Hmmm, found the camp and the chapel, and I'm pretty sure I've located the town (begins with T), but it's not eight miles east of the chapel - it's eight miles east of the first-mentioned village. Anyone else confused by this?
Anyway, a good, trickier puzzle this blue-sky morn; been up early as couldn't sleep in this weather...
Some of the distances in this week's puzzle appear to be a bit suspect. From the town to the village where the conductor was born is nearer to 9 miles and it is not in the same county as the town although historically it might have been. The man himself formed his own 'band' and 'backing group' At the 1973 Proms he conducted a composer's most famous piece of work which after first being performed was worked on for 13 more years to achieve the version we now know.
I agree with those answers, GG. John Fell, appointed bishop of nearby Oxford in 1676, was educated in Thame. Richard Hickox was born in Stokenchurch, seven miles (or so) SSE of Thame.
On the subject of distances . . . the puzzle stated:- "When I leave the town, . . . I miss a second village, seven miles south-southeast, birthplace of a musician."
Stokenchurch appears to be 9+ miles by road from Thame.
Perhaps Navigationally Challenged Friend was on board this week?
On a map I measure Stokenchurch as pretty much 7 miles from Thame. Since he didn't go there, the 'as the crow flies' distance seems fair enough. Sat nav reckons 8.5 miles (shortest distance) to drive from one to the other.
The distance travelled to Chalgrove seemed more suspect, the straight-line distance also looks to be about 7 miles. However, the sat nav agrees with his 10 miles by road.
I didn't bother to measure the distance to Chalgrove since the clue "site of a battle fought one June 18" sent me immediately scurrying for the list of English Civil War encounters. The only question I had regarding the airfield and the Me 109 was, when does a fuselage become an aircraft - a bit like when playing golf - when does a stone in a bunker become a grain of sand? Thank you for reminding me - I had forgotten that "as the crow flies" is probably good to use to check on the distance of Mr Fautley's routes between locations.