During the summer I spent a Sunday afternoon in Amersham, a small town in the Buckinghamshire countryside. 

This small park, in the centre of town, had a wonderful display of summer flowers.

In the High Street (the main street running through the centre of the town) there was a wonderful display of vintage motor 

cars and even a steam engine. 

All the cars were owned by individuals, who had driven them to Amersham to be displayed at the festival.

At various times during the day there were displays of Morris dancing. 

This is a traditional form of country dancing in England. 

In the past men performed Morris dances, but  in this picture you can just see a small group of women 

(all wearing the same costumes) who later performed their own different style of dance.

Amersham is a pretty place, with many fine old houses. 

The pubs were looking their best too, with some wonderful floral displays.

In the High Street there is a local museum with a small display about lace. 

Amersham is in the heart of the Buckinghamshire lace-making area and is proud of its heritage. 

There is a fine collection of bobbins on this pillow.

This is an interesting example of the local black lace. 

Black lace tended to rot more easily than white (due to the dyes used at the time), so examples in good condition are

 hard to find. 

'Mourning wear' that is mentioned above, refers to the custom of wearing black clothes for a set period after the death

 of a family member. 

The Victorians had strict rules as to how long a period of time black should be worn, depending on whether it was a close

 or distant relative who had died. Queen Victoria however, wore black for many, many years after the death of Prince

 Albert and so this made black more fashionable in general and so led to large amounts of black lace being produced

 at this time.

Another local industry in the past was straw-making. Here you can see some of the implements for pressing the straw into the 

correct shape for making hats. You can see an example of a summer 'boater' hat in the picture. 

This is a general display of English Midlands lace from Buckinghamshire and Bedfordshire. 

It includes a handkerchief in the Bedfordshire Maltese style and a wide variety of edgings for which this area was famous.