War memorial

Memorial in Islip.

Islip

The village of Islip is in between Bicester and Oxford in the centre of the county of Oxfordshire.

The Swan Inn

Information
County:	Oxfordshire
District:	Cherwell
Population:	652 (2011 census)

The village has existed since Saxon times and most notably was the birthplace of Saint (and King) Edward the Confessor in 1004CE. Remains of a Roman villa have also been found nearby showing the area has been inhabited for millennia.

In the Domesday Book Islip was recorded as having a water mill and had a predominantly agricultural economy. The London-Worcester Road forded, and later crossed by a bridge, the river Ray at Islip. This gave Islip a strategic importance during the Civil War with both sides occupying the village at different times. The village became a stop on a coaching route on the London-Worcester Road and gained a number of coaching inns.

Islip gained it's railway station in 1850. The station was closed in 1967 but re-opened in 1989. The church of St Nicholas is Norman and dates from 1200 (Edward the Confessor was baptised in an earlier church in Islip).

The village has a number of old road sign posts

Bridge

Railway bridge in Saunderton.

Waiting for the bus

Bus shelter in Saunderton.

The Golden Cross

Pub in Saunderton.

St Mary and St Nicholas

Saunderton's parish church.

Saunderton

Saunderton is a village in the south west of Buckinghamshire.

Please drive carefully

Information
County:	Buckinghamshire
Parish:	Bledlow-cum-Saunderton
Population:	2469 (parish)

Saunderton has Saxon origins, though remains of a Roman villa and Iron Age settlement traces have also been found nearby. In the Domesday Book the village was listed as Santesdune which may derive from the Old English for Saint's Hill. 

The village is split across three locations, with some distance between the part of Saunderton where the 12th century parish church dedicated to St Mary (and later St Nicholas also) is located and the part where Saunderton railway station is located.

At the latter part of the village, along the A4010 road, a workhouse was built for the Union of High Wycombe. Inmates who regularly escaped from other workhouses were bought here because of it's remote location!

Fields at Saunderton

War memorial

War memorial in Oxted.

Oxted railway station

A Southern train at Oxted railway station.

Some retail

Money spending opportunities.

St Mary the Virgin

Oxted's parish church.

Oxted

Oxted is a town at the foot of the North Downs in the east of Surrey.

Shops in Oxted

Information
County:	Surrey
District:	Tandridge
Population:	11,314 (2011 census parish only)

The town has Saxon origins and was first mentioned in a Saxon charter in 882CE as Acustyde. The settlement was listed in the Domesday Book as Acstede. The name is derived from the Old English for oak and place (Ac Stede). Oxted remained a small village throughout the Middle Ages and beyond. Like many settlements, it boomed in terms of wealth and populations after the arrival of the railways, the station opening in 1884. 

It is now a commuter town with city workers taking trains to London. The town was listed as the twentieth richest town in Britain by the Daily Telegraph in 2011!

Oxted's parish church is St Mary the Virgin which has Norman origins (12th century) though most of the current church dates from later centuries, the tower with it's "battlements" is Norman.

Station walkway with pleasing mosaic

St Mary Magdalene

Another church in Alsager.

Railway Inn

Pub in Alsager.

The Mere

Water feature in Alsager.

Christ Church

One of the churches in Alsager.

Alsager

Alsager is a town on the South Eastern edge of the county between Stoke-on-Trent and Crewe.

Ey Up Duck

Information
County:	Cheshire
Unitary authority:	Cheshire East
Population:	11,775 (2011 census)

Alsager has existed since Saxon times, and was listed as Eleacier in the Domesday Book. The name means "cultivated land of Aelle". Alsager remained a small agricultural community until the 19th century and the arrival of the railways, the station was opened in 1848.

Alsager became the preferred home for wealthy managers and works owners from Stoke-on-Trent and Crewe. The town greatly expanded during the Second World War after the opening of an armaments factory and the arrival of workers. Following the war a camp for displaced peoples from Eastern Europe was built on the site of a former Royal Marines training camp.

At the centre of Alsager is the Mere, a large lake that is now almost entirely enclosed by housing. The lake has existed since medieval times and is probably fed from a spring. The town has two Anglican churches, Christ Church and St Mary Magdelene.

Former post office

The church

The parish church of John the Baptist in Middleton.

John the Baptist

A statue of John the Baptist at the church named for him in Middleton.

The Green Man

A pub in Middleton.

The water pump

A water pump in Middleton.

Middleton

Middleton is a village at the north of Warwickshire, not too far from Sutton Coldfield and Tamworth.

Middleton

Information
County:	Warwickshire
District:	North Warwickshire
Population:	630 (2011 census)

The village is mentioned in the Domesday Book when it was owned by a Norman overlord called Hugh de Grandmesnil. The manor of Middleton was later owned by the de Freville family and later still passed into the hands of the Willughbys including the noted ornithologist William. The owners in the manor lived at Middleton Hall since Norman times though the current house dates mostly from later centuries. The house and estate was sold in the 1920s and is now maintained by a charitable trust.

Middleton's parish church is dedicated to St John the Bapist and dates from the 12th century. Middleton is near a number of leisure places including the Belfry golf club, Drayon Manor theme park and Aston Villa's training ground at Bodymoor Heath.

HS2 when/if it is extended north of Birmingham will pass by very close to the village.

St John the Baptist church