LOCATION: Housesitting in Whitchurch, Buckinghamshire, England
WEATHER: Mostly cloudy. Cooler. Highs in 60s
This was a lucky day, all around.......
One of my dreams while in England has been to visit the village where one of my favorite BBC shows, The Vicar of Dibley, takes place. It is a very remote village, Turville, not on a bus or train line. I researched it as best as I could, but when I asked people where Turville is, no one had heard of it. I found out there is a pub there (of course), so I contacted them to confirm how to get there.
The first leg was to Aylesbury, the bus hub around here. Luck #1 .......We were running a bit late and arrived at the Whitchurch bus stop one minute after the listed departure time. Luckily, the bus was running a minute late, too, so we hopped on just as it pulled up.
Luck #2.....In Aylesbury, our second bus was just getting ready to leave. We boarded with a bunch of older locals. When we tried to pay, the driver just ushered us on. I think he assumed that we were with the other British seniors, who ride the buses free.
The bus travelled through beautiful countryside, just like the scenes from the tv show, arriving in High Wycombe, the closest we could get to Turville by local transport. We hailed a cab. The driver wasn't 100% sure where Turville is, even though it is only about 8 miles away. He did figure it out, and took us there.
Turville looks just like Dibley. It IS Dibley! Our first view was the church, called St. Barnabus in the show.
Next to the church is the Vicar's cottage.
We walked into the church, seeing familiar scenes....
It is smaller than it looks on tv. This is where the Vicar preaches...
The village is comprised of the church, a pub, and about 20 houses.
It is all so impossibly quaint.
See next post for more Dibley!