Cookham is a village and civil parish in the north-easternmost corner of Berkshire in England, on the River Thames. It lies 2 miles north of Maidenhead close to the border with Buckinghamshire. It has a population of 5,519.
Motley Crew
Half a century ago, nine young men from diverse backgrounds were assembled as a group.
For about a year they were in residence at a 19th century Baronial Mansion in Cookham, a village on the banks of the Thames between London and Oxford.
Their backgrounds ranged from Harrow followed by Trinity College, Oxford, to a stint with The Royal Horse Guards, to a double Phd in Medieval Literature and Linguistics, to a stevedore from Liverpool, a Hungarian refugee mathematician, a Motocross Bike Rider, a reconnaissance pilot formerly with The King's African Rifles, and a former Scottish Dominee recently resigned from the Kirk.
The selection and recruitment methods that resulted in this wildly unlikely gang being assembled were never explained - and I fear lost forever in in some dusty archive.
Moor Hall has since been sold, passing into private hands and is now a conference center for hire, as well as the home of The Chartered Institute of Marketing.
Red Kite
Red Kite over Moor Hall, Cookham, Berkshire. The great raptors are officially a protected species having been practically wiped out in Britain. A few pairs survived in mid Wales and over 50 years or more started to grow in numbers. They are now being re-introduced to parts of England - including this area of the Chilterns near Maidenhead