Population 935 (2011 Census) Civil parish Halton Country England Shire county Buckinghamshire District Aylesbury Vale UK parliament constituency Aylesbury | OS grid reference SP874101 Region South East Sovereign state United Kingdom Local time Wednesday 9:05 AM Dialling code 01296 | |
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Weather 8°C, Wind W at 5 km/h, 96% Humidity | ||
Halton is a small village and civil parish in the Aylesbury Vale district of Buckinghamshire, England and is located about 2 miles north of Wendover & 5 miles southeast of Aylesbury.
Contents
Map of Halton, UK
Geography
Halton lies just outside the Metropolitan Green Belt so it has not been protected from postwar housing development. At its southern end it is contiguous with Wendover, but it retains a separate, older village centre anchored by St Michael & All Angels Church and a community hall. There is a separate, modern Catholic Church. The Parish also includes RAF Halton, a Royal Air Force (RAF) training station with a grass airfield used for glider training. Most modern housing in the village was built for RAF personnel, but some is now in private hands. A small shop mainly serves the RAF community. The base had a large military hospital employing hundreds of people, which was closed in 1995. The buildings remained until 2007/8 when they were demolished for the Princess Mary Gate housing scheme on land between Halton and Wendover.
In the Chiltern Hills above Halton is Halton House, a country house in the style of a French chateau, which is currently used as the main Officers' Mess for RAF Halton. It was originally built for Alfred de Rothschild in 1880. The RAF demolished its domed winter garden to build an accommodation block.
Facilities
Halton Community Combined School is a mixed primary school, which takes children from the age of four through to the age of eleven. The school has 91 pupils and was recently (Mar 2011) judged 'excellent' by OFSTED, despite having 70% of its pupils from Forces backgrounds who move frequently. The Halton Tennis Centre has a small number of future athletes combining competitive tennis training with home schooling. The Centre was formerly run by the RAF, who still train there.
Transportation
The nearest railway station is Wendover which is on the Chiltern Railways line between Aylesbury and London Marylebone (via Amersham). Journey times to London are under an hour.
The bus route 50 served by Arriva runs from and to the Main Point at RAF Halton.
The Wendover arm of the Grand Union Canal flows through Halton on its course from Wendover to join the Grand Union beside Marsworth lock near Tring.
Popular culture
Halton gave its name to the Handley Page Halton, a cargo version of the Halifax bomber.