Agriculture and Manufacturing

… from the Wychwoods Albums Archive

After a rough shoot, about 1910

Thomas Alfred Groves (left) with his dog Nero and Richard Hartley (right) stand in the timber yard with Alfred Groves looking on. In 1982 the Hartleys celebrated a century of farming in Milton. Alfred and his son Thomas can also be seen in the photograph here, taken fifty years before.

Haymaking, 1921

Joseph Griffin (standing in line with the elevator) with his workforce at Hill Farm, Bruern. The names of the men are nearly all known – most are from Milton, some lived on the farm and the rest are from Fifield.

Livestock auction, Shipton, 1930s.

Auctions were held regularly by Tayler and Fletcher in the back yard of The Crown. These are Oxford Downs coming under the hammer – a popular local breed which superseded the Cotswold.

Cotswold rams, 1942

Mervyn Griffin, Joseph’s son, with four Cotswold shearling rams. At their first shearing (in their second year) each fleece would weigh about 20 lbs. The breed was the basis of the wealth of the Cotswold Hills over many centuries, but it almost disappeared after the Second World War when the preference was for a smaller animal with a better quality fleece.

Butcher's shop in Upper High Street, Shipton, 1920s
Butcher’s shop in Upper High Street, Shipton, 1920s

The Lamb Inn, which became a pub in the late nineteenth century, was run by Dick Avery and his wife until the late 1950s. The butcher’s shop was in the part which is now the bar, where the meat hooks can still be seen outside. Standing with Dick Avery is Horace Barnes.

The United Woodworking Co. tillyard, about 1928

Shipton has had three firms making wooden cash tills. In 1926, this till yard in Station Road had been in business for a year when Mrs Phyllis Smith was employed to start a proper system of book-keeping and to manage the office. After the Second World War she and her husband, Frederick Smith (left foreground) started the Wychwood Manufacturing Co. for the exporting of tills and drawers. The third company, the Oxon. Cash Register Co., operated from a site in Upper High Street which later became Shipton cinema. The last of the tillyards, the Wychwood Manufacturing Co., closed in about 1975.


Wychwoods Album Menu

This is one of series of snapshots taken from the Society’s publications “The Wychwoods Albums”. These publications from the mid to late 1980s feature a variety of images of the Wychwoods, all of which deserve a place in our expanding online archive.

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The Shaven Crown | Shipton Village Panorama | Shipton Post Office 1908/10 | Shipton Views Early 1900s | Aspects of Milton 1900s-1930s| Milton & Shipton Churches | Early 20th Century School Life | Shipton Court in 1895-1910 | Road and Rail | Matthews Mill, Shipton | Alfred Groves – a Historic Family Business | Vintage Transport and Deliveries | Agriculture and Manufacturing | Some Local Wychwoods Characters| Wychwoods Group Activities| Wychwoods Album Home