Belmont Hotel

Much better than the real thing..

by sourbugger

Wycombe has a number of fine buildings in the centre including the civic building in the photo which has been nicknamed by locals as 'The pepperpot'. I also liked what remained of a nearby coaching inn (I presume) with the distances to London and Oxford painted prominently on it's frontage.

The picture as actually from a Model made using Pyruma fire cement by Mr Phil Webb of High Wycombe.

Mr Webb has apparantly made over 200 models using Pyruma Fire Cement each model is built to 1 : 76th scale from photographs of the real object. The models take about 6 weeks to for him to build.

This also has the adavantage that you cannot see for yourself that this once fine looking town has been spoilt by ill thought-out shopping developments and the chain stores plastering their gawdy signs over all the place.

The Library

by taryn_treloar

One of the first things I did when I arrived in Wycombe was get a Library card. They have access to computers and Internet, as well as a wide selection of cheap movies you can borrow. (I think its around 1.50 pound)

The selection of books is adequate, and there are archives available to read through on the upper level of the Library.

OPENING HOURS (except public holidays)
Monday 9.30am - 8.00pm
Tuesday 9.30am - 5.30pm
Wednesday 9.30am - 5.00pm
Thursday 9.30am - 8.00pm
Friday 9.30am - 5.30pm
Saturday 9.30am - 4.00pm
Sunday Closed
Public Holidays Closed

This should have been an absolute must see..

by sourbugger

The finest TV comedy of all time is of course "Fawlty Towers". The actual building used in the series was not in fact a dodgy hotel in Torquay (with a sea view of course), but was actually just outside Wycombe (and you would have to use a very powerful telescope to see the sea from there!)

The buliding was located in a village called Woburn Green, near High Wycombe in Buckinghamshire and operated as the Woburn Grange Country Club. According to "The British Location Guide" the house was an Indian restaurant, then a nightclub called "Basil's" (oh, wonderfully original).

In an incident worthy of the great Basil fawlty himself the structure was damaged by fire some years ago and was subsequently demolished. Today the location is occupied by eight houses - so not exactly worth visiting unless you are the most hard-core Fawlty towers fan on the planet.

Bradenham

by SallyM

The picturesque village of Bradenham, 4 miles north-west of High Wycombe is owned by the National Trust. Cottages cluster round a village green and cricket pitch, with a church and 17th century manor in the background.

The manor house, which was the childhood home of Prime Minister and novelist Benjamin Disraeli, is now used as a conference and wedding venue and not generally open to the public, but the gardens are being restored by the National Trust and are opened to the public a few times each year. See the 'events' link on the National Trust website (below) for details.

The house was built in 1655 by Sir Edmund Pye, on the site of an earlier house. The D'Israeli family lived there from 1828 to 1847. Although the manor was gifted to the National Trust in the 1950s, work to restore the gardens, which include a Victorian Summer Border, Parterre Garden, Wilderness Garden, Walled Garden and Orchard, only began in 2000.

On open days, admission to the garden is £3 (NT members free) and tea and cakes are available.

High Wycombe---Place of my birth

by budapest8

"Returned after 45 years away"

U N D E R C O N S T R U C T I O N

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My 50th Birthday came and went...so here I am again..
I was born in High Wycombe on May 27th 1958 in a building called 'the Shrubbery' which has since been demolished. The town is is 29 miles West-North-West of London; this number is engraved on the Corn Market building in the centre of the town. High Wycombe is famous for it's furniture manufacture and it is the only town in the world which weighs it's mayor. This is done once a year in public in specially designed scales. Also there has been a market since the middle ages.

"Famous residents"

High Wycombe was also the home of Prime Minister Benjamin Disraeli.
Ian Dury - Rock & Roll Singer and Songwriter, he went to the local Boys school
Royal Grammar School, also famous singer Dusty Springfield OBE, she died on the day the Queen was going to give her the award. Also pop singer Howard Jones, Frankie Vaughan and Karl Popper - Philosopher.

"I WAS BORN in High Wycombe 51 years ago"