FORGOTTEN money sitting in a bank since before the war has helped purchase riverside land for villagers.

Spade Oak Wharf, at the end of Coldmoorholm Lane, Bourne End, was bought by the Thameside Preservation Trust for £10,000.

John Lunnon, former chairman of the Thameside Preservation Trust, said: "Spade Oak Wharf has been the first acquisition, now we must keep up the pressure on making more riverside land available for the public."

An appeal was launched in 1937 by Sir Henry Slessor, a resident of Abbotsbrook, to buy 62 acres of riverside land between Bourne End and Marlow.

But at the outbreak of the Second World War, Sir Henry handed the outstanding fund money to Buckinghamshire County Council to hold as a contribution to purchase the land.

It totalled at £684 in three per cent Defence bonds and two cheques for £36 and £156 from the Upper Thames Sailing Club.

In 1981 Bourne End Residents Association found details of the 1937 appeal and three years later, the Thameside Preservation Trust was formed with the fund totalling at £10,800.

The site will offer 70 yards of river frontage and plans are underway for seating, grass cutting and tree planting.