the land surrounding the model village, all of which is now a housing estate. The village is now entirely surrounded by urban development so further expansion is impossible. Bekonscot popularised the miniature park movement, put Beaconsfield on the map and has a continuing financial legacy in donations to charitable organisations both national and local.


Cable Car




Bekonscot Station - One of 7 stations on the model railway


Funfair


Bekonscot Minster

Names of shops and other features include humorous puns, such as Lee Key Plumbers' Merchants ('Lee Key' = 'leaky'), Sam and Ella's Butchers ('salmonella') and the Mark Owney Wireless and Gramophone stores ('Marconi'). Other model villages have run with the playful nature of the miniature business names and it has become something of a model tradition. My own personal favourite infamous puns were the Greengrocer “Chris P. Lettis (Crispy lettuce), the delivery van from the grocers U.R.A. Peach and the painter Juan Coat (one coat). Upun my word!


U.R.A. Peach


Juan Coat - The Decorator


Chris P. Lettis


Bringing home the harvest

Bekonscot is famed for its complex outdoor model railway (in Gauge 1), possibly the largest public garden railway in the UK, at ten scale miles. A custom-built PC-based interface controls the block signalling system, directing up to 12 trains at any one time on prototypical routes. In addition there are two manual lever frames, one ex-BR and the other from London Underground. The British Rail lever frame is still in use as a manual override for the trains. Some original Bassett-Lowke stock from the 1930s is still in daily use, albeit with new running gear.



Many of these trains have significant historical value. Some have been running for over 50 years, each covering about 2,000 miles (3,200 km) per year.


Canal




Nuns tending the convent kitchen garden


Morris Dancers - looking more life-like than the real thing!

It is really a folk park in miniature, a part of Buckinghamshire in the 1930’s preserved by the inspired folly of a slightly eccentric gentleman. It almost didn’t survive. It took a three year court battle with local planners ending in 1952 before the judges decided the village should remain open. The famous children’s author Enid Blyton was one of the village’s greatest fans and was a friend of Roland Callingham.



She lived in Beaconsfield in a house called Green Hedges, named by Blyton's readers following a competition in "Sunny Stories", from 1938 until shortly before her death in 1968. Her book the Enchanted Village is illustrated with pictures of children towering over the tiny models. Her house Green Hedges was demolished after her death (the site became Blyton Close) but is reproduced in the village with Noddy in his car in the driveway and a figure of Enid Blyton typing on an old fashioned typewriter in the garden. Her books have enjoyed popular success in many parts of the world, and have sold over 600 million copies. Enid Blyton is the fifth most translated author worldwide: over 3544 translations of her books were available in 2007 according to UNESCO's Index Translationum; she overtook Vladimir Lenin to get the fifth place behind Shakespeare.




Enid Blyton's house Green Hedges


Cafe area


Swimming pool of the hotel


Racecourse

Today on entering the village you are greeted by a Mark I railway carriage which serves as the ticket office and also a souvenir shop as you leave. There is also a “station” for BLR (Bekonscot Light Railway) which is a sit on train on a 7 ¼ inch narrow gauge track which kids can ride on for 90p. In its 1 ½ acres it has the equivalent of 10 miles of railway with 7 stations, a tramway and cable car and 6 distinct “villages” with a racecourse, farmyard, coal mine, castle, windmill, archaeology site and so much more.


Sydney Harbour Bridge


Fishing Harbour

At the back there is a play and picnic area and refreshment kiosk and sheltered seating. The train track can have up to 12 trains in service all controlled from the full size Maryloo Signal Box. All this set in a 1:12 fairyland which is a little piece of England frozen in time. This isn’t just preserving England’s heritage bit after 81 years and 14m visitors it is part of England’s heritage. It is open from mid-February to the end of October and every kid, young and old, should go and discover the magic of Bekonscot for themselves.


Hanton Aerodrome


1930's poster

Admission; adults £8.50
Child (2-15) £5.00
Under 2 FREE


The White Horse of Bekonscot


Village Green

By Car:

Jnct 2 - M40 (jnct 16 M25) A40 & A355 Follow signs Model Village.

By Bus:

Several routes from surrounding areas - Traveline +44 (0)8706 082 608

Chiltern Railway:

London Marylebone - High Wycombe Beaconsfield -Banbury - Birmingham.
Information: +44 (0)8705 165 165

Bekonscot Model Village Postcode for Satnav: HP9 2PL

Website; www.bekonscot.co.uk