Liz Kahn reminisces about growing up in Bannits’ House as featured in the movie Finding your Feet
“My parents Maxine and Geoffrey Woolfe lived in High Moor, Chalfont Lane from 1931 to 1961- (now Bannits’ House). Our neighbours were the Stanleys and the Tessiers. I would cycle everywhere with a corgi dog in my bicycle basket!
High Moor had three floors with three attic rooms at the top and four other bedrooms. The ground floor had living, dining rooms and a very old-fashioned kitchen (with a hatch) and scullery. The hallway led out to a porch where we often ate out at night in warm weather. The garden consisted of two and a half acres. We put a grass tennis court, a bit rough, on the upper lawn and also played bowls on it. There was a lower lawn and then behind trees were the hens and unfortunately visiting foxes often meant dead chickens and scattered feathers! Behind the property was open farmland and more poultry and I became adept at crowing to local cocks.
There was a wall at the back of the house where I could hit tennis balls. Aged 15 I was offered sponsorship.
My father was a lawyer and my brother and I were told to be quiet when he was working. I remember my father was in the Defence of John le Carre’s father, David Cornwall – a charmer, who came to lunch and also went to prison. My parents entertained extensively and the house was a great backdrop.
My brother John was car mad and had a wide variety of cars in the front drive. When they broke down at 7am I would be called out to push until they started.
During World War my brother and I were sent to America and the house was let for the war years even though we returned in 1943.