By Neil Rees with thanks to David Darvell for this story
Val Biro
Balint Stephen (known as Val Biro) was born in 1921 in Budapest, Hungary. In 1939, before war broke out, he came to England to study art, and enrolled at the Central School of Art in London, and slowly his English improved. He graduated in 1942, and in 1945 he married Vivien Woolley.
Illustrator
Val Biro went freelance as a commercial artist and illustrator. He designed record covers and book jacket covers. He completed about 4,000 illustrations and he illustrated for the Radio Times for about 21 years.
Coming to Chesham
Mr and Mrs Biro moved to Chesham in the 1950s. In 1959, they bought Germains House in Fullers Hill. They kept a beautiful garden, which they sometimes opened to the public. Val Biro loved Chesham and got involved in the local community. As a bit of a Chesham celebrity, he was in demand as a speaker, to open events and to judge competitions.
Chesham Society
On August 7, 1957 Val Biro hosted a meeting at his house, for local people concerned about plans to demolish local historic buildings for road widening. Out of that, the Chesham Society was formed and Val Biro became the Secretary, and hosted the AGMs at his house. In 1961 he suggested planting trees across in the town, and in the park to shield the park for a proposed relief road. The first of 50 new trees were planted in April 1963.
Town Hall
In 1962 there was a dispute about Chesham Town Hall, and whether or not to demolish it in order to allow more traffic through Market Square. The Chesham Society wanted it repaired and restored, and Val Biro drew a picture of how he dreamt that a restored Chesham Town Hall might look. In February 1962, at a meeting about it Val Biro said “Chesham is remarkably old, and what amazes me is how people seem to dislike their town, I love it. Do your want to make another suburban town of it it?” However, in 1964 the Town Hall was demolished to make way for traffic in Market Square (although it was subsequently pedestrianised).
Entering Politics
In 1966, Val Biro stood for Chesham Urban District Council and was elected to represent the Ratepayers’ Association. He joined the Town Planning Committee to help influence local planning decisions. Working with his friend Arnold Baines, he helped to get a number of places listed as historical buildings to save them from demolition. In 1969 he fought to save the Chesham branch railway line, which was then under threat of closure.
Pony and Trap
In 1960 he sold his modern car because it was unreliable and kept breaking down. In desperation he bought a pony and trap. In April 1962 Val Biro took part in the MGM film “The Password is Courage” starring Dirk Bogarde. Whielden Street in Amersham and Church Street in Chesham were turned into places in Poland under German occupation. Val Biro, dressed as a Polish refugee rode in his horse-drawn trap down Church Street, Chesham and is seen in the background of the film.
Gumdrop
In 1960, Val Biro saw an old blue 1927 Austin Clifton 12/4 car for sale outside a garage. He decided to buy it. Mrs Biro christened the car Gumdrop. He restored the car with parts from vintage car clubs. The car itself became a local celebrity and took part in many local events. Later Val Biro also bought a modern Mini for his wife, which he also drove when it was raining.
Gumdrop Books
Val was approached by Brockhampton Press to write and illustrate a book of his own. So, he decided to write a children’s book about Gumdrop. His first book was published in September 1966, called “Gumdrop: The Adventures of a Vintage Car”. A second book followed in October 1967 called “Gumdrop and the Farmer’s Friend”, which featured his friend Mr Robin Brazil of Amersham and his traction engine. A third book followed in November 1968 called “Gumdrop and the Rally” which had Gumdrop taking part in a rally starting at the Red Lion in Chesham and finishing in Hyde Heath, which featured Val Biro’s Chesham friend Mr Woodley.
Discovering Chesham
In 1968 Val Biro and Arnold Baines wrote a book called “Discovering Chesham”, which was a walking tour illustrated with sketches by Val Biro. This was published by Shire Books in their “Discovering” series. Shire Books was based in Princes Risborough, and later Tring. Discovering Chesham was number 34 in the series and sold for 3/6.
Gumdrop on the Telly
In April 1969, the BBC came to Chesham to film Gumdrop and Val Biro. This was shown on Playschool from May 12th to 16th, 1969 when the BBC did a week of his stories. This inspired him to wrote his fourth book called “Gumdrop on the Move” which was published in October 1969. This tells the story of Gumdrop being rescued by a vintage car fanatic called Mr Josiah Oldcastle, who Val Biro modelled on himself. As the books became more popular Val Biro and Gumdrop would visit schools, bookstores and libraries around the country to the delight of his young fans. Eventually he produced 37 Gumdrop books.
Moving to Amersham
In 1970, Val Biro resigned from Chesham Council and the Chesham Society. He and his wife Vivien divorced, and he sold their Chesham house. Val Biro remarried to Marie-Louise Ellaway, and they moved to 95 High Street, in old Amersham. After this, he got involved in Amersham instead of Chesham.
Leaving Bucks
On Thursday May 16, 1985 Mr and Mrs Biro left Bucks altogether and moved to Bosham near Chichester in West Sussex. Val Biro died there in 2014 aged 92.
