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Edgehill
Edgehill maps
Historic maps of Edgehill and the local area, hand-drawn by Ordnance Survey and Samuel Lewis. View all Edgehill maps
Edgehill area books
Displaying 1 of 6 books about Edgehill and the local area. View all books for this area
You can read extracts and browse photos from these books.
Memories of Edgehill
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Oxfordshire memories
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... Read more
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.
18 Happy Years
We moved into Avon Carrow in November 1991, just after the M40 motorway had been extended to Warwick, and started the most rewarding living experience of our mature lives. The Carrow has an interesting history for such a relatively short life - it was built, as a hunting lodge, in 1896 by Cecil Boyle, a territorial Capain of the Queen's Own Oxfordshire Hussars who was killed in the Boer War at Boshof on 5th April 1900 aged 42. His widow liked the rather stark hunting lodge so much that she stayed on and adapted it to be her main residence. Since then the house has passed through several hands including that of The 4th Baron Profumo whose son John came to grief at the hands of Christine Keeler when serving as Minister of War in MacMillian's government. In those days Avon Carrow estate included, in addition to the house and 8 acres of grounds, Hillside Farm, Yew Tree Farm, which lies to the right of the road from the village... Read more
Life at Avon Carrow For A Yank Abroad
I moved into Avon Carrow in the Spring of 1970. I was stationed at RAF Croughton but moved my family to this small village in Warwickshire because that life was what we were used to, coming from the small town of London, Ohio. The rural life was wonderful. Walk to the shop for fresh bread or catch the bus to Banbury for Market Day. Living in the Carrow was a wonderful experience for me and my family. One of my daughters was born in England and Avon Dassett was her first home. My older daughter went to the preschool in Mollington. They lived the life of English villagers and by the time we went back to the States in 1972 they had English accents. Very charming.
Wonderful life in a wonderful place. Always warm and beautiful in my memory. Thanks to the owners at the time, William and Eunice Cripps, for allowing me to move in on... Read more
2 Weeks at Church Cottage
I believe it was 1974. I was invited to my friends wedding. She and her fiance had come to Canada to live and decided to go back to Whatcote to be married, and I was to be a bridesmaid. Two other friends went as well. What fabulous memories I have of those two weeks, getting to know the little town and the surrounding areas! What a country, a taste of the old world and a real delight to get to know the locals at the Royal Oak, where I was renamed 'Double Diamond Lil'. I did enjoy your beer. My favourite lunch was the Plowman's Lunch - loved it! I think a couple named Jack and Elaine were the owners then. I have their picture somewhere. My mind often goes back to that place. When I think about it, I think of the warm weather, the beautiful gardens, the unhurried way of life and the people. I recall picking flowers for the vases in the church for the wedding,... Read more
Royal Airforce Gaydon
I was posted to RAF Gaydon in the summer of 1963 after serving 3 years in Cyrpus at RAF Nicosia. I underwent training on the Victor BMK 1 and then to 232 OCU where I found life a lot tougher than I was used to, tiring shift hours, extreme pressures to get 4 aircraft into the air in 4 minutes, an incredible sight, what must those aircrews have thought. We did lose one Victor, it crashed in woods near Stratford on Avon, and I had to help guard the crash site. There arose a situation over Cuba and I feared for my family, but thankfully Russia backed off. Those years were tough. We had to service aircraft outsied in awful weahter, sometimes snow almost up to the winds. I served alongside some of the RAF's best, Sam Sadler, Taff Evans, Dia the Boot, Artie Shaw, Pete Vacher etc. From there I was posted to RAF Marham in Norfolk to continue in the Cold War, but that is another tale.
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.
