Idlecombe Farm is set in a sweeping valley in Buckinghamshire on an escarpment of the Chilterns. A haven for wildlife, the Hambleden Valley is an oasis of natural beauty. It is a stronghold for red kites, and these beautiful birds of prey grace the skies in large numbers. Tiny muntjac deer can occasionally be seen in the woods. The chalky soil and mature beech trees make an ideal habitat for badgers whose setts can be found in the hills.
Turville village is blessed with equal charm, and an exceedingly good pub, the Bull and Butcher. No history of the area would be complete without mentioning that Turville featured in the TV series The Vicar of Dibley and Midsomer Murders, and in films such as Went the Day Well, Chitty Chitty Bang Bang and Goodnight Mr. Tom. Indeed the farm itself was used as a film set when, in the Michael Winner film, ‘The Big Sleep,’ it was covered with military style camouflage netting and turned into a petrol station. Recently Perfect Day, supposedly set in Wales and part of a Channel 5 trilogy, was filmed at the farm, but has yet to be screened. The tranquillity of the valley is only interrupted by a trickle of tourists who now visit the film locations.
Abbatt's Toys shop in Wimpole Street
The famous climbing frame manufactured by Abbatt's Toys
The land that became the farm was originally bought by Paul and Marjorie Abbatt in the early 1950s. Having married in December 1930, they set up a business manufacturing educational children’s toys, opening a distinctive shop in Wimpole Street, London, with a warehouse in High Wycombe. The business thrived and Abbatt’s toys became famous for their quality and educational value. Indeed a climbing frame, which they designed in the 1930s, won the Observer design award in 1969.
Len, whose parents had farmed at Turville Heath Farm, was appointed farm manager and in 1952 he and Margaret moved into the bungalow on the farm. After many years Paul Abbatt’s health declined and Len took it upon himself to nurse him for a prolonged period. Sadly Paul died in 1971 and soon after Marjorie sold the business. Marjorie survived Paul by twenty years.
Len bought the farm from the Abbatts in the 1970s. In Len’s early days at Idlecombe Farm he tended a dairy herd, but eventually he dropped milking in favour of beef. This was less demanding and allowed him more time to concentrate on his other interests. Being primarily a lover of traditional jazz, in 1961 Len started inviting jazz bands to perform to friends at the farm. ‘Seats’ were bales of straw, with floor space left for dancing. Len’s friends started asking if they could come along, and as interest grew, he began to invite singers to perform. And so the Folk Club was born.
The earliest photo of the Club
As the popularity of the Club grew Len added seats of all shapes and sizes. These included old car seats from his Morris vans, and the closure of a local cinema provided another few rows. The numbers in the audience continued to grow and he added an ‘upper circle’, made from planks and scaffolding. This increased the seating capacity to over 300, not bad for such a remote venue. On wintry evenings, milk churns were filled with hot water to supplement the struggling heating system. The cattle that still occupied the barn increasingly took a ‘back seat,’ but could still be heard mooing during some performances. On one amusing night a singer was performing a song where the rhyme was ‘You,’ ‘True’ and ‘Blue.’ Bang on cue, a calf added its own rhyme, and the performer got quite upset believing it to be a member of the audience. Described as ‘The Best Folk Club in the World’ by Jon Betmead and a ‘Monument to Rentokil’ by Diz Disley, the ramshackle charm of the barn was one of the cornerstones of the Club’s success.
During the interval in the performances at the Club dedicated drinkers would make a dash to the Bull and Butcher for a quick pint. This meant people would have to be issued with passes to show they had paid to get in. On one occasion, Len and his son Mark could be seen passing out torn out pages of old books as interval passes for the drinking fraternity. On occasions, someone had to be dispatched to the pub to hurry artists up in time for the start of the second half. Refreshments, including hot sausage rolls and soup, prepared by Len and served by family and friends, were popular, but would probably not comply with today’s strict food hygiene regulations. Len was particularly proud of the coffee, and spent several hours before the concert stirring different (and delicious) ingredients into the milk churn in which it was made.
Len described the barn as a ‘Theatre’ as it was more than just a Folk Club, embracing many musicals styles, and even comedians and poets. Always keen to introduce new acts he travelled extensively to seek out the quality of performers for which the club became renowned. At the peak of the folk music revival in the early 1970s the club was turning people away, so Len tried to change the events from fortnightly to weekly. However this had the reverse effect as the weekly audiences were much smaller and lacked atmosphere, so he soon reverted to fortnightly events. After the passing of the folk music revival the club remained successful and was a central part of the life of Len and his family.
In the early 1980s Len’s health was declining and he found the extensive travelling to see new acts increasingly difficult. There was also an issue with fire regulations, not helped by complaints from some locals who had objected to the amount of traffic caused by the fortnightly events. So Len reluctantly decided to close the club even though it was still viable and successful. The final gig was held in on 4th December 1982, with the Yetties as the main act. A Yetties sticker can still be seen on a window in the barn.
After the closure Len took the downstairs seats out and gave the theatre over to one of the loves of his life – his chickens. They had a free run of the place and an outside enclosure that Len had constructed. The ‘upper circle,’ complete with all the seats and benches was initially ideal chicken territory. Inevitably, however, the inside of the barn started to deteriorate.
The closure of the club had been a great sadness to Len and it seems poignant that he died just four weeks after the closure of the club, on 31st December 1982. He was 65. Mark took over the running of the farm.
The barn soon after chickens had taken it over. Early January 1983
For a further six years the chickens had the run of the theatre and the deepening layers of chicken mess, particularly on the upstairs seats, became an ideal habitat for rats which infested the building. So Mark and his new partner Alice Nuttgens cleared out the building completely, removing the scaffolding and upstairs seats, and large mounds of chicken dung.
Following the untimely death of Mark in 2003 at the age of 51, Alice retained the use of the land and outbuildings and now runs it as a farm and saddlery. Horses occupy the barn. Len’s grandsons Keir and Luke own the bungalow, and Keir is considering relocating from Bristol to live there.
In recent years there have been some private musical events at the farm, and in the summer of 2006 Eliza Carthy, Martin Carthy’s daughter, performed there. Instead of performing as expected from a stage, she thrilled the partygoers by playing her fiddle around a bonfire in an evening of pure atmosphere, in the tradition of camp fire parties started many years before in Len and Margaret’s time.
