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Meeting date :- 20 September 2006
Subject and speaker :- The Home Front - A talk by Martin Way
Narrative :-
The new season opened with a fascinating talk by Martin Way on 'The Home Front' during the Second World War. He covered many unusual and less know aspects of the effort at home. The government thought it important to involve as many peole as possible and so there were many organisations set up, with their own badges. Some of these had already been set up before the war began, such as the ARP, to organise civilian defence against air raids. In 1938 when volunteers were called for, one million turned up! Many people know about the Home Guard, or 'Dad's Army', and ARP wardens but probably know much less about the various roles of women. Many replaced men in factories, or on the land in the Womens' Land Army. There was of course the Womens' Voluntary Service, which did sterling work. It was formed in June 1938, to cope with the evaculation of children from danger zones. On the first day of war there were 130,000 WVS and 2 million people were evacuated that day. The Government would not let women do anything military though, and so they were not allowed to join the Home Guard, although they could be ARP wardens (at £2 a week as compared to the men's £3 a week.) The women later formed the Womens' Defence Volunteers but were not recognised by the government. Martin Way covered many other aspects of life in wartime, illustrated by some unusal photographs. Marvellous posters encouraged everyone to do their bit - Dig for Victory, Make Do and Mend - and there were books, cigarette cards, leaflets, even games, to give information and cheer people up. The audience greatly enjoyed looking through his extensive collection.
Author :- David Godfrey
Date written :- 30/11/06
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Meeting date :- 18 October 2006
Subject and speaker :- History of Hook Norton Brewery by Howard Hicks
Narrative :-
At the October meeting, Howard Hicks gave us a very informative talk on the history of Hook Norton Brewery. There has been a decline in the number of breweries since the days when Banbury had ten and Oxford had fourteen, although the number of small specialist breweries is now on the increase. The Hook Norton brewery began in 1849 when a farmer, John Harris, decided to make use of his old malthouse and the fine springs on the site. The present offices were built in 1895. The brewery today is unique in having the only full time steam engine, used for 70% of the work. The iron tanks at the top of the 90 foot tower are filled with water pumped up from the local springs. Some of the old equipment is still in use, such as the original wooden fermenting racks. Other pieces can be seen in the museum attached to the brewery. There are three working dray horses, serving some local villages and delighting visitors. The brewery today is still run by direct descendants of the man who started it. After the talk everyone had the chance to sample some unusual kinds of 'Hooky'!
Author :- David Godfrey
Date written :- 30/12/06
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Meeting date :- 15 November 2006
Subject and speaker :- AGM Followed by 'Milestones' - A talk by Mike Buxton
Narrative :-
At the AGM, the History Club said 'goodbye' to its chairman, David Godfrey, after eleven years of great leadership. During this time, the club has gone from strength to strength, so much that it has had to move to a larger venue in the Jubilee Hall. The club now has a constitution and its own website at www.bluebellweb.co.uk/history David's wife, Sue, was secretary for several years and talked David in to becomming chairman. She remained on the committee and was full of good ideas for speakers and outings. David and Sue will be greatly missed by all the members. We wish them well and hope they enjoy their new-found leisure. The AGM was followed by a most interesting talk by Mike Buxton on 'Milestones'. These come in many styles and are found along the main coach roads around the country. There are quite a lot along the road from Banbury to Chipping Norton. Do you know where the Bloxham stone is? Answer next month.
Author :- Jill Puckering
Date written :- 30/01/07
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Meeting date :- 17 January 2007
Subject and speaker :- Martin Greenwood - Banburyshire - Myth or Reality
Narrative :-
At the very well attended meeting in January, Martin Greenwood spoke about the idea of Banburyshire being almost a county in its own right, in his talk 'Banburyshire - Myth or Reality'. Banbury is at the centre of a triangle formed by three old Roman roads. All the main villages around, including Bloxham, were linked to it by the many carriers who took goods and people in to the town almost every day, each one going to his own particular hostelry. The talk was illustrated by some fascinating old photographs. By the way, if you didn't find it, the old Bloxham milestone is by the footpath just past the bus stop at the Banbury end of the village.
Author :- Jill Puckering
Date written :- 30/01/07
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Meeting date :- 21 February 2007
Subject and speaker :- Deborah Hayter - 'Ridge and Furrow' : What is it?
Narrative :-
Deborha Hayter gave us a very enlightening talk on 'Ridge and Furrow' : What is it? Her talk showed us how the Ridge and Furrow system shaped the countryside both then and now. Some of the interesting points included the fact that the furrows were caused by the constant ploughing of the fields in one direction and the gradual build up on the sides created the ridges. Strips of land were divided into furlongs which equated to the distance of a day's ploughing. All of the furlongs were allocated so that each family was given some good and some not so good land to cultivate. An area containing a number of furlongs was called a field and there were a number of these fields around each settlement. Within each field only one crop was grown by all of the collective farmers with one field each year being left fallow for the grazing. It sounded as though the settlement families in those days would have had to have been very co-operative for this sort of system to work. By the end of the talk we were all very impressed by how a fair and simple system worked all those years ago. We all came away with a new appreciation of the Ridge and Furrow system and thanked Deborah for enlightening us.
Author :- James sheppy
Date written :- 30/03/07
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Meeting date :- 21 March 2007
Subject and speaker :- Frank Johnson on the Arts & Craft Movement in North Cotswolds
Narrative :-
Members enjoyed the March talk by Frank Johnson, of the Guild of Handicraft Trust, on some leading figures of the Arts and Crafts movement, who worked in the old Silk Mill in Chipping Camden. A new, permanent display of their work is about to open there.
Author :- Jill Puckering
Date written :- 30/04/07
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Meeting date :- 18 April 2007
Subject and speaker :- Cotswolds in the Wars of the Roses - A talk by Tim Porter
Narrative :-
At our April meeting, Tim Porter, gave us a talk on 'Cotswolds in the Wars of the Roses'. At the start of the talk, he emphasised that the Wars of the Roses consisted of several wars or skirmishes in between periods of relative calm. It followed that, after the end of the 100 years war (circa 1450-53), there was a time of growth, prosperity and a struggle for political power. Disputes were often settled by force, one of which was caused by the feud and law suit between two families, the Berkleys and the Taulbots. This culminated in the battle of Nibbley Green where 100 were killed, with the Berkleys being the victors. Many of the towns serviced by the old Roman roads such as Cirencester thrived because of the wool trade, as did most areas of the Cotswolds. The road network was used by both factions for the movement of troops during the conflict. The churches in the Cotswolds benefited and there was quite a lot of new building work during this time, some of which can still be seen. In fact, most churches in the Cotswolds still have remnants from that period. The final battle to be fought within the area, which was very well descibed, was the battle of Tewksbury in 1471. By the end of the talk we came to understand just how important the Cotswolds had been in the Wars of the Roses as Tim had given us a real insight into the intracacies of this complex period of our history
Author :- James Sheppy
Date written :- 30/04/07
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Meeting date :- 16 May 2007
Subject and speaker :- Churchyards - A talk by Liz Young
Narrative :-
At our May meeting Liz Young gave us a talk on 'Churchyards'. Liz started her talk by telling us how family history record hunters have been helped in their quests by early, supplementary and extra records held in some churches and graveyards. We were told how the Romans would not allow burials within their towns or cities and how a lot of the Pagan sites were taken over and reused by Christians. Burials were based around stone crosses and how, over time these areas were enclosed and walled. We learned the various types of protection used against such things as wild and domestic animals grazing to grave robbers. Yew trees were grown in the churchyards to ward away evil (a throwback from the Pagan days) but also made very good bows and arrows for the army of the time and the bowmen used to practice within the boundaries of the church. We were told of the many types of graves used such as memorials, tombs, monuments etc. The type of materials used to make these included stone, slate, brick, cast iron marble and even wood(for the poor folk). It was also interesting to learn about the range of designs used and what some of the symbolism represented. It was with some surprise that Liz told us that tombstones only represent about 11% of the population of villages. We thanked Liz Young for giving us a real lesson in the significance of churchyards in the historical records of our country.
Author :- James Sheppy
Date written :- 31/05/07
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Meeting date :- 05 July 2007
Subject and speaker :- Flora Thompson Walk - with Martin Greenwood
Narrative :-
A walk around 3 villages with pub lunch. Cars will be used between villages. Meet 10.45am outside the former pub at Juniper Hill. £5 per head - proceeds to Katherine House Hospice
Author :- Cyndy Sheppy
Date written :- 18/05/07
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