Shifford memories
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Memories of Oxfordshire
Free's - Post Office And Grocery, Longworth
Having spent the first seven years of my life in Longworth, I remember Free's shop vividly. The Frees were friendly, welcoming people. Mr Free had curly hair and wore a tan-coloured kind of overall-coat. Mrs Free wore glasses on a chain. They ran the Post Office and sold all kinds of groceries and household goods, but I remember it for the sweets and ice creams – my favourite was a block of lemon mousse that you ate from a rectangular wafer cornet.
The sweets we enjoyed from Free's included Barrett's sherbet fountains and 'Jamboree Bags', which contained a novelty gift, a lollipop and lots of pastel-coloured, powdery-flavoured sweets, plus some toffees wrapped in waxy paper.
Mr Free also did home deliveries. My mum would order her groceries in a red-covered notebook with a little window at the top with her name in it. Mr Free would deliver the order once a week, with all the goods packed into a large cardboard box.
We used to... Read more
Longworth Memories From 1950.
My grandparents were William (Bill) and Molly Free - my mother was their daughter, Barbara. For five of my earliest years, I lived in the building shown, although it did not look quite like that! The shop and house were (mainly) re-built by the Mansell brothers of Longworth, in the early 1960s. My grandfather was generally well liked in the village, and was a very kind man. Grandmother was the same, and she rode around the village on her bicycle every morning (excluding Sundays), delivering the mail. Later, my stepfather, Philip Osborne, joined the business, and took over all deliveries. Groceries were delivered to customers in many surrounding villages and our van was seen frequently running from village to village. The van was, from about 1954, painted and grained so that it appeared to be wooden and when I was living in Buckland, we would form a crocodile to walk to the canteen for lunch, on the day that Mrs. Preece was having her delivery, most of the children would knock... Read more
Memories
I went to Northmoor back in the 1940s and stayed with my parents' friends Mrs Bastable and her family for 6 weeks. The house was thatched and just across the way from a line of trees called "The Causeway". I remember going to the farm across the road and getting milk fresh from the cow. At the time there was an outbreak of Foot and Mouth disease and we had to dip our shoes and wellies in disinfectant before entering the farm. There was a little stream going past in front of the house and a little wooden bridge built to enter the garden. I wonder if that house is still there. We also rode bikes into another village where there was a raft-like contraption to take you across a small river. I often wonder about how things are and have things changed considerably? There was no electricity in the house at that time and we had to get water from a well in the garden, the lavvy was... Read more
My Home 1962
I was born in Bampton in 1957, my family moved away to Dunstable to give us a start in life. I have always and always will reguard Bampton as my home. I visit when I can which is about once a year. I walk around the village which brings back lots of memories. The times I remember are of going to the fields in May to get wild flowers to make a garland to take around on the spring bank holidays, also watching the Morris Dancers and the shirt race. I will never forget my childhood at Bampton. I will always class it as my home.
Strange But True
My father was a bank manager in Faringdon in the 1970s and managed the accounts of the Pusey estate and the Hornby family, owners of the estate. On one occasion, during an annual fete, Dad was asked to act treasurer of the fete. He asked me to help him. On that day, two Puseys were in Pusey village.
My Pusey family was based in Oxford, where my paternal grandfather was employed in the University. His father was, I believe, a butcher in the St Clements area of the city.
In my father's family were six children, three sisters and three brothers, of which my father, Frederick was the fourth child. There were five Pusey cousins: John (son of Guy and still lives in Oxford), me, (son of Hugh and now living in Somerset), Michael (sadly deceased), Peter and Anne (sons and daughter of Harold). Peter lives in Malvern and Anne lives in America. There were also two non-Pusey cousins: Mary and Jane (daughters of Vera Heath, the youngest sister... Read more
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Places this week
Here are some of the places you've shared memories of this week:
- Langley Park, County Durham
- Amble, Northumberland
- East Ham, Greater London
- North Coates, Lincolnshire
- Ryhill, West Yorkshire
- Parkgate, Merseyside
- Tenby, Dyfed
- Greasbrough, South Yorkshire
- Oswestry, Shropshire
- Southend Airport, Essex
- Golders Green, Greater London
- Thurstaston, Merseyside
- Godstone, Surrey
- Llansamlet, West Glamorgan
- Beverley, North Humberside
- High Halden, Kent
- Conicavel, Morayshire
- Taxal, Derbyshire
- Birkenhead, Merseyside
- Eccles, Lancashire
- ... and lots more - Browse this week's memories now.
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I Remember When...
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Frith website. The result is an absorbing chronicle of British life from the Second World War to the mid 1960s.
A colourful treasure trove of memories, "I Remember When" is an
irresistible mix of personal stories and recollections that affectionately reveal the detail of everyday life in Britain.
