Ivinghoe and Pitstone are typical Buckinghamshire villages in many ways but they also have something unique about them. For the first half of the 20th century, Mrs Roberts, the wife of the Brewery owner dominated Ivinghoe. She organised everything from the WI to the Amateur Operatic group. Pitstone was included in these activities on sufferance. Their pride was in the cricket team and the quality of the allotments.
Most people worked as farm labourers and Pitstone Green Farm was an important employer. Extra money was earned 'in season' by fruit picking. The local plum, often known as the Aylesbury Prune, was a very popular fruit up to the Second World War and fruit was sent to all the big cities by railway and by road carrier.
From the 1930’s till recently, life in both villages was dominated by the cement works run for many years by Tunnel Cement. Life became a constant battle with dust on windows and cars but still there was some sadness when the chimneys came down and the villages returned to a more rural atmosphere in the year 2000.
The Pitstone and Ivinghoe Museum Society has a large collection of photographs of early farming and village life in its archives, these being available to researchers and individuals having an interest in the locality. Many of these are shown in this room with a collection of garments from earlier years. The picture shows one page of a rather beautiful postcard album dating from the early years of the 20th century.