Tommy Wiggins

Tommy Wiggins was a small-built man, he had round John Lennon NHS glasses, and had the Corner Farm in Fencott. He was a great friend of my grandfather, Charlie Hayes, and once every 2 weeks my grandfather peddled all the way from Kidlington to Uncle Tommy's to have his hair cut. I remember sitting in the chicken house whilst my grandad had his hair cut, the chickens pecking around and an old tin bath for Nell the spaniel to lay in, stuffed full of straw. I remember the big Clydesdale carthorse, and the fact that Sunday was the horse's day of rest, he was massive but a real gentle giant. I can recall when Uncle Tommy took me and my grandad into the cowshed and the cow -called, yes you have guessed it, Daisy - was in there, the second  she saw Uncle Tommy she lifted her back leg and waited for him to scratch her between her udder and back leg. He was a gentle kind man who was amazing with animals, he just had a magic way with them. I think it was in the late 1960s when Uncle Tommy had a ewe that gave birth to Jake the 3 legged lamb, he was photographed and put in the Oxford Mail. I was devastated when Uncle Tommy died at a very young age, and although he was not my biological uncle, he left me with lasting wonderful childhood memories of the Corner Farm, Fencott, and that wonderful man that I knew as Uncle Tommy. I now have my own 30-acre croft in Scotland and yes, I do have sheep. I often think of him as I go about my daily chores and can here him chuckle ...