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West Hanney
West Hanney maps
Historic maps of West Hanney and the local area, hand-drawn by Ordnance Survey and Samuel Lewis. View all West Hanney maps
West Hanney area books
Displaying 1 of 7 books about West Hanney and the local area. View all books for this area
You can read extracts and browse photos from these books.
Memories of West Hanney
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Oxfordshire memories
The Green East Hanney
I moved to East Hanney in 1956 at the age of 4, we moved to Manor Farm Cottage just behind the centre of the photo. the large tree on the left was known as "the big tree" and it was said that Oliver Cromwell camped there, the occupant of the house on the far end of the row was Mr Creed, I have a photo of me taken in 1957 just behind his house in the orchard, where the new houses are now.Every year a small fair was held on the green, the rides were supplied by Jumbo Collins from Challow, I left in late 1966 and the big tree was felled shortly after that.
A nice village for a young boy to grow up in.
Tim Gibbs
I lived in the house immediately behind "the big tree" from 1973-1975. I was only 8 or 9 years old and have fond memories of climbing in the lower reaches of that tree. I have a photo my parents took of the tree in the winter, and one can see how massive the tree's upper branches and trunk were in spite of having been severely cut back over the years.
I last saw the tree in 1977 on a visit to East Hanney. I don't know exactly when it was finally cut down, but is certainly gone now. Interestingly, while visiting for the first time in 30 years this past spring, I found that one could still see remnants of its trunk if you looked under the branches of the new tree planted in its place.
The Big Elm Tree.
This is the best picture yet of that great old tree that I have found. I sat on its roots at the age of 5 years back in 1939, and all through the war it was a great place to sit out of the rain.
I have a picture of it when it was young, and a picture of its stump full of flowers. Its branches were held together with chains and very few kids could climb it. I haven't seen it since 1952. It would be great if someone had a picture of the complete tree.
The Pound
I used to live in The Pound at Goosey. As a pub it seemed massive to me when I was a lot younger, now I realise that in fact it was really small and intimate for a pub. I used to love the huge open fireplace, the smell of the wood smoke mingling with the smell of the beer. I used to spend many sunny afternoons exploring the village green with its ponds and marshes, fallen trees to climb, secret places to explore. As a child it seemed like an extremely safe and wonderful playground and I have never felt the same about anywhere else I have lived since.
I Too Lived at The Pound
When I lived at the Pound I was a lot younger and at 28 took the licence of a closed rundown empty pub called The Pound, that morning I pulled my first pint in a pub in Oxford for the Oxford Mail to get a look of the new landlord of The Pound, ‘a recipe for disaster’. That night I pulled my first pint for real and handed it to the customer, he said "Can you squeeze a double scotch into that?". Looking at the foaming head and thinking making money was going to be easy if they all do this, I said "Yes!". He handed the pint back to me and said "Well, fill the glass then!". A lesson well learned. A couple of months later we decided to have a lamb roast. On the night some of the students I lectured during my proper job, came to help, we offered lamb and real sausage hot dogs, during the evening one of my students gave a man a sausage in... Read more
TIRROLD WAY
My parents lived in the house on the right, the end semi-detached house, I can just be seen in the photograph as the light coloured blob in the front garden. Normally I would have been at Garston Lane School, but in the late spring of 1955 I had to have my tonsils removed at Wantage Cottage Hospital, so I had extra time off school. My parents were the first occupants of the house in 1949, we moved to a bigger house on Foliat Drive in 1956. My maiden name is Robinson, and my father worked at Harwell moving to Winfrith in 1958.
Tirrold Way
We lived at 5 Tirrold Way on the Charlton Estate at Wantage just after I was born in 1949. My father George Nicholas worked at the Atomic Energy at Harwell and my parents were also the first occupants of these houses. My mother who is 83 years old feels sure that the Robinson family lived next door and that Susan and I played together and that she went on to become a nurse. If this is fact would love to hear from you!
