1987 started with the Parish Council expressing concern over a plan to
build one dwelling at the rear of Home Farm and turning down a request
for help with Chronicle funding. Andy Ford secured a place in the London
marathon and the idea of a help line service for the village was mooted.
April saw Billie and Phil Howe leave the Royal Oak. The Parish Council
was in crisis due to lack of candidates for the May elections and the
Aston Abbotts Chapel celebrated its 125th anniversary. In the summer
street lights were finally installed at Wingrave crossroads, but the
campaign for a safer junction continued.
Arthur Roff, a steward at the Methodist Chapel opened the 1987 Festival.
Licensees Barry and Maralyn Sykes kept the Bull and Butcher open all
day whilst Trisha Webb and Dick Clifford cooked the burgers that these
days are so splendidly provided by out Four Fat Blokes.
In September the first cabaret - and evening of Entertainment - was
staged by The Friends Of the Chronicle, raising nearly £300 as reported
by a grateful Graham Parker when he penned the editorial for the 50th
issue in November, "Now, welcome to our 50th Edition, marked (or
perhaps scarred is the more appropriate word) as it was by the
'Chronicle Aid' party in the Church Room last Saturday night. Those of
you who were there will remember it for many a long day; those of you
who were not there will now by now that your good judgement has again
been vindicated".
The Christmas Show raised further much needed funds, with the
remainder going to the Playing Field Fund. At the end of the year the
Youth Club closed, due to dwindling membership, and the Royal Oak
completed renovations under landlords Gayburn and Joanna Owen.
1988 started with St James having to find £750 for the chancel roof as
its inner roof had fallen in and Colin Higgs took BCC's Highways
Department to task over the poor condition of our village roads. New
landlords Roger and Lorraine Sykes took over the Bull, only to leave in
the summer. A little controversy raised its head over some Chronicle
articles signed with a Nom de Plume.
By now The Chronicle had increased in size and was sometimes running
to 22 pages or more. Although some of the increased page count was
due to larger amounts of advertising that brought in more revenue, it
still created a heavy workload for Graham. Remember, in 1988 the use
of computers was not widespread and much of The Chronicle was typed
up by hand and glued onto pages which were then photocopied. This
was clearly taking its toll, with many of Graham's editorials starting,
"Sorry for the late arrival of this months Chronicle…"
In Issue 60 matters reached a head as stated in the editorial, "Nothing
to say other than hope there is someone out there who would be
interested in taking over the position of Editor. While I enjoy the task is
does take up time that should be used in other ways, and the likelihood
is that publication will become increasingly erratic. So if there is
someone who is interested in taking over please let me know and I will
gladly explain what is involved". With remarkable prescience and two
inches below appeared the item, "People Page Stop Press. Welcome to
Gordon Smith, Caroline Lane and their daughter Sarah, who have just
moved into Church Row."
As the year rushed to a conclusion the Rev John Heffer moved on to
Wilden in Beds and Peter Dines paid tribute to him in his regular Church
News column. Neighbouring Cublington was up in arms over Bootsey
Waite and his National Chopper Club rallies, and Aston Abbott's annual
bonfire night celebrations were once again organised by Tony Hewitt and
John Ford.
1989 started with bright promise as AVDC agreed to discuss village
conservation proposals. Graham Parker was still at the helm and another
Chronicle funding cabaret was planned for
February, but in the March editorial Graham wrote, "Can I now
announce my 'goodbye'. As from the July issue I am afraid I will be
vacating the Editors desk and handing over to .... well I know not who
at the moment. If you are interested in taking over the Chronicle, lock,
stock and barrel, then please let me know. If no one comes forward the
magazine will cease with the July issue".
Aston Abbotts was suffering from a spate of tyre slashing incidents. The
Bull was changing hands rapidly with the departure of Dave and Tonia
Parsons and the arrival of Barry and Denise Ward. Don Hinds passed
away in the early summer.
A plan to create affordable local housing attracted signs of dissent with
a 'name and address supplied' article to The Chronicle in June. "As an
observer at the May Parish Council meeting I was stunned to hear of
the enquiries being made to build what amounts to a brand new
'village' between Aston Abbotts and Cublington. Not only that, but that
'village' is going to consist of mobile homes. Now to me 'mobile homes'
is a euphemism for 'gypsies encampment' and we have all seen the
terrible problems created in the location of the campsite up at
Cublington. The area of Aston Abbotts and Cublington has always been
under attack. Not so long ago it was the airport, then insidious bits of
infilling and now…."
In issue 70 Graham Parker said his final goodbye and announced that
Caroline Lane and Gordon Smith would take over the editorship. At the
time Caroline and Gordon were renting temporary accommodation in
Aylesbury whilst their house in Church Row was being repaired
following a fire.
The same issue carried a record number of furious responses to the
article on affordable housing, as typified by Lol Hinds, "If anonymous
had come to myself or Ray Wilkinson and asked us about this project
instead of listening to malicious gossip and rumours, they would realise
that we are trying to help the locals of Aston Abbotts, Cublington and
Wingrave to remain in or near to their relatives and loved ones in these
villages. With the price of houses in this village we see so very often
rich businessmen and women coming in then selling up making a quick
profit never to be seen again - so much for community spirit.
"Well, I have lived here all my life and I don't see why I should be
shoved out by some rich person trying to make a fast buck at the
expense of people like myself. I can assure you that from the huge
amount of people who are interested in these types of home not one of
them is a gypsy, nor do they ever intend to be one, so that knocks that
theory on the head.
"…So please if there were any of you out there taken in by that OTT
letter then please spare a thought for people who genuinely want to
remain part of this community."
With that controversy, Chronicle founder Graham Parker bowed out. It
took nearly a page for him to list the contributors and advertisers he
wished to thank, including special thanks to, "Colin Higgs and Peter
Dines who have never missed an issue".