Chiltern Hundreds, Leon Brittan. Letterbox Hybrid
Chiltern Hundreds, Leon Brittan.
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Difficulty:
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Terrain:
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Size: 
(small)
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The Chiltern Hundreds is an "office under the Crown" in the United Kingdom, appointment to which disqualifies its holder from sitting as a Member of Parliament. It is used to allow MPs to resign their seats, a move which is formally prohibited. A number of offices have been used for this purpose, but only the Chiltern Hundreds and the Manor of Northstead are used today. This is a exploration of a few of those ‘hundreds’ with some of the villans as a backdrop.
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Leon Brittan, PC, QC, and a former Conservative MP and former member of the European Commission. He ‘took to the hills’ on 31 Dec 1988 taking Manor of Northstead (somewhat close to his old parliamentary seats )
Educated at Trinity College, Cambridge, he rose to be President of the Cambridge Union. Elected to parliament in 1974, and became an opposition spokesman in 1976. By 1983 he was Secretary of State for the Home Department and then moved to Secretary of State for Trade and Industry. He resigned over the Westland affair. While the Defence Secretary Michael Heseltine favoured a European solution, Thatcher and Leon Brittan wanted to see Westland merge with Sikorsky, an American company.
In January 1986 during a Cabinet meeting Heseltine walked out of Downing Street and announced his resignation to the assembled media, blaming Thatcher's intransigence. The crisis refused to die down and two weeks later Leon Brittan was force to resign when it emerged that he leaked a government law officer's memo which was critical of Heseltine.
He was made a commissioner at the European Commission in 1989, resigning as MP at this time, and became vice-president. He was created Baron Brittan of Spennithorne in 1999 |
This small series of letterbox caches can be attempted as a circular walk. I suggest that Ibstone Common opposite The Fox pub makes an ideal starting point aiming for The Crown Inn at Pishill as an excellent half way stop. You will need it.
All of these cache containers are set adjacent to the footpath, whether its The Chiltern Way, The Oxfordshire Way, or just the common and garden bridleways and footpaths of the return. The location of the caches is very public and please take care to replace them in exactly the way that you found them. This may involve a degree of judgment and expertise. Please step away and review how you have replaced it.
Each cache contains a small log book and rubber stamp. Please leave your stamp mark in the book and remember to stamp your own book. Please do not take the provided stamp away. The may be room for the smallest of TBs' but not much else |
In a hollow surrounded by trees,
This moss covered remnant all but sees,
The wreckage of rotating blades,
Grounded in this sheltered glade.
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Additional Hints
(No hints available.)