From An American

A Memory of Shipton under Wychwood.

My husband was a career officer in the US Air Force. In July, 1971, he was posted to RAF Upper Heyford for four years. We found a house to rent in Shipton - Gale's Green - just two doors from the Shaven Crown. Our daughter was soon to be seven years old, and she attended the school across by the village green. For a while, we were the only Americans, then a family - the Loomis' - from Boston bought Prebendel House. They had five children, two near our daughter's age. We spent many times in that magnificent house. Tragically, the father died, and the mother and children moved. We made some very good friends: Cecil Viner who was the village barber; the Ware family who lived next door and had twin daughters, Allison and Fiona, who were our daughter's age. We loved the village life - going to the Shaven Crown or the Red Horse or the Lamb for a pint. Our daughter learned to ride while we lived in England, and she continued on to become an instructor and earned many ribbons in competitions here in the States. We intended to stay in Shipton for the four years, but after two years, the landlady, Mickie Brady, returned to Shipton and wanted the house back. We moved to Kingham for the remaining two years, and we enjoyed living there, too. My husband was given the option of returning to the States after the third year, but we liked England so much, we stayed for the fourth year. We traveled as much as we could to all around England, Scotland, Wales, Ireland, and the continent. Our daughter saw things - Stonehenge, ancient castles and churches, the Mona Lisa, the Alps, London, Paris, Brussels, etc. - that many other people can only read about. And by the way, since she went to English schools (and I add that she got an excellent education!) and her friends and neighbors were English and she did not see Americans unless we went to the Air Base, she had a beautiful Oxfordshire accent, but unfortunately, she lost it after we retuned to the U.S. My husband has been back to England once for a few days, but I have not. But I will always remember what a wonderful four years we had.

Judy Pantle
Bellefonte, Pennsylvania, USA
jbp7466@hotmail.com