31/08/2025
"To a shady retreat in the reeds and rushes of the River Chess. The lure of Metro-land was remoteness and quiet."
Metro-land, John Betjeman, 1973
Chesham being a part of Metro-land, it would be amiss not to mention the poet Sir John Betjeman, who was born on this day in 1906.
Poet Laureate from 1972 until his death, Betjeman mainly wrote humorous verse and had a passion for Victorian architecture and railways, many of which he campaigned to save when Victorian aesthetics became out of fashion. He played a large part in saving St Pancras Station from demolition, which in 2007 was commemorated by a statue of Betjeman being erected there.
Betjeman's writing is highly accessible and carries with it humour and a sense of nostalgia. Most people know him for narrating the 1973 documentary "Metro-Land" where he celebrates the outer parts of North West London dotted along the Metropolitan Line.
