Chinnor

Chinnor calls itself a village the way a man with a home gym calls himself a bit of a runner: technically, and with great conviction. The Chiltern escarpment looks down on it from one side while the post-war estates spread out across the other, as if an ancient spring line had been asked to make room for everyone with a driveway and a lawnmower. Its rugby club plays in the second tier of English rugby and does it from Thame, so even Chinnor's ambitions commute. Adam Clayton was born here and ended up playing bass in U2, which gives the village at least one export louder than its silver band.