Your letters
To the EditorOn behalf of myself and my family, I want to give heartfelt thanks to friends in the village for all your letters, cards, flowers and gifts which I received after David’s death and also for all the practical advice and help given to me at the time.
Your kindness and support throughout this bleak summer have been a great comfort to me and my family as we struggle to come to terms with the loss of David and my little grandson Adam.
Ann Barnet
Lee Common
To the Editor
Please could you use your editorial control of The Lee Newsletter to prevent it becoming a mouthpiece for politically partisan articles?
The first paragraph of Cllr Tricia Birchley’s article in the September letter had nothing to do with matters in The Lee or in Buckinghamshire in particular, but was instead a list of sound-bites concerning national matters that could plausibly have been taken straight from a Tory HQ briefing.
No right of reply was given to her political opponents to refute her comments, which were in any case unspecific jibes rather than reasoned critiques. Your readers will be glad that space prevents her and me trading detailed arguments about the origins and the worth of PFI funding.
I don’t blame Cllr Birchley for trying to hijack the Newsletter in this way, but please could you avoid becoming a mouthpiece for the Conservative Party as well as the Church of England and the Women’s Institute. Perhaps try to be a little anti-establishment occasionally?
Phil Ogley
The Lee
Ed: Any other views on this topic?
A guide dog’s sixth sense?
To the Editor
Offering bed and breakfast accommodation can be a most enlightening experience!
One day a blind lady and her guide dog came to stay with us as B & B guests and they both slept in the bedroom in the oldest part of the house. In the morning I cheerfully asked her if she had slept well – expecting the usual reply of “Oh yes, very well thank you”. But instead she told me that she had not had a particularly restful night because her dog had been very agitated by the ghost!
Perhaps it was fortunate that she couldn’t see my jaw drop! She too had ‘seen’ the ghost of an elderly lady who wandered about the room. My guest explained that since she had lost her sight she had developed a sixth sense and she occasionally experienced sightings of ghosts. She assured me that our spooky resident was quite good natured and bore us no ill will. Well that, at least, was good news!
I thought no more about the incident until an old school friend came to visit us for a few days – we have been friends for fifty years so we know each other pretty well!
She came down to breakfast on the first morning of her visit, having also slept in the old bedroom, and I asked her the usual question: how had she slept? She gave a quizzical smile and replied that she had slept very well. On hearing this I thought it safe to tell her the story of our blind guest and the alleged resident ghost. “Oh yes, I know” she said casually “I sensed a presence the minute I stepped into the house – but I didn’t want to alarm you!”
Geoff and I slept in the old bedroom for a year whilst renovations were being carried out at the farm and I can honestly say that we never had any spooky experiences. Perhaps the old lady just doesn’t like sharing her bedroom with strangers!
Anthea Hartley
Lower Bassibones Farm
Family history: 1
To the Editor
My ancestors, Enoch and Ephraim Hunt, came from Hunts Green, The Lee, having landed in Massachusetts, USA in 1638 (yes it was a while ago). They were father and son and, from what information I can gather, Enoch had a brother, Peter, living in the Amersham area.
If you have any more information about the Hunts of Hunts Green, I would love to hear or read it.
Thank you.
Kathleen E. Welch
Maine, USA, kewelch@mactec.com
Family history: 2
To the Editor
I am trying to trace the family history of my Grandmother Ella Terry who lived at School Cottage, Lee Common 1939-1970. Ella’s married name was Harding and her parents were Jessie and Jane Terry. I understand she was a house parlour-maid to Sir Felix and Lady Augustus Semon.
Any information would be helpful.
Sandra Lissenden.
burnybosson@blueyonder.co.uk