The locations of the 9 plaques can be found on the map below and audio extracts from interviews can be heard by clicking the numbered, yellow plaques. Each plaque offers stories from generations of sand workers, providing meaningful and personal insights into a way of life that has disappeared forever.
Listen to forgotten voices from the past; men and women who lived as children with playgrounds of sand and water. They describe a very different lifestyle to the one we know today, with dangerous places of work, endless playtimes, lasting friendships and family life without screens and social media. This trail is a unique way of learning about and appreciating local heritage and tradition.
1. Husband‘s work >
by Shirley Ann Delafield (01:38)
2. The Vandyke Rd pit in the 20s and 30s >
by R V Willis (01:25)
3. Playing in Vandyke Road pit >
by R V Willis (00:48)
4. Playing in sand works on wagons >
by Glenys Johnston (00:27)
5. Death of grandfather in quarry >
by William Cosby (01:44)
1. Light railway – accident >
by Trevor Roff (01:02)
2. Loco driving >
by Ronald Lansbury (03:41)
3. Railway line and Spinney Pool >
by Glenys Johnston (01:28)
4. Leighton Buzzard Swimming Club >
by RV Willis (01:15)
5. Getting involved in running the railway >
by Mervyn Leah (04:32)
1. Working on canal boats >
by William Vaughan (01:43)
2. Jones Sands >
by Bob Blake (01:45)
3. Playing at Tiddenfoot >
by Trevor Wilkins (01:16)
4. Wildlife >
by Philip Harding & Kelvin Quick (00:46)
5. Wild weather and wild life >
by Ray Gurney (00:37)
1. Working in the sand pits, driving a locomotive >
by Stanley Harold Skinner (01:47)
2. Getting a job >
by Trevor Wilkins (02:18)
3. Number employed in sand industry >
by Bob Blake (01:11)
4. Characters at Double Arches >
by David Browning (01:08)
5. Breakfast and lunch time >
by Trevor Roff (00:59)
1. Horse and cart work >
by Philip Harding & Kelvin Quick (00:54)
2. Silica white sand and glass making >
by RV Willis (01:30)
3. Canal transport >
by RV Willis (01:18)
4. Childhood memories of the canal and railway >
by Geoffrey Lansbury (01:16)
5. Forms of transport >
by Richard Walpole (01:31)
1. Memories of quarries as a child >
by Geoffrey Lansbury (02:44)
2. Playing in sand works on wagons >
by Glenys Johnston (00:27)
3. Abbey Style and Stoneleigh Abbey >
by Geoffrey Lansbury (02:07)
4. Lunch >
by Philip Harding & Kelvin Quick (01:02)
5. Betting on horses >
by Philip Harding & Kelvin Quick (01:53)
1. Playing as a child on the Tip & Former pits today >
by Maureen Gurney (02:48)
2. Garside’s pits >
by Bob Blake (02:10)
3. Working hours >
by Maureen Gurney (01:02)
4. Washing Day >
bby Vera Shales and Maureen Gurney (00:29)
5. Memories of ‘Heath Academy’ and village life >
by Michael King (03:24)
1. Geology field trips in Leighton Buzzard >
by Jill Eyers (00:50)
2. Mum’s job sewing sacks in the drying >
by Maureen Gurney (02:45)
3. Housing in Bryant’s Row >
by Vera Shales (01:57)
1. Train driving >
by Michael King (04:26)
2. Parties, trips and sponsorship >
by Ray Gurney (00:51)
3. Topping up >
by William Cosby – (02:00)
4. Archaeological finds in Stone End Quarry >
by Bernard John Jones (02:20)
5. Poem >
by Vera Shales (02:42)
View early aerial photographs depicting how quarrying has advanced across the landscape
Sandpit sites >
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