The 1970s to the Early 90s

Our Local roads gradually change over the years, and we soon forget how they used to be. These changes began to affect me when I started riding motorcycles in the 1970s; my first powered vehicles.

Living in Winslow meant I lived right in the middle of the North Bucks Wanderer’s area, though I didn’t know it at the time! Here’s just a few of the changes that have happened in North Bucks, from the 1970s to the early 90s.

Little Brickhill.

At first I rode a moped, but then I bought a much quicker 200cc Yamaha; I would go out on it just for the pleasure of riding. One favourite route took me North East from Winslow, across to Woburn and the woods. Even then I preferred the back roads, and saw little traffic until I reached Little Brickhill and the A5.

Behind the Green Man

This pub is on the Market Square, Aylesbury. It’s not particularly old or noteworthy, but for many years if you wanted entertainment, through the arch on the side of the pub to the building that stood behind it was the place to go.

At different times over the years there you could see performers like Genesis, The Who, Roxy Music, David Bowie, or Ronnie Barker, or even watched a film.

There’s been plenty of live music. Ronnie Barker might not have sung on stage there, but like David Bowie, there’s a statue of him in the town.

Aylesbury is like most towns we go to; we walk through the streets and never look higher than the ground floor. And we miss everything.

Here’s just a few of the things we can see around Aylesbury’s Market Square, if we just look up above the shop fronts.

I first knew this building as The Dark Lantern pub, but it hasn’t been called that for quite a while. It is now a nightclub called Pulse 51, that’s also a live music venue featuring rock acts. This means it can’t open during lockdown.

You might not notice as you walk past it down the cobbled alley into Silver Street (far right), but look up and you’ll see this is a 16th or 17th Century timber framed building.

In Winslow High Street, the painter has put these cones up to encourage people to keep some sort of distance. It’s difficult; the High Street is on a main road and the pavement isn’t very wide.

Market Day at Winslow

Wednesday is market day at Winslow, in the square. They have a system in place with separate entry and exits points. I parked in the High Street. As elsewhere, there’s a semblance of normality in the town.

A couple of pedestrians gave me a tip about a cluster of paintings and drawings in house windows, in a side street off Verney Road. After I had finished at the square, I drove up to see.

As ever, you can find all the previous posts on the Distance Project here. The project is to photograph what people are doing differently under lockdown.

Queueing at the Winslow deli, almost opposite the benches.

Here we are in 2020, a new year but not a new decade, no matter what they tell you! Today we are having a look at some of the highlights from the last twelve months, and a few photos from the archives.

The HighlightsNew Year’s day last year was a fine day for a motorcycle ride. Though not too warm, it was dry and sunny. I rode up to the classic vehicle show at Stony Stratford, and when it finished just before lunch time I took to the back roads and ended up in Olney.

On the way I stopped at Stoke Goldington when I saw this fellow working on his allotment. I think he was starting the year as he meant to go on...

The only statue of David Bowie in the whole world is in Aylesbury, and it was a year old in March. There were strong links between Bowie and Aylesbury’s Friars music venue, and when David Bowie passed away in January 2016 there was a memorial event that drew over 3,000 people. A petition to create a Bowie statue was started that day…

Visible from the Winslow road several miles away, it looks like a huge Norman castle, set against the background of the Chilterns. But instead, it’s a 1960s building right in the centre of Aylesbury.