Our programme of photograph displays continues in the Wychwoods Library in Milton. We aim to change the theme regularly throughout the year. In doing so, we will be hoping to demonstrate the huge variety and breadth of subjects to be found in our archive.
Details of the Milton under Wychwood Library opening times are here
Your Thoughts?
We would welcome your feedback and comments – and especially would like to hear from you if you recognise individuals in our photo displays, or have any stories or memories relating to any particular image
Here is a snippet from one of our many Oral History audio files. In it, former 1920s Shipton Court resident Dorothy “Dor” Thomson tells the apocryphal tale of Mr Samuda and his Model T Ford.
Catherine “Bay” Thomson and her first child Dorothy, known as “Dor”
Left to Right: Siblings “Dor”, David and Joan Thomson
Dorothy Thomson with Mary McNeill 2004
Transcript
“Mr Samuda was a great character who at that time lived at Bruern Abbey, and he was well known to all of us because he was a gentleman that always drove about in a cart, a sort of dog-cart with a cob, a nice smart cob, and to everybody’s surprise – it was very early in the twenties – he suddenly bought a T-model Ford which was really quite adventurous ‘cos he was quite an elderly gentlemen at that time. And his stud groom whose name was Tustain was absolutely horrified at this. However, Tustain was told that he had to learn to drive this terrible thing.
And they drove around the roads, the two of them – they could both drive it- and the story went around (I don’t know how true it was) that one day Mr Samuda was driving, and he’d had enough, he got rather bored with it, and he said to Tustain as they were bowling along the road “I’ve had enough of this Tustain, now you can take over”.
And in the old days of course, with carriages, you just passed over the reins to the other man. Well when you’re driving a car it’s not quite as simple as that, so the two of them had to cross over while. – it never occurred to them to stop the car meantime – they had to cross over and fortunately it was a straight road and fortunately they survived, but this story went round the locality for quite some months.”
The Full Interview
In this set of reminiscences, Dororothy Thomson recalls many details and anecdotes from her life as child and growing up at Shipton Court. The 2004 WLHS Journal No 19 [ available here ] contains many excerpts from these memoirs, as well as a summary of her life during and after her time at Shipton Court.
Here is an article written to accompany an exhibition of photographs currently on show in the Wychwoods Library in Milton, depicting local examples of corrugated iron.
Corrugated iron, sometimes affectionately referred to as “wriggly tin”, once ruled the world as a cladding material for many kinds of building: housing, factories, workshops, schools, churches, chapels, barns, and all types of farm buildings. Its ease of use, durability, and speed of construction were all factors in its success all over the globe.
It is not surprising to find that there were many interesting examples of buildings in corrugated iron across the Wychwoods, though most have now disappeared.
Our Wychwoods Library exhibition celebrates some fascinating examples of this versatile building material in use.
When to Visit
Details of the Wychwoods Library in Milton opening times are here
Among the many photographs scanned by the Society photo scanning group, was a picture of a village outing, for which no information was (or could be) supplied at the time of the scan.
We noticed that there is a similar image which Burford Tolsey Museum and Archive posted on Facebook, but also with no information about its subject matter!
We felt it should be identifiable from that distinctive bit of architecture in the background, but we could not relate it to anything local that we knew.
However, with the aid of Google Lens we were able to identify the location of this photo as ….. Windsor Castle!
Here is another photo which shows the lodge and the distinctive brick wall also visible in the photograph.
So, we know that our photo was taken just beside Datchet Gate Lodge, close to Windsor and Eton Riverside railway station. The lodge was built circa 1820-30, and is grade II listed.
Our investigations showed that outings to Windsor Castle were popular in the Edwardian period. There were also the annual Royal Windsor flower shows, started in 1892, which meant that some parts of the castle grounds were opened up, and which may have been a cause of many outings.
Though we still have no details of this group, or indeed have not researched into any of the names, it is to be hoped that one day we will know more. However, the use of AI and image recognition technology is likely to be of growing help to us in the near future.
To complement our latest photo-sampler exhibition in the The Wychwoods Library in Milton, here we revisit a few recent and historic weather events courtesy of WLHS members and other contributors locally.
Shipton in the Snow
First-off, we were pleased to find this superb aerial view of Shipton under Wychwood created by Hamish Fenton, which forms part of his library of Shipton images.
From around 2am on Dec 10th 2017, around 6 inches of snow had fallen with temperatures around freezing. Trees heavily loaded with snow brought powerlines down resulting in no electricity for most of the village and some neighbouring areas.
In Jim Pearse’s article ( here), he explains the abandoned benefits of the old ridge and furrow system. The width of modern machinery – drills, sprayers and combines – causes difficulties on ridge and furrowed land. They hit the ridges too hard and miss the furrows. Jim tells us this is the main reason for the modern levelling of these fields.
Ridge and furrow in the Evenlode valley looking south from the Ascott Road near Shipton. Ridge and furrow often shows up clearly in frost or snow (as here), or in the early morning or late evening in oblique, low sunlight.
But ridge and furrow has an advantage on grassland since, after prolonged heavy rain, a flat field will be waterlogged whilst furrows channel away all the excess water allowing the ridges to dry more rapidly. We witness the effects in recent years, and this year included, of prolonged rain on fields locally.
Another Discovery
Here [ Link ] was another contribution from local resident Ian Sanders. Again, the arrival of a dusting of snow can reveal hitherto invisible lines in the landscape.
Old course of the Evenlode from Shipton bridge
On Sunday 24th January 2021 the snow came, transforming the landscape, and revealed a watercourse running across the field to the left of the Evenlode as you look northwards from the bridge.
Ian tells us that if we compare this to the 1830 map of the area, we see that the river did not run straight to the bridge as now, but meandered across this field in very much the same pattern as the watercourse that shows up in this snowy scene.
If this watercourse is in fact the old course of the river, then it confirms the accuracy of the 1830 map.
Weather Related Features – The Wychwood Magazine
Readers of The Wychwood magazine are regularly updated by the weather reports of local meteorological expert John Miskin. Examples of his reports can be found here, and here.
In his 2018 article “Let’s Talk About the Weather” , John mentions particularly the winter of 1981/2. This winter features also in a couple of the images in our January 2024 library display.
Joey out for his walk in January 1982 in Ascott Road
Large digger from local quarry in Shipton High Street. Spent days clearing snow in January 1982 from Chipping Norton road and then the village roads
John tells us that 1981/2 was particularly hit by snow, when over 40cm of snow fell in December and January. It was on the night of the 12/13th January 1982 that he recorded the lowest temperature of -20.7°C (-5.2°F). In fact, it is possible that the temperature could have been as low as -22°C in the frost hollow 450 metres on the Ascott Road heading away from Shipton.
The thermometer reading from the night of 12th/13th January 1982
The maximum temperature on the 13th was only -9.8°C (14.3°F) after a particularly heavy snowfall and under clear skies.
Here are some images of winter 1982 in and around Shipton from John’s collection
Near the tennis courtsChurch View Lane Burford Road A361The Red Horse – now the Wychwood InnChurch Walk
The Reverend Doctor Thomas Brookes was the Rector at Shipton from 1773 to 1814. The story of how his rather powerful portrait came to be returned to Shipton in 2013 was told in the Wychwood Volume 34 number 2 of 2013, and is also available here >>>
Recently the Wychwoods Local History Society heard from a lady called Vicky Sangster who lives in Sydney. She is a direct descendant of Dr Brookes’ daughter and wondered whether it would be possible to see his portrait while she was on holiday in England.
Vicky duly came to Shipton and, although time was tight, we arranged for her to see the portrait in the Prebendal where Dr Brookes formerly lived and St Mary’s where he preached.
The society was pleased to take up the invitation from the management of Tall Trees care home to give a local history talk for their Coffee Day on August 30th.
Society secretary John Bennett took up the offer. He prepared an informative but light-touch journey through the history of five individual Shipton landmarks, to an audience of residents and family visitors.
His presentation was well received, with plenty of interactive questions and comments from the group. At least one audience member was eager to claim connections with the Reade family of Shipton Court, and others took pleasure in recognising faces from images in John’s carefully-selected set of photographs. There was certainly no shortage of instant and positive feedback!
It was a delight to meet Lil Harmer and staff, whose commitment to the day was clear in the provision of a fine spread of cakes, fruit and copious cups of tea – creating a friendly and sociable occasion for all.
For more than four decades, from the 1960s, Margaret and Frank Ware were energetic contributors to Wychwood society and are fondly remembered by many particularly in the Wychwoods History Society and the WI.
Frank died in 2019 and now the death has been announced of Margaret (neé Williams)
Margaret was born in London in 1933. She gained a first class degree in Botany at Kings College, London and then did postgraduate research into plant biochemistry leading to a PhD in 1962.
She had a keen interest in social justice and current affairs and in 1957 she joined the Liberal party and became chair of the Dulwich Young Liberals. It was through this political interest that she met Frank Ware, whom she married in 1959.
Margaret and Frank rented in London for a couple of years, where Margaret taught, first in a grammar school and then in a technical college, but then they moved to Oxfordshire – first to Milton-under-Wychwood and then to Shipton-under-Wychwood – where Frank stood as a Liberal candidate at the 1964 general election. Margaret gave up work to support his political ambitions, and, when these were cut short, she continued to support him while he pursued an increasingly stressful and demanding career in tax and finance.
In 1965 Margaret gave birth to twins, Fiona and Alison. When they reached the age of eight, she began a 17-year voluntary career in local government – first on Shipton-under-Wychwood Parish Council, and then as an independent councillor on West Oxfordshire District Council, where she became chairman of the Recreation committee, vice-chairman of a Planning sub-committee and also served for one year as vice-chair of the entire council. For ten years she was also a governor of Burford School, which her daughters attended.
Margaret co-founded the Wychwoods Playgroup with a group of local mothers and she was instrumental in raising funds for and ensuring the building of a swimming pool at the Wychwoods primary school.
In 1981 Margaret co-founded the Wychwoods Local History Society, and subsequently edited its journal. She and Frank organised many field walks over several years, which many members of the local villages took part in. Notable finds were prehistoric flint arrowheads, medieval pottery and even fragments from a WW2 crashed aircraft.
Margaret was a member of the Shipton WI and enjoyed performing on stage in some of their pantomimes in the 90’s and early 2000’s. In one performance of a Spice Girls skit, she was Scary Spice dressed in tight fitting leopard skin leggings, and her mother, who was nearing 100 herself at the time, was not amused when shown the costume beforehand, saying, in a horrified tone, ‘You’re not going to go on stage wearing that, are you?’
Between them, Margaret and Frank also contributed significantly to the fundraising efforts for the building of the New Beaconsfield Village Hall.
Margaret and Frank shared a lifelong interest in archaeology and beginning in 1976 she was the District Council’s representative on the Oxford Archaeology Unit’s governing body. In 1992, they both began studying archaeology at Oxford University Department for Continuing Education, eventually being awarded the Oxford Diploma in Archaeology. From 1996 to 2005 Margaret served as chair of the trustees of Oxford Archaeology Unit, which by this time had become one of the three leading professional archaeological businesses in the country with a growing international reputation.
After the death of Margaret’s mother in 2005, Margaret and Frank moved to Leominster to begin a new chapter in their lives, and again got involved with the local community, joining the U3A and many interest groups.
In 2015 she became seriously ill and spent the next nine months on kidney dialysis three times a week. Remarkably, she recovered sufficiently to not need the dialysis and even to regain most of her former physical strength.
Margaret and Frank celebrated their 60th wedding anniversary in February 2019.Then Frank had a stroke in the April and passed away after only a couple of days in hospital.
On 24th June 2023 – four days before her actual birthday – Margaret threw a 90th birthday party for all her friends in Leominster. She had a heart attack on Sunday morning, 2nd July, and was admitted to hospital. She died just six days after her 90th birthday. She is survived by her two daughters, Fiona and Alison, and by four grandchildren, William, Stuart, Becky and Silvia.
Read Margaret’s artice on the society’s first 21 years here
Saturday 17 June saw committee members supporting WLHS colleague Carol Anderson and the Ascott Martyrs Educational Trust’s family and local history day at Tiddy Hall in Ascott under Wychwood.
Sample WLHS Display“The Ascott Martyrs”John Bennett (right) and David Betterton
This was an enjoyable as well as informative opportunity for visitors to discover more about their family history. A major part of the exhibition was the Trust’s amazing Martyrs Family Tree (11 metres long it contains more than 2,500 names). Also on hand was Beverley McCombs whose book ‘The Ascott Martyrs’, introduced us to their family histories.
Visitors were also regaled by Charlbury Finstock Morris with a performance which included two of the traditional dances that originated in Ascott. A Facebook clip appears here thanks to Mark Pigeon.
During a recent Wychwoods History Society talk, Chris Pickford, expert in the history of bells and bellringing, made a special mention of the bells at St Nicholas’ Church in Chadlington.
He reminded us of interesting times, when a landowner could bodily remove a village and its inhabitants to improve estate parklands. In this case we have Lord Harcourt of Nuneham Courtenay doing exactly that. In the 1760s, he demolished the church and removed its five bells.
Chris Pickford’s research – featured here on the Wychwoods History website – demonstrates in detail how those five bells, with a sixth added in 1796, are now housed in Chadlington church – a rare early example of a transferred ringing peal of bells.
St. Nicholas Church, Chadlinton
In this coronation year with bellringing very much part of the celebrations marking change, it seems apposite to think of stories such as these. There is a rich history hidden in church towers throughout the land, and particularly in the Wychwoods. Bells can be vulnerable – one thinks of the church of St. Peter and St. Paul in Deddington, where all but one of the five bells had been requisitioned by Charles I in 1643 and melted down to be made into artillery!
A less dramatic reminder of the need to look after the heritage of bells was the refurbishment and re-hanging of the bells in Shipton in 2019 – an event which brought the community together in fundraising to ensure their future.
St. Nicholas, Shipton under Wychwood
Shipton Refurbished Bell. The 3rd bell, with inscription JOHN MacVICKER TOWER CAPTAIN 1986 to 2011, was recast and returned on 19th March 2019
Those Shipton bells were worked on by the last remaining bell foundry in the UK, John Taylor and Sons in Loughborough. But moving bells around the country was not always so straightforward. The two 15th-century bells at St. Nicholas Church in Idbury would have been made on site in a casting pit. Medieval transport systems precluded such manufacturing off site.
Ascott Holy Trinity is notable. Five of its six bells were cast in 1744 by Henry Bagley III. The family is important to the history of bellfounding in our area, having established a foundry in Witney and supplying bells for towers in Fulbrook, Witney, Shilton, Westwell and Standlake.
At Fulbrook until 2003 the ring of three included treble and tenor cast in Burford by Edward Neale – of the earlier and equally important bell-founding family. Neale’s Sanctus bell dates from 1649 and is still in use. Once again, village fundraising in Fulbrook allowed a new bell frame to be installed for a ring of six. The original treble now stands in the north aisle of Burford Church – the “bellfounders’ aisle”, beside two other Neale bells.
A Fulbrook Neale Bell at Burford
A single bell one might say, can have mournful overtones. I think of the curfew bell in Gray’s Elegy tolling the knell of parting day. Perhaps also of John Donne’s “never send to know for whom the bell tolls”. This latter is a somewhat ominous expression of the interconnectedness of humankind. This is better and more joyfully expressed by the change-ringing of multiple bells, and perhaps also by the simple “Peace and good neighbourhood” message on the treble bell at Idbury, and on the fourth of Chadlington’s peal of six.
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