Local Focus: Great Missenden

From a distance, Great Missenden in Buckinghamshire looks like any other quaint English village; it is situated in the rolling hills and sloping green valleys of the Chilterns, classified as an area of outstanding beauty. There are some sweet little forests to take a stroll in and the streets are lined with sagging cottages and pubs that are hundreds of years old. But Great Missenden has a claim to fame – it played host to one of the most famous Children’s writers in English literature. Tucked away only a five minute walk from the high street is the house of Roald Dahl. The influence of this man is prevalent throughout the village, indeed one of the first signs you will see as you turn off the A413 from London is directions to the Roald Dahl Museum and Story centre, which was set up in 2005. The museum gives a detailed account of his life but also captures his enthusiasm for the written word and some of the magic of his stories (each room has a different design, inspired from his tales). Although it caters primarily for children, it is a delight for adults as well.

If you’d like to see the place where the writer crafted his works, Dahl’s home, known as Gipsy House, is open to the public some days in the summer and is the site of literary celebrations and charity events. The village has been put on the map as a result of the author’s fame, but it also influenced the scenes and settings of his works. Dahl’s ‘writing shack’ overlooks lush fields and thick forest, and the 1989 film of The BFG includes scenes filmed in the village centre. There are other sites of historical significance in the village: Missenden Abbey was built in 1133 as an Augustinian monastery and was incorporated into a Georgian house after the dissolution of the monasteries in the mid-1500’s. Now a conference centre, it is one of the grandest building in the village, along with the parish church of St Peter and St Paul, a medieval structure that is still functional as a place of worship and community centre to this day.

On the activities front, the Chilterns are renowned for their excellent walking trails and you could easily spend a day meandering through the open farms and forests that surround the area. In the evenings you can choose from several homely pubs to have a quality meal and a drink. In the summer, The Chiltern Show arrives in one of the Missenden fields and is the event of the year for the county. The area comes alive with travelling fun fairs, market stalls, arts and crafts exhibitions, animal shows and motoring events. Great Missenden, though small, has a wealth of history and a surprising amount to see and do, and it is easily accessible via the A413 or the rail station, which has a direct line into Marylebone, London.