Obituaries
Ken SwainBy Jon Swain
Ken was born on 31st January 1923, near Hitchin, Herts. in The Fox Inn at Darleyhall, where he was to grow up. He was the youngest of three sons, came of country stock, was proud of his origins and they formed him. A bright pupil, he gained a place at Luton Modern Grammar. He cycled seven miles to and from the school. Leaving school coincided with the outbreak of World War II in 1939; he joined the Army when 18 and served with the Suffolk Regiment in North Africa, then Sicily and ended up in Naples. Leaving the Army, Ken went into the building trade, studying at night school to improve himself. That meant cycling back into Luton after a journey there and back to work. He found he had a talent for teaching the apprentices and qualified as a teacher, obtaining a position at Chesham Technical School (now Chesham High). Whilst there, he taught many local lads how to build. He was popular as a teacher and his methods were typical of the man – a quiet determination which overcame the reluctance of some to learn. Whilst at Chesham he met Joyce, a young teacher from the White Hill School, and so began a wonderful marriage lasting 54 years. They complemented each other very well. In 1955 they bought Kingswood Cottages where Ken lived for the rest of his life. When Chesham Tech became Chesham High, Ken moved to Slough Tech College, where he worked until he retired. There he moved into the science and technology of building. He left his successors with a wonderful legacy of notes and resources to continue.
Ken retired early at 60 and enjoyed gently pottering about at home. He found time to be involved in the Chiltern Open Air Museum and the Senior Club in the Hilltop Villages as Treasurer and then Chairman.
Ken died peacefully and gently on 19th May from Parkinson’s disease. He was a gentle person, undemonstrative, but with inner reserves that many never saw and a man who lived his life to the highest possible personal standards, never prepared to compromise them. Wishing no ill to anyone, he was generous and polite, undemanding and grateful, wise and unobtrusive.
There was much more to Ken: a vegetarian for 75 years; a marvel with electronics, he built the first television set in the area out of radar parts; a conservationist before it was trendy and a re-cycler too; a keen gardener, especially of vegetables and fruit and never happier than when pottering around the extensive grounds at home, into which he would disappear from sight, happy to be in the place he loved. That was Ken.
Nigel Dwight
By Leslie Robins
When Mary Dwight died in 2003 it fell to me to compose an obituary for The Lee Newsletter, and I now find myself performing the same office for her older brother Nigel, who died on 10th June 2009. They are not much spoken of in The Lee nowadays, but time was when they virtually personified the Church of St John the Baptist at The Lee, to the service of which they devoted the greater part of their lives. Nothing was done there without their sanction and approval. From time to time they encountered meddlesome individuals who seemed to think that, just because they had been installed as incumbent, they were entitled to run the church. Nigel and Mary soon disabused them of this laughable idea and resumed their autocratic rule.
Nigel was born in 1918 and came of good farming stock, but money was scarce in the aftermath of the Great War and although he worked on the land for much of his life, he never aspired to a farm of his own. Later on he worked full time as a gardener to a couple of families in Potter Row. Not surprisingly, he learned a thing or two about growing vegetables and carried off countless prizes at The Lee Flower Show, of which he eventually became President. His rubicund complexion testified to the rude health of an outdoor life.
His commitment to the church at The Lee was – like Mary’s – a direct inheritance from their father, who himself was a churchwarden at one time; and although Nigel was by no means a scholarly man he became very well versed in ecclesiastical law and practice and carried out his duties as churchwarden with the utmost rigour. He liked to have things his own way though and successive fellow churchwardens were treated as mere ciphers or, at best, as acolytes who had much to learn. I know of at least one who rebelled against this somewhat authoritarian regime and resigned.
The churchyard was his especial care and he and Mary tended it as assiduously as if it were their own garden. They were justifiably proud when – twice, I think – The Lee was adjudged by BBONT to have the best kept churchyard in the Bucks/ Oxford area.
It was a year or two before Mary’s death that Nigel sustained a fall from which he never fully recovered and which effectively put paid to his working life. It was a heavy blow for a man who had been so active for so long. Other illnesses followed. He became increasingly immobile and could not have continued to live at Pheasant Cottage but for the unflagging care and attention of his friends in Ballinger, especially Chris and Deidre Pool across the way and Leslie Mears just down the road.
No one seems to know whether Nigel was ever tempted to consider matrimony. I can only say that in all the years I knew him he gave the impression that amorous dalliance with the female sex was a waste of good gardening time.
The last word must go to Nigel’s inveterate habit of imparting titbits of ‘confidential’ information – in a suitably lowered voice – to anyone who would listen. In his last years he excelled himself at this, taxing his visitors’ credulity to the utmost with stories of how during the war Mary became Winston Churchill’s friend, confidante and trusted adviser. Did he really believe these fantasies himself?
We shall never know.
Christine Leslie - 8/5/25 to 21/5/09
By Richard Dendy (Christine’s brother)
Our parents had four children: Janet, Christine, Hazel and as an afterthought, myself. Christine was born in Wembley in 1925, but our parents moved to Bellingdon in Buckinghamshire and Christine was brought up in the country. She went to school locally and then to Berkhamsted School for Girls. The tranquillity of the Thirties was ending and storm clouds were appearing on the horizon. Life changed when the Second World War started and there was a real danger of Britain being invaded.
Our oldest sister, Jane, had gone off to nurse and I was too young to leave our mother. However, Christine and Hazel, like thousands of other children, were sent to safety in Canada. They sailed from Liverpool on 10th August 1940 aboard the Duchess of York along with five hundred other children, a perilous journey. They arrived in Canada without incident, but a few weeks later a similar ship, The City of Benares, was torpedoed and most of the children drowned. Some of my sisters’ luggage was on this ship.
Both girls thrived in Canada and Christine was especially good at sport and went to McGill University. However, when the war ended our father sailed to Canada and brought them back to England. This must have been a culture shock to return to a country of bombed buildings and rationing.
Christine went to teach PT at a boys’ school and the appearance of a pretty young gym mistress must have made sports very popular. However, as a result of a back injury, she had to change career. She trained as a dental nurse at Guy’s Hospital and then worked at a dental practice in the West End.
Life for her changed when Christine was invited to a party that was gate-crashed by some young men, including Peter Leslie. They started a whirlwind romance and were soon engaged. However, Peter was in the army and was posted to Australia for a year; their romance had to be continued by letter.
Peter returned and they were married in 1956 at St Margaret’s Church in Tyler’s Green. Chris had to adapt to the life of an army wife, first in Germany then in London. They soon produced two children, John and Jane. After Peter left the army, they moved to Buckinghamshire and eventually settled in Chiltern Cottage. Besides bringing up her family, Christine pursued her interest in antiques and worked for a while in a shop in Penn. In due course four grandchildren arrived.
During Christine’s long illness, she received great help and support from friends and neighbours and the family would like to give their thanks to everyone involved.
It says much about Christine that during this illness she worried more about her family, and especially Peter, than about herself
Joyce Clark 10/05/25 - 29/04/09 Norman Clark 24/04/15 - 10/05/09
By Linda Chamlet
After attending Lee Common School and leaving at age fourteen, Joyce was working at Gerhardy’s of Great Missenden and living at home at The Gate Inn when she met Norman, who had moved out to Swan Bottom to find work with his uncle and cousin after returning from National Service.
Joyce and Norman married at The Lee Church in 1951 and moved into their new home in Swan Bottom where they were to stay for 51 happy years. During their time in Swan Bottom Norman found time to serve on The Lee Parish Council.
In 2002 they decided to move down off the hill into Wendover and enjoyed seven years in Wendover.
Joyce died on 29th April 2009 after a short illness and Norman died on the 10th May 2009.
A joint funeral ceremony took place at St Mary’s Church in Wendover on 14th May 2009.
Many thanks to everyone who attended the service from Linda and the family.