Chesham Through Time

This fascinating selection of photographs traces some of the many ways in which Chesham has changed and developed over the last century.

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Chesham, a small market town in the valley of the River Chess between the beech-clad Chiltern Hills in Buckinghamshire, has a long history of light craft industry based on locally produced raw materials. Early development had been confined to the floor of the valley, resulting in a very long, narrow town through which the High Street and its continuation was the only main road, carrying all local and any through traffic. The recent need to accommodate more through traffic required drastic treatment; as the narrow confines of the valley prevented any bypass for the town centre, the only solution was an inner relief road, construction of which involved demolition of some of the older parts of the town. This little volume illustrates, by sequences of photographs of selected features, how Chesham changed through the twentieth century.