IMAGES TAKEN NEAR TO
Germain Street, CHESHAM, HP5 1LW

Germain Street seen from the junction with King Street.

Seen from the Amy Lane end. Mostly flint-built cottages, of various dates. Results of some preliminary research into the origins of my mother's family suggest that 180 years ago ancestors of ours lived nearby in Amy Lane - where almost nothing remains of the townscape they would have known. Their name was Rance.

Wey Lane seen from its junction with Germain Street with allotment gardens on the right.

Yes, underneath all that wild watercress is the river! It is interesting to look at all the old Francis Frith photographs of the river in and around Chesham, which show just how vegetation-free it was a century or so ago, even in summer.

Roadside allotments in a pleasant old part of town.

Town Bridge takes Germain Street over the River Chess. The two white cottages on the left of the road beyond the bridge are both Grade II Listed Buildings.

Thomas Harding Junior School is on the right.

"Born c. 1470, Harding lived in Amersham and then Chesham, where he was a farmer. He was a member of the Lollard community and believed in the right to read the scriptures in English. As a result of his unconventional beliefs he was found guilty of heresy and sentenced to be burnt to death at a place now known as Martyr’s Dell on White Hill. Harding was, however, spared a fiery death. As the fire was being lit, someone in the crowd threw a piece of firewood which hit him on the head and killed him instantly." - https://www.chesham.gov.uk/Open_Spaces/Martyr_Stone.aspx

This alleyway connects Amy Lane and Germain Street and is actually called New Footpath. It has however long since ceased being new as its route is clearly shown on the Ordnance Survey map of 1898, and arguably on the map of 1878 too.