Great Train Robbery: Leatherslade Farm photos after gang’s Bucks safehouse was found by police

One of the most infamous crimes in British history took place on an unassuming railway bridge in Buckinghamshire in the early hours of August 8, 1963.

The Great Train Robbery saw a gang of 15 men target a Royal Mail train carrying £2.6 million (£56 million on today’s money) after bringing it to a stop by tampering with signals near Bridego Railway Bridge, close to Ledburn and Mentmore in the east of the county.

After train driver Jack Mills was clobbered with a metal bar, the gang – led by Bruce Reynolds and including men such as Ronnie Biggs and Buster Edwards – grabbed the cash and made their getaway into the Buckinghamshire night.

Read More: The memorial marking spot children were made to burn father alive

Their destination was Leatherslade Farm, 27 miles away and sitting near the Aylesbury Vale villages of Oakley and Brill.

While at the farmhouse the gang divided up the money between themselves – with ‘drinks’ (smaller sums of money) for accomplices.

Infamously the Great Train Robbers also played the board game Monopoly, supposedly with real money taken during their heist.

Realising the police were hunting for them the group fled the farm and paid someone to burn it down to destroy the evidence.

The planned arson never took place however and the farm was described as ‘one big clue’ after it was discovered a few days later.

Some items from inside it, including the Monopoly set, are on display at the Thames Valley Police museum.

The discovery helped police track down the robbers, with some fleeing abroad and most being sentenced at Aylesbury Crown Court.

BuckinghamshireLive has gone through the archives to find these photos of the infamous farmhouse after it was found by police in mid-August 1963.

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