The Story of Nellie Davis, A Chilterns Straw Plaiter

by Vanessa Worship

Another fascinating account of a local crafts person, uncovered by Vanessa Worship, one of the volunteers for Woodlanders’ Lives and Landscapes.

n March 2020, Veronica Main wrote a fascinating blog, entitled ‘Straw Plaiting in the Chilterns’, for the Woodlanders’ Lives and Landscapes project, in which she invited volunteers to help research the lives of straw plaiters in the north Chiltern villages.

I already knew about the impact of straw plaiting on my home town of Chesham so when I heard from Lesley Hoskins, Research Associate for the Woodlanders Project, that there was a recording of an interview with Mrs Nellie Keen, née Davis, of Buckland in the British Library, I couldn’t wait to listen to it and then to try and find out more about Nellie from primary sources.- Vanessa Worship