The history of the Station at Bledlow may not be unique but it is certainly different. It is a GWR Station built in 1863 with the Station House buildings added shortly afterwards. This Station was constructed to provide a communication link from the agricultural areas of Bledlow and Longwick to the cities of London, Oxford and beyond. It also provided carriage for the production of goods from the paper mill in Bledlow as well as the nearby timber yard at Longwick. The original platform is still standing, although only approximately half of its original size when the sidings were in place. It was over twice the length it is now and the crane base can still be seen in the garden. In 1918, Jacquis Grandfather was appointed as the Stationmaster at Bledlow having previously served as Head Porter and the Assistant Stationmaster, at the tender age of 21, in Blackthorn near Bicester. He continued working in this capacity until his retirement in 1950. During this time he built up the business and traffic on this very important link with Oxford and London. A task that was, in those days, the responsibility of the Station Master. Jacquis Father, his son, continued to oversee the Station until the infamous Beeching Act closed the line to passenger traffic in 1963. Jacquis parents purchased the land and buildings from the Railways Board and converted the Station building into a private dwelling, leaving most of the outer shell in place. When Jacqui and Ian married in 1972 they added to the building in the late 70s and early 80s. During the autumn of 2002 they completed further refurbishments, including the building of additional bedrooms to create a fourbedroom purpose built B&B facility . The Station is situated in the Chiltern countryside and is set amongst a rural background. It affords a great deal of privacy, with a garden of over an acre. Yet it still remains within easy commuting distance of a wide, varied and important area linking in with London, Oxford and Birmingham. Please take the opportunity of viewing some of the old photographs of the Station, showing its past era and those of the paper mill and Henton Crossing as well as some of the original artifacts, which they have managed to save from the days of steam. You will see the original GWR station clock in the breakfast room and the other memorabilia is dotted around the front lobby and gallery upstairs. They thought it in keeping with this theme to name each bedroom after a wellknown station, i.e., Victoria, Paddington, Kings Cross and Marylebone. You may be interested to note that the breakfast room was the original general waiting room, the front lobby was the ladies waiting room and the Victoria room was the booking office and Station Masters Office. For any of you that would like to know more, please do not hesitate to talk to Jacqui or Ian who will be happy to provide you with many happy tales of a busy and thriving village station.

Address: Ian & Jacqui Mackinson Sandpit lane Bledlow Princes Risborough Bucks, HP279QQ
Website: http://www.theoldstation-bledlow.co.uk/home.htm