Sunday 3rd April 2005
This
year's Buckinghamshire run started with a meeting at the notorious
Hellfire Caves. This proved to be a popular choice for the
families and especially the young (or young at heart) who were brave
enough to go underground. This unique attraction consists of almost a
mile of underground passages with various figures depicting the life and
times of the members of the infamous Hellfire Club.
The
caves were originally excavated in the 1750's on the site of an ancient
quarry by Sir Francis Dashwood (who later became Lord le Despencer) in
order to provide work for unemployed farm workers following a succession
of harvest failures. It is thought that his inspiration for the design
of the Caves came from his grand tour of Europe and the Ottoman Empire.
On his return Sir Francis Dashwood founded the Hellfire Club and became
a leading member of the Dilettanti Society and the Divan Club. Benjamin
Franklin, the American statesman, was a very close friend of Sir Francis
and stayed with him often at West Wycombe and visited the caves in
1772.
For
those not brave enough to enter the caves, the nearby garden centre
offered more earthly attractions.
The
navigation and treasure hunt was different this year as following a
drive through the Bucks countryside in the glorious sunshine that Gavin
ordered especially for the day, we stopped at the picturesque village
of Haddenham for the pedestrian treasure hunt. Haddenham is known
as the home of the Aylesbury Duck . The village still has four ponds and
the largest in front of the Church and village Green is still home to
some of these white birds. Haddenham is also well known as one of
only three villages with witchert walls, houses and barns. Witchert is
the local name for earth walling. On a plinth of rubblestone, the local
subsoil, wetted and mixed with chopped straw is built up in two foot
layers to the required height. The walls are then topped with tiles.
"I
always get lost in Haddenham" This is a remark often made by
visitors to whom Huddenham's clusters of houses, linked by winding
lanes, its passages bounded by high roofed walls, and its High Street
leading to a dead end, present a haphazard and confusing appearance.
This explains why Gavin chose Huddenham to be the halfway stop for our
navigation run and the village were we had to complete the on-foot
treasure hunt!
After
about an hour of clue searching which saw Club members walking around
Haddenham in all directions, the second part of the drive through the
Bucks countryside (still in the glorious sunshine) ended at the Firecrest, a pub on the A413 near Wendover, for
a late lunch and the prize giving. The winners were Simon and Wendy
(plus kids) followed by Ivan and Linda, and then Barry and Jenny.
Our
thanks to Gavin Bushby for organising this superb
event.
Below
are some photographs taken on the day. Click on the small photographs to
view them larger size and enter the Event's web gallery.
        
|
