Compton Wynyates, the Courtyard 1922

Happy childhood

I was just reading the memory by Geoff Taylor and thought how weird it was that his grandad Robert Bignell was a shepherd at the Manor House and I Patricia Bignell am currently employed at the Manor house as housekeeper. Could there maybe be some uncanny connection? It is probably sheer coincidence that we have the same surname. I commute from Banbury to work there.

My Banbury gran's village.

My grandmother's name was Amelia Gough and she lived in the second cottage on the right at the bottom of the green on the road to Mollington, water was collected by bucket over the road from a tap in the vicarage wall.  She had two children Arthur and Mary, my mother.  We lived in Oxford and visited every two weeks arriving Saturday and going back to Oxford Sunday.  We went by train to Banbury stopping at every village on the way, then caught a little yellow and green bus to Warmington.  I made a lot of friends with the local children, we spent most of the time roaming round the fields, helping on the farm just below the cottages with a Mr Pugh I think his name was.  Or watching the cars come down Warmington hill with poor brakes and failing to make it round the bend at the bottom.  I have been back several times but there is never anyone in the old cottage, I would love to see what changes have been made.  In those days the sheep were dipped just below the pond, they were pushed down the ramp then shoved under the sheep dip then chased out.  Happy memories and times never to return.  Now semi-retired and living in Cornwall, even here it is changing, sadly not for the better.

My Family

The Bull family, we used to live at 4 Duffus Hill. We used to go to the stud where my father worked, back in 1974. We used to go to the village hall for Brownies. We went to the school. We went to Sunday School down Middle Town Lane. We have got loads of memories of Moreton Morrell.

Grandfather

I have no personal memory of Fenny Compton. However it was the birthplace of my grandfather, Henry Charles Draper. He was born I think in 1866 or thereabouts.
The only thing he told me about Fenny Compton was that at the age of 9 years his mother received a note from the school master that Henry need not attend school any more as he had put in sufficient attendance. My grandfather told me that this was the result of him being locked in the master's barn after school for some minor misdemeanour, from which he organised his own release by kicking a hole in the back of the barn.