Introduction John Madden Chairman: Bartons’ History Group Jig, Geoff and Giant Redwoods - not to mention a hanged sheep-thief and an incen - diary bomb. Intrigued? Then read on, and all will be revealed! This, the seventh issue of Bygone Bartons, features a piece on the history of our near neighbour Gagingwell by the Chair of the Enstone History Group, Carol Geare - also an acclaimed travel writer - as well as several accounts of life in the Bartons in days gone by. We have also started a project to collect interesting artifacts found or preserved in and around the Bartons. These will be displayed at a future History Group event yet to be arranged, but dotted around this booklet are a few objects already earmarked. If you have, or know of, any other items which you think would be of interest, please do get in touch with us. Once again I hope you enjoy reading this. n o i t c u
An old print showing Gagingwell Cross d o r t n I
1 100 Objects from the Bartons
A pair of scales from the Farley shop, Mill Lane. Probably letter scales, although it was never a post office, but possibly they sold postage when PO closed. Given to BHG by a descendent of Miss Farley. Farleys came to MB c1912 from Buckinghamshire. s t c e j b O
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0 ... and a pair of WW1 medals given to Private Horace Percy Stewart, No. 1 12477, The Oxfordshire and Buckinghamshire Light Infantry, 6th Battalion. Killed in action 3 Sept 1916, aged 21. 2 The Giants among us Barbara Hill I think that I shall never see A poem lovely as a tree A tree whose hungry mouth is prest Against the earth’s sweet flowing breast A tree that looks at God all day And lifts her lovely arms to pray A tree that may in Summer wear A nest of robins in her hair Upon whose bosom snow has lain Who intimately lives with rain Poems are made by fools like me But only God can make a tree Poem by Joyce Kilmer
Whether you are visiting Barton Abbey on the annual Open Garden day or simply walking or driving past, you can hardly fail to notice the imposing avenue of trees lining the drive to the Abbey. In the 1920s and 1930s the avenue of trees stretched all along the drive as can be seen below. s d o o w d e R
Some of the trees have been removed so the view nowadays is a little different. t
These trees are known as Wellingtonias although more properly Giant Redwoods. n a The botanical name is Sequoiadendron giganteum and they originate in the Sierra i G
Nevada in California. The trees are noted for their immense girth, often over 100 feet in circumference, e h
swollen at the base and covered in two feet of thick red-brown spongy bark. They T are known by some people as ‘Punch Trees’ as they can be punched with relative
3 impunity. Redwoods are among the world’s most famous and best known trees. They are the tallest in the world and the quickest growing conifers in North America. The Wellingtonia is found growing naturally in 70 groves on the western slopes of the Sierra Nevada . Some of the specimens growing there are thought to be over 3,500 years old. The largest living tree (by volume) which grows there is a giant redwood s d o o w d e R t n a i G e h T
4 called ‘General Sherman’. It is 275 feet (84 metres) tall and has a circumference at the base of 103 feet (31 metres). In mass this relates to approximately 52,500 cubic feet (1,487 cubic metres). In Great Britain the trees reach a more modest height. One of the tallest is at Castlehead in Devon at 172 feet (52.4 metres). In Benmore Botanic Garden, Argyll, Scotland there is an avenue of impressive Giant Redwoods one of which is 177 feet tall ( 54 metres). They flourish in the damp climate in the west of Scotland. General Sherman is not, however, the tallest living tree in the world. That title goes to ‘Hyperion’, a coastal redwood, Sequoia sempervirens, also growing in California, which is 379 feet tall (116 metres). Nor is General Sherman the oldest. Several Bristle cone pines (also growing in California) are known to be more than 4,000 years old and one has been dated at over 5,000 years old. Amazingly there are some clonal trees (re-growth from the same DNA that have never died) which are much older. The root system of a Norway spruce, Picea abies, growing in Sweden has been carbon-dated as 9,550 years old; in Utah, USA over 47,000 stems of quaking aspen, Populus tremuloides, all from the same rootstock, over an area of 107 acres , have been growing there for more than 80,000 years Giant Redwoods were first discovered by John Bidwell in 1841. They were introduced to the British Isles in 1853. The credit for the introduction of the Giant Redwood is usually given to William Lobb (1809-1863). Lobb was one of numerous Victorian plant collectors and first went to North America in the summer of 1849 having already collected seeds in the previous two years from South America. Lobb collected living and dried specimens of the giant redwood from Calaveros Grove on the slopes of the Sierra Nevada and brought back large quantities of seed to Veitch’s nursery in Exeter. A few months earlier, J.D Matthews had sent a small consignment home to Gourdiehill near Perth in Scotland A specimen from Matthews’ seed planted out at Glendoik in Scotland in 1860 was 118 feet tall in 1970. However , it was from Lobb’s collection that most of the original trees in Britain
were grown. Lobb’s specimens were given the name Wellingtonia gigantea by John s Lindley of the Horticultural Society after the Duke of Wellington who had died in d o
1852; the Duke of Wellington never actually saw the tree. There was some indignation o y l i from ‘across the pond’ as Dr Kellogg, the founder of the California Academy of w d m Sciences wanted to name the tree ‘Washingtonia ‘ in honour of the US first president. e a The argument was ultimately settled by the choice of the botanical name R F
Sequoiadendron giganteum t s i n v
The ‘Wellingtonias’ rapidly became extremely popular and specimens were planted a i r
a in almost every estate and large garden throughout Britain. It became something of a G
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status symbol at the time e e
It is believed that the Barton Abbey trees were planted in 1870. There are about forty h h T
T trees in total including elsewhere on the estate.The trees were measured at approxi -
5 mately 30 to 34 metres tall in 2011. There is an apocryphal account of the seeds for the Barton Abbey trees having been brought back from Canada by Solomon Stewart. It has not been possible to verify this particular story. Records show that one Solomon Stewart was born locally in 1842, the son of Thomas and Ann (née Matthews); he married Emma Barrett on 9th September 1864 at Steeple Barton church at which time he was described as an Agricultural Labourer. Solomon, together with his wife Emma and son Samuel (born in England in 1868) seems subse - quently to have moved to Canada where their daughter, Helen, was born in 1873. Records from Canada show a Solomon Stewart up to the 1916 census, in Manitoba, Alberta and Saskatchewan. It is not clear when he returned but we have a photograph of Solomon Stewart as a wedding guest and as a member of the Mission band in 1910. We believe that the Barton Abbey trees were planted around 1870 so unless Solomon posted the seeds or came back for more than one visit it does seem a little unlikely that he was responsible for bringing the Barton Abbey seeds. The other factor is that Giant Redwoods do not normally grow in Canada and they generally need to reach 150 to 200 years before they produce large quantities of viable seed. Another Solomon Stewart who was the nephew of the Solomon above was born in 1880 so would have been too young to be the originator of the seeds. Two of his sons were Sid, father of Alan, still living in the village, and William John father of Deanna Gardner (née Stewart) and her siblings most of whom still live locally. Both Alan and Deanna have fond memories of their grandfather who was a gardener at the Abbey and is said to have planted snowdrops on the bank alongside the lane in Steeple Barton so may be responsible for the wonderful displays we enjoy in early spring each s d o o w d e R t n a i G e h The Mission Band in 1910. Solomon is third from left with the notation ’(from T Canada)’, implying that he recently returned or is on a visit.
6 year. Another theory is that the saplings were supplied by the Middle Barton Grove nursery , run by the Soden family, which specialised in trees and was a thriving business at the time the trees would have been planted. The latter possibility is plausible due to the existence of a Wellingtonia tree in the paddock of the Medlar Tree which would have originally been within the nursery grounds. This tree consists of three trunks fused together, as though three saplings had been ‘heeled in’ together. Handed-down oral history tells us that they were left over from the Barton Abbey plantings. Unfortunately two of the Barton Abbey Giant Redwoods have been felled recently as they had died. Darren Bullock, Head Gardener at the Abbey, has advised that it is likely to be due to over-wet conditions ; but that still leaves us with a significant number of these magnificent trees to admire. Young saplings of Sequoiadendron giganteum have been planted to fill the spaces between the existing ‘giants’.
The Medlar Tree Wellingtonia with its three trunks. Information sources: Whence our Trees by Scott Leathart MBE, MA, FLS A Field guide to the trees of Britain and Northern Europe by Alan Mitchell Batsford Arboretum Information boards s d
National Trust o Changing Face of the Bartons by Audrey Martin o Redwoodworld.co.uk w d
Chris Edbury e R
Rosemary Wharton Bartons History Group website t n
Ancestry .co.uk a i
Darren Bullock, Head Gardener Barton Abbey G Alan Stewart e
Deanna Gardner h Jackie Wood T
7 The Bartons History Group visit the Palace of Westminster
On Monday September 4th 2017 the Palace (aka the Houses of Parliament) was honoured (?) to receive a visit from the Bartons, organised by the History Group. Robert Courts, our MP, was there to greet us, before we were taken round by the very knowledgeable guides. r e t s n i m t s e W o t t i s i Roman Plaster: Found by Richard Samuelson in his back garden, 44 South Street. v
Identified as Roman painted wall plaster by Christine Edbury, who took it to the
A Ashmolean Museum identification day, to be verified.
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n n a o l h n h a n u t t e a r i e t e a r r w . i o h n d d d f e e e e e s s s s s s r r t t The Stewart Family Deanna Jean Gardner (née Stewart) as told to Ruth Henderson The Eldest of a Family of 11 Children On the 23rd February 1942 Margaret Jean Tomlins of 29 Oakwood Road Smethwick, Birmingham married William John Stewart of Turnpike Cottage Rayford Lane Steeple Barton, at The Ackrill Memorial Church, Smethwick, Birmingham. My parents were known as Bill and Jean Stewart who lived in the bungalow by the school. My Dad married my Mum so she could come and live in a "safer place" because of the bombing of Smethwick. Mum’s family home had already had an incendiary bomb dropped on it while they were in the Anderson shelter in the garden. Grandad worked at the Scribona cake factory, this had also been bombed, the local wasps had a field day in all that splattered jam! Dad was in the Army and Mum’s "War Work" was at the Aluminium Factory, Southam Road, Banbury. A bus used to leave Jarvis Garage at six o’clock in the morning, Mum used to have to run full pelt from the Turn Pike to the garage and stand with her back pressed against the house door till someone turned up to drive the bus. Mum was used to street lights having lived in Birmingham, the dark coun - tryside, with the bonus of animal noises, used to scare her. Mum worked in the Sheet Mill department where sheets of Ally were rolled out then pegged up to go through a water spray to cool them down, her job was to peg up the sheets as they came off the rollers. Bastille Day, July 14th, 1943 at around 5.30 pm, I was born, Dr Woods had to use forceps to bring Deanna Jean Stewart into the world. I was the first of eleven children Mum and Dad went on to have over the next 21 years. We lived with my Dad’s parents in the family home, The Turnpike Cottages. Dad y
was the youngest of seven children, so my Granny was used to children. By this time, l they were all married except Uncle Bob who was away in the Army. Mrs. Beale lived i m
in the cottage on Duns Tew Road opposite The Turnpike Cottages. Mrs Beale and a
her son Albert came to see the new baby, gave me a shilling for my money box. F
t
Albert was asked if he wanted to hold me, he shook his head and said, “No he might r break me”. a w
My brother John was born in 1945. In 1947 we all e t
walked up Rayford Lane to our new home, Hill S
View, Church Lane next door to the Primary e
School. At the time this was a four roomed h bungalow which was constructed out of Asbestos T
15 sheets and timber. There was an outside toilet and a water tap in a building known as the "Wash House.” This had a built-in boiler, a fire had to be made underneath to heat the water to boil the cotton sheets and towels. This took hours and if the wind was from the wrong direction the fire used to go out! Dad was out of the Army by this time, but he suffered from Shell Shock and it took him several years to recover. Before the war he was a plumber, after he was demobbed he went back to work at the Upper Heyford Base for the Ministry of Defense as a plumber. He eventually became a Foreman of Trades and was respon - sible for the general upkeep of the R.A.F Base until his retirement. July 1946 saw the birth of Ronald, a quiet child with a blonde curly mop of hair. November 5th, Bonfire night 1947 heralded the birth of my first sister Linda. That year was the winter of all winters. Church Lane was blocked with snow drifts 6ft tall, the only way we could get food was Dad walking across the fields to the Carpenters Arms in North Street and get a farmer to bring him and the shopping back over the fields. We had to melt snow for water because the one and only tap outside was frozen up. We only had oil lamps for light and a paraffin run oven you couldn't control. The open fire in the kitchen/ living room was the only source of heat. The washing up was done in a bowl on the table, the hot water coming from the kettle. The kettle and saucepan were the only way to get hot water to fill the tin bath for the weekly baths. The bath was always placed by the fire side, the rest of the week it was a strip wash. It was so cold in our house nobody wanted to go to bed or get up in the morning. The frost was so hard there was ice on the inside of the windows for weeks, which meant we couldn’t see out of them. In 1948 Mum had all four of us down with whooping cough. I'd started school in the September. It was thought I brought home all the germs. She nursed us all, it was over six weeks before she was able to get a night’s sleep. All the clothes washing was done by hand, the sheets and towels done in the outside boiler. We did have one "mod con" a wringer which helped a bit with the drying y l process, but you had to be careful about buttons on the cloths because they would i break. m a 1949 a third brother David in June of that year. With the family growing there was F
t less play time and more helping Mum time. We used to go home for lunch, then r back to school for the afternoon lessons. When I got home in the afternoons it a
w was my job to mind the "baby" while Mum got the dinner prepared. Then I helped e
t with the washing up, scrubbing the loose collars of Dad’s shirts and iron them dry n
S for him to wear the next day. I also used to run errands to the shops Farley's, Halls o
t t e or Cox's shops to buy food. u h T The year Carol was born, January 1951was a very cold winter but a lovely hot B summer, we played outside most of the time and even Carol's cot was carried 16 outside with a canopy of a bedspread to keep her in the shade, so we could mind her while mum got on with the chores. By then we were the proud owners of a "Revo electric cooker and a Fridge" they were second or even third hand as we didn't have money for luxurious living. George Wyatt used to bring the milk by mid-day in his horse driven Milk Float with milk in churns on board, Mum took the milk pan out to him to put a pint in then she took it straight to the cooker to scald it by bringing it to the boil so that it didn't go sour because by the time it got to us it was already warm. That also reminds me of school milk left in crates outside the school door in full sun or frozen, so it was popping out of the bottle top, it’s no wonder I never liked milk is it? Every year I used to be fetched by my Granny Tomlins, (Mum’s Mother) to spend two weeks with them when a new baby was born at our house. When I was school age I still went for two weeks in August before we went back to school. Every evening after dinner Grandad used to take me for a walk, he tested me for observation on the walk. When we got back I had to recite all I'd seen, where, when size and colour, as appropriate to his questions. To this day I'm very aware of new thing/places etc. Thanks, grandad! Baby number seven was born in September 1952 Jacqueline by name the seventh child of a seventh child. Now there were three of us at school. Someone said to mum one day, seven children, Mrs. Stewart how do you cope? She answered we all muck in and it's only one more potato in the pot and another place at the table. I have to say at this juncture we were never hungry only at meal times. You had to make sure you ate up quickly as there was always someone waiting or offering to clear your plate if you couldn't quite manage to eat everything. There weren’t many leftovers in our house. We never had a party! Mum said we have a party here every day and there's not enough food to give to other people's children. The first television I saw was with John and Ron at Mr. Eric Stowe's house in North street. It was a 9- inch screen, so tiny by today's standards, the two men sat on chairs, y
we three stood behind looking over their shoulders at our first ever Oxford and l i Cambridge Boat Race. I think we had our first Bush television for the Coronation in m
1953. a F
Dad and Uncle Bob used to go to Oxford to watch speedway racing. When the BBC t started televising it, Dad used to get so mad when the broadcast broke down, and r a
he didn't see the races. w e Joy was born after tea in May 1954 another blonde head like Carol and myself. t S n
o Martin made an appearance in June 1956 so now there were 4 girls and 4 boys. e t t h u It was very useful that Mum was a good maker out of nothing person. This went T B for our meals and our clothing. Whatever there was to eat we shared, if the hens laid
17 an egg it was saved till there was enough for half an egg each, together with a half slice of fried bread and sometimes a baked bean was also available. Dad’s Mum Granny Stewart used to frequent the Jumble Sales that were prevalent in that era. Her aim was to buy items that were in the best condition and had plenty of material in the skirts of dresses and coats. Mum used to unpick all these garments and then wash it all. We used to lay on the floor on old Newspapers or brown paper, then she would cut round us to make a paper pattern, so that she could then make us clothes. The only thing that was bought new were shoes from Fred Bradshaw's Shoe Shop in North Street. Mum used to work in a shoe shop in Birmingham before she got married so she knew all about the right fitting shoes and socks. Mum used to stand us on paper, draw around both our feet. I then had to go to Mr. Bradshaw who used the patterns to judge which shoes would likely fit. I used to carry three boxes of shoes in each hand which were tied with string, on approval so mum could make up her mind which if any fitted correctly. Then take back the unwanted pairs and pay for the ones she deemed right. Our underwear came from Bomber Wells who came to the village in a van from the Deddington Drapery shop he owned. He was always ready to talk you to buying something or other you couldn't afford. He'd say "That's alright Mrs. pay me when you can." We were never to buy anything as my Dad called "on the glad and sorry" glad you'd got it, sorry you still had to pay with interest. In later years Littlewoods in Banbury was the place Dad went to shop. When he used to go with his brother Bob to the cinema on Saturdays, we used to ask who was in the film, his answer "Walter Pidgeon," it was many years later I found out there was such a person. 1958 when I was fifteen years and one month old I left Steeple Aston School to go out into the big wide world of work at the USAF Base at Upper Heyford. I was so shy being thrust into another world of foreign people who talked
y differently, and they were mixed race too. l
i Walter Pidgeon We used to get picked up from the villages in a truck and taken to the Base. We had m a to have ID cards and were not allowed to have anything that was tax free and had to F
sign to say that we understood. t r
a When I was at Steeple Aston School we had to take it in turns to take the
w Headmaster’s lunch to him in his office. As it was near the end of term and I was e t about to leave school, Mum suggested I asked Mr. Passant for a reference. He looked e l S thunder struck at mt e laid his knife and fork back down and said "Reference!
i e Reference! You’re noT t worth referring to anyone.” You can imagine how I felt? I was h so humiliated. I ran out crying. When I got home I told Mum what happened, she T said he's only a man, you don't need his help to get a job, you can do it yourself, just
18 tell whoever you see that your willing to try anything. That has always been my motto, don't say I can't, have a try, it's surprising what you can do if you try. I worked at the base for 8½ years got promoted on merit and ended up a manager. So, take it from me never say never. My sister Kay was the next on the list. I was 18 by now and had my leg pulled at work because my mum was having another baby. Another brother made an appear - ance in May 1964. In the July I was 21 then got married to Derek Valentine Gardner on the 29th of
August 1964. Eventually I went on to have two girls of my own. I am proud to say I have five brothers and five sisters who all live in a 12-mile radius except for Linda the sister next to me, she has lived in Texas for over forty years but comes to England every year to visit. We FaceTime every Sunday night to keep in
touch. y l i Yes! In closing I have to say we were brought up to know right from wrong. We were m
never dirty or unkept and certainly never hungry. We all have been in employment. a F
Three of us have our own businesses in building or the motor trade and the rest of t a us have trades and work in retail or commerce. r n a i h None of us has any O or A levels, so if we could do it, it's not too late for anyone w e C
else, all you must do is try. That’s what we did, and it was all down to encouragement t n from our parents Bill and Jean Stewart. God Bless them. S o t e r h a T B
19 Stewart Cousins postcard Christine Edbury Last year the history group were contacted by Jayne in Suffolk, who had purchased a postcard titled ‘Barton, The Mill Stream’ via e-bay thinking it was her own village
Barton Mills. When she realised it wasn’t she found the details of our parish council clerk and contacted us via Abbi Beale to see if our history group would like it. The black and white postcard shows The Mill, Middle Barton. We already have a copy of the photograph, however it was the reverse side that is of interest. There is a brief message from Lily Stewart, ‘Dear Daisy, Thanks for postcard sorry I have not written to you before will write soon with love Lily Stewart write soon’ (as written) to Miss D. Stewart, 1 Clifton Villas, Camden Square, London N.W. At the d r a c t s o p
A
20 top is written Whitehouse, Glympton, Oxon; I could not find out whether Lily was working at the farm, she falls between two census returns - she was too young in the 1901 census and she may have changed jobs by the 1911 census returns, where she is recorded as being at home in Middle Barton (although she could have just been visiting her family the night of the census). The postmark is Middle Barton, April 1905. So, putting on my detective hat, using our archives, parish records and Ancestry, I started to research these two girls to see if they were related to any of the Stewart family in Barton. Lilian and Daisy were cousins. Lilian's father was Stephen and he remained with his family in Middle Barton; Daisy's father was George, who went to London, where he eventually married and had children. Stephen and George were brothers. The confusing bit was both girls seem to have been christened Edith as their first names! So, a little hard to track down. On the 1891 census for Steeple Barton, Edith Lilian, aged 2 months, is living with father Stephen, mother Sarah Mary and ?Sarah’s brother Arthur Castle, aged 23, in South Street. Sarah and Arthur were born in Sandford. Edith was born in Barton. On the 1901 census for Steeple Barton Lilian, now called Edith, is 10 living with father Stephen, mother Sarah and now sister Isobel and brother Tom. On the 1911 census for Steeple Barton she is recorded as Edith Lilian, aged 20, at home with the family; she seems to be not working, nothing is recorded. Daisy, recorded as Edith Daisy aged 10 on the 1901 census, and her family are recorded as living in Islington where she and her older brother were born. On the 1911 census Daisy is living in Islington, with father George, mother Bessie. She too, does not seem to be working, nothing is recorded in that section of the census form. I can only assume that Daisy was working (in 1905), probably in service at 1 Clifton Villas, Camden Sq. The two girls are just the right age to be in service in 1905. Unfortunately we can’t get access to the 1921 census yet to follow their working lives. Edith Lilian went on to marry and have children; she married Frederick Henry Bradshaw in 1914; I can’t find a church record, so I’m assuming that because they were Chapel people, they married in our Dock Chapel (can’t find non-conformist record yet). They were the parents of our much loved Freddie Bradshaw, the owner
s of our boots, wellies, knitting wool and everything else shop in North Street. He t
c also built the model railway and opened it to the public. Fred married Elsie Garvey e d j and they had Cynthia and Graham. Cynthia and Graham both married but did not r b
have any children, so no descendents. Edith Lilian died in 1956 aged 64. Edith Lilian a O c
was the aunt of our Stan, Horace and Nigel Wood (her sister Muriel Isobel married t s 0 William Wood). o 0
It seems Edith Daisy never married and she died in Kent, December 1976, aged 86. p 1
A
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MFerommo rtihees Sofc hao UoSl LAoFg abiormok an excursion my vehicle died and had to be towed off. The loss of the vehicle grounded me for a bit, but it was not too bad as there was always someone from the barracks going somewhere on an adventure. I eventually ended up with an old Morris Minor painted purple. From the front it looked like Mickey Mouse and from the back it looked like a miniature Conestoga wagon. The turn signals were on the roof and it had a vacuum cleaner hose as the “heating system” punched through the firewall of the driver’s compartment. The brakes weren’t great, and it wasn’t a flashy vehicle but somehow the police seemed to be attracted to it. I called it the “Purple Phantom”, but found out from the local constables that it was supposed to be blue and I should get that information adjusted at the local Motor Vehicle Office at my earliest convenience. They came to the house about a week later to see if I had found a convenient time yet…fortunately I had. Our adventures took us many places, the obvious and obligatory visits to London and Oxford and such, but for the most part, my friends and I tended to like the country west of RAF Upper Heyford. Early on we spent much of our free time discovering the villages and towns of the area. Middle Barton was one of those discoveries. Please take a minute and consider the mind set of this young airman at the time. As you know it was a time before cell phones and internet. Mail from home took a chunk of time to transit back and forth across the Atlantic. The Cold War was in full swing and Vietnam was a major consideration for anyone in the U.S. forces at the time even as the war was under negotiation and starting to wind to an end. The backdrop of Vietnam impacted much of our interactions with other Europeans though not so much from you. My friends and I were all single. The economy in the U.S. and in the U.K. was not pretty. At least we had jobs, which was not true for n n a a many of our friends in the States or those of our age group in the villages and towns m m
k we visited. While we were young, the point of having a job was not lost on us. r r i i o Unfortunately, the time was also one when the IRA was targeting pubs and UK mili - a a o
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Memories of a USAF airman Memories of Growing up in Westcote Barton in the 1940’s and 1950’s Geoff Bosley I clearly remember my first day at Middle Barton Primary School, Mrs Bayliss was the Headmistress, a formidable woman. Helen Anson (Cox) looked after me on that first daunting day. Ada Stockford (Sarah Pinion’s grandmother) was an excellent school cook who looked after us well. Ted Smith collected the meals daily and deliv - ered them to Duns Tew Primary School. Ted ran a Taxi service. If we needed to get a bus, we walked to the Bus Stop by Jack Irons’ Barn Door. We always went to Miss Farley’s shop to buy sweets or an Oxo cube, then went to get a drink of water from the Stand Pipe by Cogger Hazell’s house opposite Jarvis’s Garage. We were lucky having four shops; Cox’s, George Wyatt’s on Worton Road, Mrs Hall’s and Miss Farley’s. Mr Pillin and Mary Stewart delivered fresh bread, Milly Prior ran her Butchers shop, Bob Jarvis had a flour - ishing Coach business, with sons Derek and Dave assisted by Harry Stevens and Bill Baker. Walter Howe ran a fleet of lorries with garages on the Worton Road opposite the Mission Hall (Alice Marshall Hall). They carried stone from Whiteways Quarry Coach service set up by Bob Jarvis (now Renault Racing) to the American Air Base at Upper Heyford. Ralph Greenslade had a Petrol Station and a shop on the main road but Bob Jarvis was the main petrol supplier for the village. Frank Gascoigne and his son Bill were busy shoeing horses,
Bill moved onto making Drags and Harrows. Arthur Perkins was always busy deco - s e
rating houses locally. i r
I can clearly remember The Queen’s Coronation when the new Sports Field and o
Pavilion was opened, we had a lot of fun with races and games before an excellent m tea in the Pavilion when we were presented with a Coronation Mug. e m Reggie Strickland lived in Fox Lane and was the local Chimney Sweep, he was also a s ’
very active member of the St John’s Ambulance, along with Ada Stockford. y y e l e l If we had a puncture in a bike tyre we also took it to Frank Humphries, who was s s
brilliant at mending them. He worked for Bob Jarvis filling cars with petrol. o o B
B f
There was an active British Legion which had a hut. Miss Kirby ran the Post Office f f f
for many years, with Reg Cater and Ted Button delivering the post locally. o o e e Fred Bradshaw ran a Boot and Shoe shop which also sold a good collection of wools, G
G later he built a Model Railway. Ken Castle ran a Building and Undertaking Business.
30 One of the highlights of the summer was the Fair which was held in a paddock on the left before The Fox Pub (there are now a row of bungalows there). Gilbert Newman was a man running several thriving businesses, he had a lorry which went to Avonmouth most days bringing back loads of bagged animal feed to his store on Worton Road, he also built Farm trailers and hired out corn sacks from a yard at Lower Heyford. Later the Cinema became very popular for many years with Jarvis’s coaches bringing loads of people from the surrounding villages. I can remember seeing ‘Seven Brides for Seven Brothers’ in about 1956. One clear childhood memory was grazing our cows on the verges of the road above Manor The Cinema Farm towards Sandford, there was no traffic to worry about, we would shut the gate at The Manor Drive and one person would go to the ‘Sandford Hallow’ to stop them from grazing further up the road and one by the farm, this was usually for an hour a day in the spring and early summer. My father ran a milk round for several years before selling it to George Wyatt, he in turn sold it to Peter Baukham, who grew the business and then sold it to the Webb family. Most farmers in the village kept a few cows, Jack Irons had a large herd which walked from Holliers Farm along the road in the middle of the village and they would turn left by Miss Kirby’s Post Office to their grazing, unfortunately Jack’s cows had to be put down as most of them were carrying TB. Milly Prior kept about 10 cows which were milked behind the Butchers shop by Jim Read, he would then walk them up s the road and they grazed in the field between the Fox and the church, they went into e i
r the field where the Rectory gateway is. Nat Jarvis milked a few cows at Elm Farm, o he had a milk churn standby his farm entrance. m
e My father would take pigs, sheep or cattle to Banbury market regularly, my mother
m would go and meet other farmers’ wives at ‘Browns’ in Parson’s street, she always
s went to ‘Truss’ the fishmongers and would bring fresh fish home. ’ y y
I can remember Ration Books and worrying my mother for chocolate, she gave in e e l l
and I used my rations up very quickly and regretted it for a long time. s s o o
I feel I was very fortunate to have grown up in a time which was a slower pace than B B
f f today, crime rate was low, and a local policeman Reg Butler lived in the Police House f f o o at Hopcroft Holt, he would pedal gently round stopping to talk to the Community, e e also enjoying several drinks on his way. G G Copied exactly as Geoff had written. Ruth Henderson 22 January 2018 31 Bartons’ History Group Publications
‘The Changing Faces of the Bartons’ £8.50 by Audrey Martin Includes pictures of people, streets, houses and events from Victorian times onwards
‘Middle Barton School – Aspects of School Life 1866-1996’ £2.50 by Audrey Martin A terrific read with photos and turn-of-the-century quotes from the school log-book
‘Middle Barton – a village walk’ £0.80 Alerts you to sights you may never have been aware of before
‘It Happened in the Dorn Valley’ £3.50 A vivid account of life in the Bartons during WW2 through the eyes of the Women’s Institute.
‘The History of the Bartons’ by George Laws £2.00 An overall history starting 1000 years ago
1920s prints £1.50 each Fox Lane, Mill Lane, North St, South St, Worton Rd and the School
Silver Jubilee Celebrations in the Bartons (1977) £5.00 A compilation of three films taken during the celebrations, now on a single DVD
Barton Abbey £1.00 An updated (2010) leaflet now in colour
Bygone Bartons, Vols. 1, 2, 3, 4, 5 & 6 and the Jubilee Edition £3.00 each The first six of the series and the special Jubilee edition (or all 7 for £12) s n o i t a c i l b All publications available from Jaqui Taugwalder- HILL tel: 01869 349954 u P
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