Harwell, Oxfordshire

Grandad

I spent several summer school holidays in Didcot with my mate and grandad,
he lived in Newlands Avenue with my Uncle Bert. Grandad ran the bar in the army camp. He used to send me round to wake up the men first thing. The man in charge was a Sergeant Biggs. Mum worked in the post office where she met Dad,... [more]

The Prior family of Steventon

My grandmother lived in Steventon with her own grandmother around 1880. She was Florence Prior and her own gran was Eliza Prior who by then was a widow and a laundress living in Timsbury Cottage. I have tried to find the cottage but the only place I have seen with a similar name is Timsbury Villa. I sometimes wonder if it... [more]

The best time of my life

I was 8 when I moved to Steventon.  We used to live in Didcot while I was a baby.  I enjoyed Didcot and liked the town side of it.  Also we moved here because my mum and dad wanted to live in the countryside while I was growing up to my teens. My mum is called Sharon Tappin and my dad... [more]

Homesick

I went to Steventon as a 'Mother's Help' to an Italian family.  I came from near Manchester. I had to clean, look after a baby and a toddler and help with cooking.
But I had never been away from home before and decided it wasn't for me.  It was a lovely house on the Causeway which was a listed building. The... [more]

A year in England

At the age of 11 I lived in Steventon with my family at 103 The Causeway for the school year 1968-69.  This was a tremendous experience I have treasured all of my life.  I attended school at St. Michaels and went to church there.  My father was on a sabbatical leave as a college professor which is how we ended up... [more]

Boot Inn 1955, now The Old Boot, a private house

Ceased operation as a pub in 1959. Now (2007) privately occupied by the Beran family. Previous owners were a builder who divided the land, the village schoolmaster, and the Jarvis'. A few relics of its pub days remain with serving hatches still visible and vertical planking in the hallway. The black rectangle to the left of the building was the privy,... [more]

When my family moved to Sutton Courtenay in the 1960s this was the only shop left in the old part of the village. It was a fabulous place with big glass jars of sweets behind the counter, I used to visit here as soon as I received my pocket money! It was run by the Mussells, I think (pronounced 'Muzz-ells'). My... [more]

George Orwell

George Orwell (real name Eric Blair), who was the author of '1984' and 'Animal Farm', is buried in All Saints' churchyard.