Philip Cowlishaw Collection

A collection of photos and letters relating to the Cowlishaw family of Fenny Stratford.
They were famous for their shops offering drapery, dressmaking and fashion.
They were key members of the Bletchley Chamber of Trade, and also helped to organise events such as the annual dance at Wilton Hall in the years following World War Two.
The collection includes letters written to Douglas Cowlishaw while he was serving with the RAF abroad during World War Two, and they paint a picture of what life was like for those living in Fenny Stratford during the early 1940s – food shortages, clothes coupons, bombers flying over at night, not to mention huge delays in sending and receiving letters from servicemen abroad.