High Wycombe
| High Wycombe | |||
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| Coordinates | 51 ° 38 ′ N , 0 ° 45 ′ W | ||
| OS National Grid | SU867929 | ||
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| Residents | 92,300 (as of: 2001) | ||
| administration | |||
| Post town | High Wycombe | ||
| ZIP code section | HP10 - HP15 | ||
| prefix | 01494 | ||
| Part of the country | England | ||
| region | South East England | ||
| Unitary authority | Buckinghamshire | ||
| British Parliament | Wycombe | ||
The English town of High Wycombe [ haɪ ˈwɪkəm ] is located in southern Buckinghamshire , 50 kilometers west of London . The city has with its suburbs 93,000 inhabitants (2004) and was the administrative seat of the former Wycombe district .
Cityscape
High Wycombe is very different from the nearby metropolitan area of London . The city lies in the rolling landscape of the Chiltern Hills and is surrounded by a nature reserve . The city center was modernized in the 1960s. The old houses and narrow streets were replaced by large office, park and shopping centers. A number of modern buildings from the 1990s, together with several parks, shape the cityscape today. A cultural attraction is the Wycombe Swan Theater, which opened in 1992 and is now one of the most prestigious in Great Britain. The River Wye runs through the city.
economy
The city is famous for its furniture industry. By World War II, High Wycombe was where most of the chairs in Europe were made. Although the importance of this industry has been declining for several decades, it still plays an important role. The Wycombe Wanderers soccer team is nicknamed The Chairboys , which, like many other teams, borrows from the local industry.
military
The RAF Station High Wycombe ( RAF High Wycombe for short ) was the seat of the bomber command of the Royal Air Force (RAF) from 1940 to 1968 and has been the seat of the entire RAF headquarters since 1968 . During World War II , High Wycombe commanded the bombing of Germany .
From May 1942 to July 1945, the High Command of the 8th Air Force ( Mighty Eight ) was housed in the local girls' school. The site formally became the headquarters of the 8th Air Force on February 22, 1944 , and from there it coordinated its attacks in Europe.
The RAF is one of the city's largest employers. Almost all missions by the British Air Force as well as operations by aircraft of the Royal Navy and the British Army are coordinated from there.
traffic
High Wycombe is on the A40 road and the M40 motorway from London to Birmingham . There is also a rail link connecting High Wycombe with London every 20 minutes and with Birmingham every hour. On the outskirts is Wycombe Air Park - an airfield with a concrete runway for small and medium-sized aircraft.
Education
High Wycombe is home to the main campus of the state-owned Buckinghamshire New University , also known as Bucks College for short.
Exchange programs with Germany
The town of Kelkheim on the outskirts of Frankfurt am Main , also known for its furniture industry, is twin town of High Wycombe. There are also internal exchange programs with the city of Flensburg , the Ratsgymnasium Osnabrück , the Design Factory International and an Erasmus exchange program with the Philipps University of Marburg and the University of Osnabrück . The MBA program at Buckinghamshire New University is offered in cooperation with the Osnabrück University of Applied Sciences .
Sports
The football club Wycombe Wanderers and until 2014 the rugby union club London Wasps play at Adams Park .
sons and daughters of the town
chronologically
- Mike Westbrook (* 1936), jazz musician
- Terry Cox (* 1937), jazz musician
- Jean Shrimpton (born 1942), model
- Thomas Francis Anthony Devine (born 1956), footballer
- Glen Goldsmith (born 1965), singer and songwriter
- Charlotte Roche (* 1978), presenter, producer, singer, actress, speaker and author living in Germany
- Robbie Kerr (* 1979), racing driver
- Max Porter (* 1981), writer
- Aaron Taylor-Johnson (born 1990), actor
- Leigh-Anne Pinnock (* 1991), member of the British girl band Little Mix
The two-time British Prime Minister Benjamin Disraeli (1804-1881) lived from 1848 until his death in 1881 in a suburb of High Wycombe and was buried there.