Updates
The members of the Downley Local History Group have been actively collating and collecting information relating to the village’s history since November 2016. One of the Group’s earliest decisions to disseminate our finds though the web, adding donated material such as written memories and photographs as they became available. Over the years the website has grown to over 60 pages, with new material being uploaded to the site on a regular basis, either as a new ‘topic’ or in addition to material already published. This poses a problem for irregular visitors to the website in locating the newer material.
The solution we have adopted is to list the year in which new material has been added with direct links to that which has been added or modified.
Uploaded in 2024
| Middlebrook Road | Photo of Middlebrook Road prior to adoption by the council |
| Southfield Road | Photos of Southfield Road prior to adoption, and celebrating VE |
| White Close | Photo of White Close prior to adoption |
| Golf on the Common | Although the common was origonally one of a number of it was not the pasture main reason for it’s existence. Much can be read in the article |
Uploaded in 2023
| Dickie Gray- The Donkey Man | The life of Dickie Gray, born in 1840 but still remembered at the time of the Silver Jubilee of George V (1936} |
| How Downley Bred Strong Women | A resume of the lives of a number of Downley women and how they dealt with adversity -from the loss of their husband(s) and subsequently successfully running their late husband’s business – to providing an elementary education for the girls at the village school |
| Pigs, Bombs and Handstands | Jeff Wheeler remembers growing up as a child in wartime, describing his experiences with piglets and the buzz-bomb, and his later achievements as a gymnast. Two recordings are included |
Uploaded in 2022
| The Transformation of West Wycombe, Brick by Brick | The role of Downley’s clay and kiln in changing the impression of West Wycombe’s buildings |
Memories of a Young Lad | A resume of the lives of a number of Downley women and how they dealt with adversity -from the loss of their husband(s) and subsequently successfully running their late husband’s business – to providing an elementary education for the girls at the village school |
Tank Testing | |
Uploaded in 2021
Silver Jubilee
Old Farm Road
Chairs, Chapels and Children 2020