Tag Archives: Hodgemoor Wood

Hodgemoor Wood’s Polish past

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Memorial to the Polish village in Hodgemoor Wood, Chalfont St Giles

Hodgemoor Wood is one of my favourite local spots. I love cycling through the woods, near Chalfont St Giles, Buckinghamshire, as I’ve blogged before. Today I took five year old Owen up there for an Easter Monday walk – and to my surprise came across this memorial. I was amazed to learn that some 600 former Polish soldiers and their families lived in a camp here for many years after the second world war.

The families had stayed in Britain after 1945 to avoid returning to their Soviet-occupied homeland. The camp closed in 1962, but there’s still a thriving Polish community in the area, including one of Britain’s most successful Polish centres at Raans Road, Amersham.

As Owen and I walked on from the memorial, we found outlines on the ground of one of the many buildings, which included a church, a shop, post office and hall.

You can read more about the camp at the website about the UK’s Polish resettlement camps.

Today, Hodgemoor Wood has returned to nature.

Hodgemoor Wood today

Hodgemoor Wood today

Snowy Hodgemoor Wood, February 2012

Snowy Hodgemoor Wood, February 2012

Back to snowy Hodgemoor Wood

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I've got the mountain biking bug again. So while sensible people were indoors next to the fire, I set off this afternoon on my ancient mountain bike for my new haunt, Hodgemoor Wood near Chalfont St Giles. I wanted to explore the woods while the snow still lay very crisp and not so even. Last weekend's snow was lingering, with a fresh coating on Thursday night.

Botterills Lane was easy going (a contrast to last Sunday's treacherous ice) but the wood was again a fun challenge. I missed my way at first but my sense of direction helped me gain the bridleway (The Mount) that runs westwards. 

I had stuffed my Canon SLR in my Camelbak Mule so I could take some proper photos. I was lucky: the sun bathed parts of the wood even after 4pm on this bitterly cold February afternoon. In the deep of the wood, I propped the bike against the route sign and started capturing the scene. As last weekend, I barely saw a soul – although a friendly dog took a mild interest as I took a few photos. 

This was almost certainly my last outing on the Diamondback Ascent bike I bought at Roylan Cycles in Cheltenham in April 1994. The gearshift has failed and I could only use the bottom 4 (out of 21) gears. It made me even slower than normal! I can't wait to get its replacement later this month. 

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PS: last night was bitterly, bitterly cold. The photo below shows the temperature reading on my Mini as I drove Owen to his football class at 8.45 this morning. (I thought last Saturday's minus 6.5C was cold enough!)

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Snow Sunday

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Winter is here. The snow arrived on Saturday night, at the end of a day that began with a bitterly cold night. (It was minus 6.5C when I drove Owen to his football class at 8.40am.) The mild winter had turned real.

We enjoyed an unforgettable day. Owen is now big enough to relish snow, especially five inches of the white stuff. (Proof above in the shape of Karen's old school ruler.) He joined friends Martha and Betrys (aka Betty) on the sleds, and built an interestingly shaped snowman. 

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I also turned intrepid explorer, venturing through Hodgemoor Wood on my 18 year ol mountain bike. It was an exhilarating experience, slipsliding on road and trail. There was barely a soul in the deep dark wood, and I was the only cyclist to pedal the route since the snows fell. My Garmin shows that the ride took 45 minutes compared with 23 the previous, snow-free day. (But my average heart rate was almost the same.) The ride whet my appetite for adventures on my new mountain bike, which should arrive later this month. But it's probably just as well that my ancient Diamond Back Ascent took the icy punishment today…

Is this the last of 2012's snow? Time will tell…

PS: here's my blogpost about February 2009's snowday, Simply Snow… And my praise for my Mini's winter driving abilities 10 months later.