Chiltern Open Air Museum

Margaret's family had a gathering of the clans at the Chiltern Open Air Museum. Similar in concept, if not execution, to Avoncroft this collection of some 30+ traditional buildings, makes for an interesting day out. 

Personally I think the buildings are far too spread out, we did not see the traditional farm and an area called Wood End as they were some way from the picnic area and at the bottom of a fairly steep hill. However what we did see was interesting.

The public toilets from Caversham still with their splendid Victorian sanitary ware.
	The soap we were assured was real old fashioned carbolic and it smelt like it! I don't often convert to mono but an old world look seemed appropriate for a couple of the shots.
	The white marker is explained on the information card. The fore runner of the congestion charge!
Not sure if this is Bill or Ben.	An interesting old cart
Leagrave Cottage started as a barn in Leagrave, near Luton in Beds. The barn was converted into cottages in the 1770s. The date of conversion was confirmed by the discovery of a mint condition George III copper farthing under the brick paving near the south gable. One cottage is as it would have been in the 1920s, the other side is presented as it may have been in the 18th century.	Henton Mission Room is a corrugated iron building which must have made giving a sermon when it was raining virtually impossible.
A sad looking Austin 10 in need of some urgent TLC	The Prefab at the Museum was one of 46 on the Finch Lane Estate in Amersham. It is a Universal House Mark 3 design and was made by a company in Rickmansworth. 160,000 prefabs were made in the late 1940s. They were only intended to be used for 10 years – but many were still lived in up to the 70s. I remember some on the Walsall-Birmingham Rd.
Nissen Huts were invented during the First World War.   The Nissen Hut has been fitted out as a Second World War RAF Briefing room.	You don't see many of these now a days, Brings back happy memories of 60/65 years ago but we'll not go into that!

Seen at the pub where we had an evening meal. It's quite a famous MG. This car was built in 1934. First registered on 4 April of that year in the name of the MG Car Company Ltd. It was used as a demonstrator car, and featured in a number of works photographs as an example of a standard two-seat sports model. Fantastic what you can find out on the web.

Tony Middleton